Literature Reading Reflections

I have been on a journey to collect books that I will bring into my classroom (it seems to be a theme throughout all of my classes that teachers need to be able to provide their own library) and I have found some really great books, as well as some really crazy books! I have collected books for about three years now for my daughter and have just recently started recruiting for my classroom. My first big purchase was at the public library book sale. I was able to purchase 238 books for $18.00. Yes!! That is 8 cents a book! Now, because I was in a great hurry to snatch up all the children's books that I could possibly carry, I didn't have the time, (nor physical ability) to look through every book before I put it in my bag. When I got home and drug box after box from my trunk (my husband was looking at me like I was nuts!) and sat down to look through them I was often pleasantly surprised with the treasures that I had acquired. However, there were some books that I thought what in the world was this author thinking. One example was the book The New Vestments by Deloss McGraw. The book is about a man who invents his own revolutionary clothing. Sounds interesting right? Well his revolutionary way of making clothing is with food and dead animals. YUCK! It says "His shirt was made up of no end of dead mice..." and "His drawers were of rabbit-skins; so were his shoes; his stockings were skins- but it is not known whose;" What??????? Is this not absurd to anyone else? I will give the author credit for creativity, but in my opinion this book was a little crude. The copyright was for 1995 so it wasn't that long ago. I guess you never know what you will find at the library! I think this is an important point- of course let your students choose the books that are interesting to them, however it is important to monitor (even if the book comes from the library). I do want it to be known that I was able to get some fabulous books, this was just not one of them. (I can just see a member of PITA renting this book for their child)!! LOL So my question is- what am I supposed to do with this book? Any ideas? Anyone?

FMI- (For My Information)

I finished reading the book and thought it was cute. I like the way the author gave information about frogs- the biological angle- as well as kept the audiences' attention with a great plot. It is funny because at the beginning of the story I felt very sad for the Prince that he had been turned into a frog by the hag. He was a very distraught little (big) frog and I just wanted him to be human again. But then as the story went on and he created his little family, I thought it was great and didn't want him to be changed back. When I turned the page and looked a the illustration- where Pin jumps to get Jimmy away from the girl and you see her kissing him, I knew that he was going to be changed back and even said out loud (thank goodness I was alone in my room) "NO! Don't kiss him!" I didn't want Pin to be transformed back into a human. He had become a great frog and had created a family. Even though I know, as well as Jade, that frogs are not supposed to have families, I didn't want all those little frog-lets to loose their father. I appreciated the fact that Pin had introduced a new way of life to Jade- the life of a family, and love. Jade started to understand his views and understand love. She needed Pin! The ending was good- the little fawgs knew about family and love and would hopefully pass that on to their future families. I almost wished that in the end the girl would kiss Jimmy, and because he is half human (kinda) he would turn into the prince and end up taking care of this family in the well. LOL-

This story was informational, entertaining and brought out emotion- for me anyway!

Anne Frank

It is fascinating for me to re-read this special book. I first read this book when I was in sixth grade and "had to." This time around it seems like I am reading it for pleasure and am thoroughly enjoying it. The strength of this young girl is inspiring and her intelligence amazing! I am looking forward to noticing things this time around that I didnt last time.

So, one of the writing prompts that I proposed for our literature group was -Why does Anne refer to her hiding place as "beautiful"- and I decided I would like to write about it also.

So Why does Anne refer to it as beautiful? This can be interpreted many different ways but I think that there are two main interpretations here. First, she is being sarcastic. The more and more I read about Anne and discover more about and her how her intelligent little mind works, I can definetly see the sarcastic side of her.

On the other hand, she is writing in a diary that she believes no one will ever be reading. She wrote in an open and honest tone, so why would she be being sarcastic. Perhaps she refers her hiding place as beautiful because she is grateful to have a place to keep her safe. the description of beautiful is not referring to the store rooms physical features, but rather its purpose. Anne sees and hears about all of the people like her that are being ripped from safety and she thinks her hiding place is beautiful because it is keeping her safe.

When I look at pictures of Anne Frank, I am reminded why this book is so so powerful. Anne was a beautiful girl with such amazing intelligence and potential. Who knows what she would have become to this world if only given the chance. That is why this book has become such an important part of American culture- it puts a face with the horrifying actions of WWII. It allows you to get to know Anne and the person she was so that you can understand that the actions of WWII affected so many "real" people. When something traumatic happens in the world, everyone feels sad, or remorse for those unfortunate. But when you know someone that was directly affected, it affects you on a whole other level. This is Anne Frank's story. Readers get to know Anne and therefore realize the real tragedy.

As I read this book, I am noticing the amazing growth in Anne. Her entries are become more and more mature and more selfless. She talks about how she is learning to be nice, and that she is able to get along with people better when she pretends to agree, or pretends to be nice. Yesterday during our Tibbetts discussion, I asked the students if they noticed that Anne was becoming more mature. They said no. I pointed out my observations about her not being so outspoken, and learning to hold back. Many of the girls said that they didnt believe that that was a sign of maturity. They said that they thought it was more mature for Anne to say exactly what they thought. I then gave them an example. I told them how when you ask a four year old if a dress makes you look fat, they will tell you yes if they believe it does, regardless of if it will hurt your feelings. But if you ask an adult, they would probably tell you no, or suggest something else to wear. They said that they understood and agreed. I am truly having a different experience reading this book last time around. I love being able to look deeper into the book and feel like the literature circles with Tibbetts help to drive my curiosity and depth.