Final Post: Blog Amnesty Day

This will be last blog post for Children's Literature, and I must say: it's been a trip.

I thought I had an idea of what I was getting into when I signed up for the class, but I soon found that I was launching myself into a different world. I really enjoyed the way this class has opened my eyes to how I experience children's literature.

Going through the list of books in my head, I realize that I can now categorize children's novels into two distinct groups. I understand what elements make up children's literature and what is necessary to make great children's literature. A good children's story hits certain standard points and takes kids through an identifiable experience. A great children's book teaches kids about self identity and tracks the main characters' changes as they learn the tools that will make them the adults they will become. I am definitely passing some of these books on to my little brother and sister.

In addition, I have taken what I have learned from this course and channeled it into my major. I've been working on a screenplay that I suppose can be best labeled as a darker children's story about a brother and his stepsister. I hope to include those crucial elements into my story in order to make it appeal to children as well as adults.

I may not come from an education background as many of my classmates, but I can appreciate what I've absorbed from class and I understand how important children's literature is to the classroom. I know I wasn't stoked as a kid to be burdened with novels during my early English courses, but I can truly appreciate the outcome of my teachers' efforts. I know the importance of having different perspectives available to help shape growing readers - hey, I'm still growing as a reader and still need the opportunity to look at the world through a different pair of eyes.

Thoughts on Spufford

I have a confession to make. Sometimes I roll my eyes when I learn that we have to read from Spufford - not that I don't like what he has to say...it's just that sometimes takes his time in saying it.

This week, however, I did not feel that particular strain when I dove into his chapter about the town. I suddenly found myself connecting more with what he had to say - and not just because he talked about readers engaging themselves with the character in novels.

I thought he explored the idea of connecting with a character and actually thinking in his or her skin (as opposed to just imagining the character as oneself); I've always known that I have the ability to empathize with characters in novels, but I've never really heard someone go in depth with the feeling and break down what it means to identify.

What really held my attention was the thought of a young Spufford trying to piece together another world - the United States - in order to understand some of the literature he was taking in as a child. Today the world is so small - people can know a little about each country and if they don't, they can Google it. Spufford had to try to reshape his own experience in his portion of the world to fit any new ideas he encountered while reading. I felt a particular pang of saddness whenever he discussed losing the reality of what he imagine in his head after seeing the film version of To Kill A Mockingbird and realizing he had been "wrong" about what Maycomb looked like.

I suppose this week I will be more conscious of how I read and how I identify with characters as I absorb them into my own version of life. I think that is why so many of the sources for my group's annotated bibiliography said it was important that children read from a variety of perspectives in order to get a better scope of the world.

More of the Moorchild!

I think that this is one of the more interesting female characters that we've read about in Kid's Lit. While Pippi was a fun, exciting (and, let's admit it - slightly annoying) character, she still didn't seem as realistic as Saaski. Pippi represents those children who are considered outcasts, but take their differences and rise above them, not caring and sort of belong without belonging to society. She doesn't feel uncomfortable in her own skin and makes her differences into a positive thing. Whether blissfully unaware of her bizarre behavior or consciously sticking it to convention, Pippi finds a way to have a good time.

Saaski, on the other hand, is almost constantly aware of her differences. She is so uncomfortable in her own skin and her own home. She doesn't have a horse or a monkey to keep her company when she feels lonely for an inexplicable reason. Having forgotten her origins, she just knows that she is not like the other children or even the other villagers in both appearance and action. Saaski feels that she must hide her differences in order to belong and even after she shrinks her toes and fingers, the children still tease and call her names like strangeling.

I think it's difficult to choose a good role model for female readers. Saaski is a character with whom I think many lonely, alienated young girls could identify with and understand, perhaps lending comfort to those readers because they know what it's like to feel left out and different. However, Pippi is a positive role model because she embraces her differences and does her own thing. I think it's good for children to read and compare the characters and perhaps find a happy medium between the two.

So...I Kinda Want A Daemon Too...

I am intrigued by the various definitions given to Dust - not only in The Golden Compass, but also in our class discussions. Is it the "God particle"? Is it original sin? Knowledge? Good? Evil? I, for one, can not quite settle on an exact definition, but I feel that tells me something about the nature of Dust...It is up to interpretation and can be something different depending on who is viewing it and their intentions of using it.

For me, Dust is connected to human nature (I'm kind of connecting it to the original sin idea as well). I mean, the Dust collects on adults, who have a settled, stable daemon (totally jealous of that, by the way) and know the true nature of themselves. Human nature is kind of tied into original sin in this book, and I think Pullman is saying that we all have good and bad in us - we are defined by how we use it. Along this same train of thought, Pullman makes the point that no one is wholly one thing or another - the humans have a daemon of the opposite gender that rounds the person out, etc. Even Mrs. Coulter, who seemed so bad for most of the book, has moments of softness.

With that said, I think that Pullman presents an interesting message that I think resonates with the reader and gets him or her thinking about self-knowledge.

Once upon a time in children's lit...

My name is Nicole Zschiesche (Zee-shay) and I am a junior Film-TV-Digital Media major, Writing minor. All of the writing classes I've taken up to this point have been about reading other people's work and then trying to create something of my own. I haven't had a problem with that format - in fact, I like being inspired by great writers and learning to carve my own way in the writing world - but I'm really looking forward to this class. I love the feeling of revisiting my past through rereading many of the beloved books of my childhood. It will be interesting to compare how I felt and reacted to the stories when I first read them and how I see everything now that I've been exposed to the world outside of recess and school uniforms - probably like visiting my old middle school and finding the bathrooms a little too cozy.

My favorite book as a kid was probably Ella Enchanted. My best friend and I used to talk about it all the time, comparing ourselves to the main character and rereading it ever few months when we felt like a good cheering up.