Because of Winn-Dixie - Kate DiCamillo

Having Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo as an introduction to realistic fiction was a perfect transition from picturebooks to chapter books. Because of Winn-Dixie is an easy read (for a 22-year-old!) and created a fictional world that I wanted to live in. This fictional world of Naomi, Florida was so descriptively and picturesquely set up that I was able to have a completely functional picture of the town, the characters, and all of their idiosyncrasies in my head. I was able to see the bright colors of Gloria Dump's eclectic jungle of a backyard, hear Otis's music in the petshop playing in my head, and imagine the shaky Southern and gentle voice of Miss Franny Block reading and telling stories in her library.

Because of the transfer from picturebooks to chapter books, there is no longer a substantial amount of illustrations to evaluate or to provide the world of the book for us on every page. We now have to rely on the language of the author to provide those illustrations for us in our mind. Kate DiCamillo does this, particularly with the dialogue that she establishes between the characters and the use of Southern Vernacular English she employs, specifically in conversations that involve Miss Franny Block, Gloria Dump and even Sweetie Pie Thomas.
Often, when there are movie adaptations of books, I search in trailers and films to see if the mental images of characters that I form in my head are matched in their representations on screen. When I looked to find the trailer of Because of Winn-Dixie (here), I was met with exact representations of Winn-Dixie, India Opal, Preacher, the Dewberry boys, and Gloria Dump. Miss Franny Block was slightly different, and although Otis was not what I expected him to be, his spirit and calmness matched up exactly in the trailer. However, that could just be my love of everything Dave Matthews and me struggling to accept the fact that he was in this movie.
I was expecting the book to end up with some sort of sadness - with Opal not being able to find Winn-Dixie but realizing all of the good that he gave her while she had him. However, like a typical book that plays into our love for happy endings, Winn-Dixie was retrieved and everyone lived happily ever after, even though this wasn't a fairytale story. I think that this story could easily be a class read at any grade level in elementary school, particularly with the short chapter length. It definitely has potential to be a book that students are waiting for anxiously every day when they walk into class, and that is always what we want from them, right?

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters - John Steptoe

I remember sitting in elementary school and hearing a teacher (I don't remember who) read my class Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe. I remember feeling a connection with each sister - with Nyasha who was sweet and loved to serve others, but also with Manyara who was slightly selfish and wanted to put herself first. I remember being entraced by the transition of Nyoka from garden snake into a king. I loved this book so much that during my senior year, when each student in my Advanced English class had to choose a book to read to the class to depict the oral tradition from which it came, I chose Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters. I brought in props, I wore my skirt and headwrap that my sister got me in Zambia, and did my best to read the story with the same sense of expression that I had in my head for each character. 

As I read it again for this class, I still found myself enamored with it, even over 15 years after the first time that I read it. The language that John Steptoe uses is lyrical and traditional of a fairytale, but somehow still harkens back to the rural setting of the story in a small village in Africa. Throughout the book, we as the reader are led to side with Nyasha and her good heart, just as throughout the typical Cinderella story, we are led to side with Cinderella and her good heart rather than her two evil stepsisters and her evil stepmother. There is an underlying part of us that hopes that Nyasha's good behavior will be rewarded by the King, and in the end, it is. 

The lifelike almost portrait-style illustrations of Steptoe allow readers make a more personal connection to each of the characters, even characters not mentioned more than once or twice like the little boy in the forest and the king's mother (as seen in the picture above). There is realism and tenderness seen here in this image between a woman previously unknown to Nyasha. 


After doing research about John Steptoe as an author, I discovered that he died extremely prematurely at the age of 39, only one year after finishing writing and illustrating Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters. He won both Caldecott Honors and Coretta Scott King Honors for various books that he has illustrated and written, and it is a travesty that someone who accomplished as much as he did during his short life span couldn't have stayed around just a little longer. 

Moss Gown - William H. Hooks

When deciding upon the two additional Cinderella tales that I had to read for CRIN R21, I wanted to choose one that I was more familiar with (Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters - my next blog post!) and one that I was less familiar with. I sat in Swem in the Juvenile Section with Cinderella books spread out around me and settled on Moss Gown, written by William H. Hooks and illustrated by Donald Carrick. I chose it not only because I was less familiar with it, but also because it takes place in Eastern North Carolina, a part of the state that I'm extremely familiar with, as I live five minutes from the Southeastern Virginia/Northeastern North Carolina border. 

In reading the "Author's Note" located at the back of the book, William Hooks acknowledges that he wrote Moss Gown as a combination of many Cinderella-like tales that he heard growing up as a child. He also admits that there are traces of King Lear in it, but that this was not his doing - the Elizabethan history of North Carolina and the rurality of the area blended into one, single, story that he chose to document. 

One of the more interesting aspects of the book is its inclusion of spell-casting, a sort of "witch doctor woman," and the use of the term "gris-gris," which was historically used in the Carolinas to identify this particular kind of spell-casting. The phrase "gris-gris" (pronounced "gree-gree") is Candace/Moss Gown's form of Dorothy's red slippers. Whenever she says "gris-gris, gris-gris, grine!" the moss gown that makes her so beautiful appears before her in the hands of the gris-gris woman and she is given instructions to realize that the gown will turn back to rags when the Morning Star no longer shines. The gris-gris woman almost seems to be an homage to an old Creole Vodou woman, particularly in the picture on page 26 of the book (seen to the left). From the time that I've spent in Haiti and the conversations that I had with a Haitian Vodou priest, much of this picture represents very stereotypical views of vodou, the intensity of the eyes, the phantasmagoric imagery present, and the magic that seems to drip off of the page with every glance.  


Moss Gown and the illustrations present in it deal interestingly with race,  as the gris-gris woman is referred to as simply "black." Other than the gris-gris woman, there are no other major depictions of African-American characters in the book, apart from the servant people pictured in the start of Section III of the book. I found this interesting, albeit historically accurate, as we as readers are given the perception that Moss Gown takes place in the 1800's in rural North Carolina. The only identification of time that we are given is the first sentence, "Long ago in the old South there was a man who owned a great plantation." This presents an interesting dilemma for teachers in including this book in their libraries. I would have this book present in my library, and even read it aloud to my students, explaining the historical time period in which it takes place and talking about plantation systems if I wanted to tie it into other units. 


I don't know if Moss Gown is my favorite Cinderella adaptation that I've read, but I definitely think that it provided a new and different face to an old and traditional story. 

Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella - Paul Fleischman

I don't consider myself to be an expert on many things. I'm an avid cook and baker, but am by no means an expert on everything related to culinary arts. But as a little girl, I was an expert on princesses, much like many other little girls. When my mama and daddy read to me at night, I constantly requested books about princesses and castles and far-away lands, and had tattered copies of all of the classic fairytales, including Cinderella. I spent afternoons with my mama, using my children's record player, breaking out the big pink sleeve (see picture) that held my beloved (and slightly scratched) vinyl record soundtrack of Walt Disney's classic movie, twirling around the den to "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" and "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo," and waltzing with my pretend Prince Charming. I remember fondling sitting with my mama, curled up on our red-and-white-checkered couch, watching the VHS of the Rodger's and Hammerstein's version from 1965 (see this clip) that my mama watched with the same awe at age 10 that I had at age 4. I remember sitting again on that same very couch with my mama as we watched the 1997 release of the new Rodger's and Hammerstein remake with Whitney Houston and Brandy. 


Okay. Enough background. We now all know that I love Cinderella. Thus, when I saw I just had to read two Cinderella tales and Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella by Faul Fleischman (illustrated by Julie Paschkis), I was thrilled.

Taking tales of Cinderella from Appalachia to Zimbabwe to Poland to Iraq to Laos to Japan to the West Indies (and many more), Fleischman has interwoven nearly seamlessly the traditional tales of all of these countries and cultures into a Cinderella quilt, so to say. Although I was impressed with the foresight that Fleischman must have used in carefully planning and organizing the transition from tale to tale, I was more impressed by the illustrations of Julie Paschkis. After I finished reading, I thought of the incredible importance that her illustrations demonstrated throughout the story. Without them, the book would be a disjointed and rather confusing mess. However, with them present to serve as indicators of countries and traditions, the book makes much more sense.

Paschkis's illustrative style is extremely folsky, which seems to fit with the overall folktale/fairytale categorization of this book. Her illustrations provide little snapshots of each individual culture, and I was particularly enamored with her depiction of the Indonesian Cinderella at the ball towards the end of the picturebook (see image to the right). Everything from the image itself to the background pictures that appear almost carving-like is intricate and beautiful. I went and did research to find out what type of medium Julie Paschkis used when illustrating this book, and found out that she used a medium entitled Gouache Colors, which are described as "a range of opaque water colours, mainly used by designers, illustrators, and commercial artists to create vibrant illustrations in solid colour. Gouache is also widely used in fine art as an opaque water colour" (definition found here). Her use of this medium makes the illustrations more relevant and "pop" much more than they would have if she had used another medium.


From the blending of many cultures into one to the intricacy of illustrations, I think that Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella provides a fantastic alternative to the traditional Western Cinderella tale and has potential to let children know that there are similar stories and traditions in other cultures, too!

The Lion and The Mouse - Jerry Pinkney

I've always loved the well-known tale of The Lion & The Mouse, but was having trouble figuring out how an intricate story like this could be transferred into a wordless picturebook. Jerry Pinkney took any doubt out of my mind in his beautifully illustrated version of this classic that only uses onomatopoetic words occasionally throughout the story.

Because I knew the fable of the lion and the mouse before reading Jerry Pinkney's interpretation, it was easier for my mind to infer from page to page. However, after finishing, I went back through and tried to (as objectively as possible) pick up each inference that could be taken from page to page and realized that this book (as do many other wordless picturebooks) require a vast amount of thinking and inferring. We as the general public often think of wordless picturebooks as books that are easy for children and babies (even at age 2 who haven't formed concrete reading skills yet) to understand, but they are much more intricate than we seem to give them credit for.


Many "morals" or "take-aways" can be interpreted from Pinkney's version of The Lion & The Mouse, and I was surprised in my take-away - one that I had never gotten before in reading this fable. In Pinkney's version, I took away the importance of family, and I think that that was cemented by the illustrations throughout the book that show both the mouse with his/her family and the lion with his family. The lion is pictured with his family in each endpaper of the book, while the mouse is pictured with his/her family in other sequences throughout the book, most notably after the lion chooses to allow the mouse's release and after the mouse rescues the lion.


My take-away proves to me that picturebooks (and particularly wordless picturebooks) have the potential to mean something new to each and every reader. Some students might take away my overwhelming message of the comfort of family. Other readers might take away the idea that if you help others, they will help you at a later point in your life. And there are many interpretations that remain yet undiscovered, which makes reading picturebooks and wordless picturebooks even more exciting. 

When I Was Young in the Mountains - Cynthia Rylant

After reading Cynthia Rylant's The Old Woman Who Named Things, I thought I had a feel for her writing style and what the majority of her books would be like, but I was wrong. Although When I Was Young in the Mountains also had an old woman featured as a character, the two stories remain very different. This story has a different overall feel to it - much more nostalgic than The Old Woman Who Named Things.

Throughout the book, the title is used over and over again, nearly at the start of every other page, which simply reinforces the nostalgic feeling of the book. Rylant takes the reader back to a time when things were simpler, when summers were spent with grandparents in the mountains, when butter was picked up from neighbors on the way home, when cousins were baptized in the murky water of the swimming hole, and when nights were spent sitting on the porch shelling beans and getting hair braided by Grandmother.


Although most children aren't able to remember a time like this, many adults who read this book will remember a simpler time - a time where iPhones weren't owned by children in 5th grade, when being removed from technology for the summer wasn't abnormal, and when afternoons were spent pumping water from the well. And although I don't remember a time like this, it does take me back to hearing about my father's childhood in rural Virginia and summers spent working with his cousins on our family tobacco farm.


When I Was Young in the Mountains has potential to bridge the gap between children and their grandparents, but also, more importantly, gives children at any age a peek into what life was like in the earlier days. The illustrations throughout the book fit incredibly well with both the rhythmic nature of the text as well as the purity and almost plainness of life in the mountains. The pictures also show the power of touch, whether it is the sweet grasp depicted on the front cover from sister to brother and brother to dog or the gentle hand hold by Grandmother escorting her granddaughter to the "johnny-house" in the middle of the night because she is scared.


It is clear to see why this book won the Caldecott Honor - there is beautiful and near-perfect integration of a love of family, a harkening back to older and simpler times, fitting and breathtaking illustrations, rhythmic text, and an overwhelming feeling after reading of happiness and nostalgia.

The Old Woman Who Named Things - Cynthia Rylant

When I heard I had to read two picturebooks by Cynthia Rylant, I thought the choice would be easy. "No one could have written that many picturebooks," I thought to myself. However, I was wrong. Because when I went to find merely two picturebooks by Cynthia Rylant, I was caught in a sea of choices and quickly realized that Cynthia Rylant has written more than 100 books for children in her lifetime. How was I simply supposed to choose two out of 100 on Amazon to order? I settled down with one to start - The Old Woman Who Named Things and the beauty that Rylant used to delve into a sad and somewhat depressing issue was incredibly impressive.

Although the book is entitled The Old Woman Who Named Things, ironically enough, the old woman is never designated with a name. But somehow, that makes the story more relatable, more personal, and makes me think that that was a strategic move on Cynthia Rylant's part. That move makes each individual reader feel as if the old woman could be anyone - a great-grandmother, an older woman you know in your church congregation, or a family friend - not just one specific person.


Tackling a subject matter like outliving all of your friends (because you're simply so old that all of them have died) isn't an easy one. And it most definitely isn't an easy one to tackle in a children's picturebook. But Rylant does it with ease - and makes each reader want to name the things in their life and appreciate the "relationships" they have with their own Betsys, Franklins, Roxannes, and Freds, but also truly value the personal relationships that they have as well.


My favorite part of the picturebook is the personal transition that we see the old woman go through - from being a person who strives to actively not make relationships with living things to being a person who travels outside of her comfort zone and becomes vulnerable in her relationship with a puppy. I can imagine what a sentimental attachment early elementary school students could form with the old lady in the book, and this book has the potential to be one that is so loved that the pages are tattered and dogeared with love.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney

In taking the class CRIN R21: Diverse Children's Literature, I've been over the moon and excited about all of the possibilities for the books I'll be able to delve into within the next month of class time. I wasn't putting Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney in that listing of the books I couldn't wait to crack open, but after finishing it, I have to say - I'm pleasantly surprised.

As an avid reader as a child, I thrived on books that allowed me to peek into the world of someone who was completely different than me, yet, I could relate to. I was able to find books that met that love - books like the Harry Potter series with Hermione (who featured my inner nerd and need to succeed) or  Gone With the Wind with Scarlett (who featured my stubborn-naturedness and love of the South) or Number the Stars with Annemarie (who featured my vulnerability and desire for close friendship). Starting to read Diary of a Wimpy Kid, I was able to see how students who may not typically find pieces of themselves represented in typical books would find their voices represented by the characters that Jeff Kinney so beautiful brings to the surface of the novel.


Diary of a Wimpy Kid has so much potential to get children invested in reading who aren't typically enthralled by the thought of reading a book longer than 20 pages or by reading in general. Because this book is classified as a "graphic novel," there are comic strips integrated throughout the text, which makes reading a 217-page novel fly by and feel much more effortless than usual. And if it feels that way for a 22-year-old Master's in Elementary Education student, I can only imagine how much more effortless and enthralling it feels for a ten-year-old boy who hasn't found a book that he really loves yet. A boy who maybe gets picked on a little in school and doesn't feel like he's special. A boy who really is able to relate to Greg Heffley, the main character, who struggles with typical "Middle Child Syndrome" - always searching for approval from his parents and feeling like his older and younger brothers can do anything and never get in trouble. Greg also really emits the attitude of feeling as if the entire world is against him - which is clearly represented by the turn-around of his friendship with Rowley, his attempted friendship with Fregley, and the result of the "Cheese Touch."


I find myself more and more interested to see what happens to Greg in his middle school adventures as well as being more and more excited about the potential for sharing an interest with my future students in a book that will help them become more motivated to read. When they become motivated to read, they can become successful. And isn't that what a future teacher wants? Successful and motivated students? I think so.