It seems to have taken a while to get this year’s PaperTigers Round the World Reading Challenge off the ground in our house – but we’re flying now! We’re following a similar pattern to last year: a readaloud and the boys each reading their own choices…
The book we all read together was Planting the Trees of Kenya, which I blogged about a couple of weeks ago…
Older Brother, 10½, has read The Cat who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth and illustrated by Raoul Vitale (Aladdin Paperbacks, 2008). First published in 1930, this is a short, beautifully written fable which centres around the Buddhist legend that the Buddha blessed all animals except the cat because a certain cat “was not overcome with awe”. It was a Newberry winner and was discussed recently, as it happens, in a fascinating post on The Newberry Project blog, which is where my quotation above comes from. The story certainly worked its charm on Older Brother:
It’s about an artist in Japan and his housekeeper bought a cat instead of their food with their money. They were very poor so the artist was not happy with her at first but then after a while he was able to start selling paintings. Then a priest came to his house and ordered a picture of the Buddha’s tomb and all the animals he blessed. He blessed every animal except the cat so the artist did not draw the cat at first – but his cat always looked upset that there wasn’t a cat in the painting so the last thing he did was paint a cat in it… and I’m not going to tell you what happened but there was a miracle.
It is actually a beautiful story. You know, there was a shelf in the artist’s room and the cat sat and looked at a special statue of the Buddha belonging to the artist and they both prayed in front of it. I like art and I thought that I was actually standing there watching it happening (that happens to me quite a lot in books, by the way – sometimes I think I’m the main character, sometimes I’m up in a tree watching).
And Little Brother, just turned 8, read Grandpa’s Indian Summer, the second of Jamila Gavin’s three Grandpa Chatterji books (Egmont, 2006 – and you can read PaperTigers’ full review here):
I loved this book. Especially the bit where Sanjay eats all the cakes and then he gets scared because all the ants come and he jumps onto the metal chest with all the cakes in. Everyone’s looking for him. And he’s got two cakes in his hands and he eventually gets found. Then Grandpa Chatterji gets into trouble because he’d been eating cakes and Sanjay found him and wanted to have some too, so it’s all Grandpa Chatterji’s fault!
I really liked the last page. The last sentence was the best!
It made me want to go to India because it’s a wonderful, colourful place. And I also like peacocks, although there aren’t any in the book. I also want to play cricket – and that is in the book!
Do let us know how you are getting on with our Reading the World Challenge – or if you haven’t started yet, here’s what it’s all about - there’s still plenty of time…
For an interesting article on the increasingly common complaint from librarians that the recent Newberry winners are not appealing to children (hence they don’t even buy them) see:
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=talkbackCommentsFull&talk_back_header_id=6558883&articleid=CA6600688#120010
I for one, loved The Higher Power of Lucky and had my then 9 year-old daughter listen to it with me on audio book. She also loved it. I could not get her to read last year’s winner about medieval voices and haven’t done so myself.
I do think children’s books should appeal to children and maybe we lose this when the only people choosing what gets published are adults.
I also think that Because of Winn-Dixie deserved the medal itself, rather than an honor.
I believe that my rabbit book would appeal to children and have had a hard time convincing anyone in the industry of this; although, one editor at a major house wrote me personally that it somewhat reminded her of Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh. My daughter read Rue Rabbit for me over a year ago. When she bought her newest Webkinz chipmunk, she named him (without my prompting) Jack after the chipmunk who befriends Rue Rabbit. I was surprised. I said, “You still remember Jack?” She said, “I love Jack.”
Maybe I should publish this book myself?
Eleanor Estes was an award-winning children's author. She first began writing during her recovery from tuberculosis, when, bedridden, she wrote down her own childhood memories as a series of stories for young readers. Before her death in 1988 at the age of 82, Mrs. Estes had written 19 books for children, as well as one novel for adults.
Born in 1906, Eleanor Estes grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, and worked at the Free Public Library there - first as an assistant, then eventually as head librarian. In 1931 she was awarded the Caroline M. Hewins scholarship for children's librarians, and used these funds to attend the Pratt Institute Library School. She continued her library career with the New York Public Library, where she stayed until 1940. Her first book, The Moffats, was published in 1941, and launched her full-time writing career.
Eleanor Estes' award-winning books include:
Ginger Pye - Newberry Medal 1952
The Middle Moffat - Newberry Honor Book 1943
Rufus M. - Newberry Honor Book 1944
The Hundred Dresses - Newberry Honor Book 1945
In addition to book awards, Mrs. Estes received the Certificate for Outstanding Contribution to Children's Literature in 1962, and was nominated for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award.
Responding to a New York Times Book Review query regarding what she was trying to say to children, Eleanor Estes replied:
"I am holding up a mirror, and the scene reflected in the mirror is a true image of childhood, and the mirror, besides reflecting, also speaks and echoes the clear, profound, unpremeditated utterances, thoughts and imageries of children. I like to make children laugh or cry, to be moved in some way by my writing."
Sources:
Gillian Riley, the author of The Oxford Companion to Italian Food(TOCTIF) is a food historian and former typographer. In TOCTIF Riley has created an A-Z guide to one of the world’s best-loved cuisines (and this blogger’s personal favorite!) Her book covers all aspects of history and culture of Italian gastronomy, from dishes, ingredients, and delicacies to cooking methods and implements, and regional specialties. In the post below Riley writes about the joys of embracing an Italian Christmas, even if you add only one dish to your family traditions.
Carol Field, in her entry in the Oxford Companion to Italian Food describes how a reverence for tradition and robust enjoyment of copious feasting make for two days of celebratory Christmas meals in a month rich in festive occasions. There are so many regional Italian customs and recipes that it would be rash to attempt a typical Italian Christmas menu, but we can plunder Carol’s contribution for ideas to mitigate or enhance the sometimes tyrannical conventions of a British or North American Christmas. (more…)
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