Winding Down the Semester

Since the semester is almost over, I wanted to review the enjoyment and knowledge that I have gained from Children's Literature. This class has been my favorite class of my whole college career so far. I have throughly enjoyed everything that I have done for this class along with all the books that I have been able to read and learn about. I wish there was a Children's Literature II class that I could take. This class has opened me up to the thought that teaching might be an option in my future since I am a political science major. Yet, in the public school system I feel that children's literature can not be fulfilled in complete fashion due to the focus of the TAKS test. I would want to spend every day talking about a book or story and after talking to my mom who is a public school teacher this does not seem possible. I came to the conclusion that if I find that my love for children's literature is strong in the future I could open up a children's store with classic books, and housewares etc.

This class has opened me up to a new light for my future. I have gained more options for my future careers just from the pure enjoyment that I have experienced by being in Children's Literature. I truly enjoyed reading all the books and learning about all the different make ups of each story.

Stinky Cheese Man Class Discussion

I was very interested in being able to read The Stinky Cheese Man. I remember at one point I wanted this book, but my mom would never buy it for me for some reason. I really enjoyed reading it, and then I enjoyed finding all the little hiddin weird parts about the story today in class. I think having the writing on the copyright page was very clever and creative. Also I thought the pictures for the authors were neat too. I am not too sure if a small child would find these little hidden parts of the book amusing, but as a young adult I was very intrigued from realizing this in class today.

I am glad I was finally given the opportunity to read this book. I am going to ask my mom if she ever remembers why she would never let me buy this book because I can't find a reason why I was not. I enjoyed the stories in the book along with the uniqeness of everything.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

I just finished reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. This is a fantasy novel that was written for children. This is the first book that was written in the series The Chronicles of Narnia. Four children were sent to live with a professor during the beginning of World War II. The children decide to play hide in seek one day after the arrive at the home in the country. One of the kids named Lucy hid in a wardrobe only to find a door to an outside world which soon was found out to be Narnia. Soon enough the kids all go to Narnia and befriend Mr. Tumnus who soon was captured by the White Witch. The kids also find out that the king of Narnia is a lion named Aslan. He was sacrificed by the White Witch, but comes back to life because of some magic and defeats the Witch and kills her. All four children soon become kings and queens. They rule Narnia for a very long time, and when they return back to the real world they are kids.


I enjoyed this book very much. I like the novel much more than the movie because I can imagine the world of Narnia for myself. All the kids enter into this fantasy world that holds a possible danger to them with the White Witch who has taken over. Mr. Tumnus trys to protect and help the kids out. I enjoyed this book because the fantasy was very vivid and it made me feel like I was apart of the experience.

Class Discussion: Where the Wild Things Are

Who knew that there are so many comparisons between Peter Rabbit and Where the Wild Things Are? Today in class, the discussion opened me up to many new aspects to the story Where the Wild Things Are that I have never thought about. I have always thought that this book was a simple story with great illustrations, but I found out that it is so much more.

One interesting part of this story that I learned about today was the borders within the illustrations. The border around the page was small when Max was at home in the real world, but as he entered the imaginative world, the border grew bigger and bigger. Also, Max dressed up as a wolf to become part boy part wolf like Peter Rabbit was part boy part rabbit. Both of these characters also experienced having a female as the controlling source in the stories. Another neat part of Where the Wild Things are is how as Max returns to the reality, the illustrations go away.

I enjoyed learning about these interesting points about the story that I have never thought of before. It opens my mind up to there being more depth within such a short, simple story book.

Where the Wildthings Are post 1!

I am so excited to read Where the Wildthings Are for class. This book has been a bedside book for me since I was like two and I still have it by my bed in college. I absolutely love this book. I enjoy reading about Max's adventure to the land of the wildthings and his believing that he is the king. The pictures in this book is probably the reason I truly love it.

I am very excited about this discussion in class. I have no idea what to expect because I feel like I know everything about this book. I am interested in hearing about any factors that make up this story that I may not know about.

Number the Stars

This past weekend I read Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. This story takes place during the Holocaust during WWII. The main character is a 10 year old girl named Annemarie. Her best friend is a Jewish girl whos family takes refuge when they find out that nazi soldiers were taking over Copenhagen. Her friend stays with Annemarie and her family and they have to prove several times that her friend is a sister. The families have to communicate in code to meet up with each other and to just converse. This is so that the nazi's can't figure out that Annemarie's family has Jews in hiding.

Annemarie has to face a lot of tragedy with loosing people she loves during this time in her life. Having to walk on eggshells is what this girl experienced for several years and every day brought about a new uncertainty. After her best friend was taken away from her, Annemarie was uncertain if she would ever see her again. Her mom found her friends necklace, and Annemarie decided to wear it in her friends honor.

Dr.Seuss

I am pretty sure that when I was younger I thought the only books that existed were by Dr. Seuss. These are the books that basically taught me to read. I remember reading these with my mom and she would want me to read back to her the pages that she previously read to me. Soon enough I was memorizing these books because of the simple rhyme of the text. One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish: text like this catches a child's imagination and the pictures in the books are very vibrant. Also, the illustration in Dr. Seuss books are one of a kind and could be picked out from book to book.

My grandma has a whole collection of these children's books that are very old. It's remarkable to know that these books were popular so long ago and are still today. The books still appeal to children and are very catchy. I don't think any author could make an impact like Dr. Seuss did with his easy read books.

Upcoming Picture Book Discussion

Picture books are still by far my favorite types of books. There are so many good stories that come from picture books. My two favorite stories that are picture books are Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are. Both of these I still own and keep on the table by my bed, and I usually read them once a week. Picture books never get old to me and I enjoy looking at the corresponding pictures that go along with the story that is being told.

I am really going to enjoy this week of discussion over picture books that we are reading in class. I really believe that even though picture books are not hard to read that they have just as much merit as a novel. I am intereseted in learning how picture books differ and if there are different ways to write a picture book. On some books I often wonder if a picture came before a story or vise versa.

The Giver

I have read The Giver now I am guessing about 4 times. Everytime I read it something knew stands out to me. From listening to the discussions in class, I have been reminded of parts of the book that I have had discussions about before and new ideas that I have never came across before. I never thought of the memories really coming back to hurt the community. I remember reading that, but I didn't think of it as that the memories would make the community a better place then. Obviously that is the whole purpose of the book, but I just think about the whole idea of the story and the community system is so mind boggeling to me. I really want to read the sequels to see what happens to Jonas and Gabe. This book and the purpose behind it is very creative and must have been hard to plan out so well.

A Dog Named Truman

Once there was a cute, fluffy dog named Truman. Truman lived with two college girls on the third story of an apartment. He did not have a backyard to play in, and he had to spend his days out on the balcony. His days were lonely because both the girls had class all day and both worked in the evenings. Truman had to entertain himself and he had four pets of his own to keep him company. There was the leopard, the blue monster, the green dog and the blue dog. All of these animals were his friends. Truman kept all of his pals together in a pile, and he would move them one at a time if he wanted them to be in a different part of the apartment.

Truman tended to get left alone a lot. He really wished that he had a real life friend who could talk to him. Soon enough, his wish came true, and all four of his pals came to life.

to be continued

celebrity

Yes, so in my hometown of La Grange this weekend, Brad Pitt was in town shooting a scene for a movie. Him and Angelina are living near Austin while this film is in production. My lucky cousin got a picture with him and I pretty much have been having an anxiety attack all weekend because I wasn't there. Well how does this fit into this class? I was thinking that Brad's posse of kids probably read a lot. They seem very worldly and I know the oldest attended a French school in NYC where he was taught in both French and English. I believe that Angelina and Brad feel that education is important and I know creativity is encouraged in their family, and one way to be creative is through writing and reading. I'm sure that both the parents read to their children because they seem so family oriented as well. Also, the kids are always with them while they are traveling. Reading just seems like something that would bring this family together especially with such a non-stop lifestyle.

My cousin reading

This weekend, I was at my aunts house and we couldn't find my cousin. We were yelling for him and trying to figure out where he had disapeared to. Come to find out, he had climbed into a tree and was up there reading a book series that he has been reading all week. He told me that he felt as one with nature while up in the tree reading the book which dealt with the outdoors. I was very impressed because he is in 4th grade and he has such a love for reading. My uncle kind of freaks out because he played major league baseball and he doesn't believe that his son is going to be the jock he was because he has such an interest in learning. I told him that books are a good experience for kids to notice situations that he may not ever get to be involved with. I told my cousin that he should read The Hobbit because he enjoys reading and he has an interest for those kind of books.

conference

My mom recently attended a writing conference in Austin and was introduced to many new books in children's literature and young adult litreature. She came back home with a whole bag of books signed by the authors that wrote them and all the books are supposed to be very good reads for younger kids. My mom said that she learned so much from this conference. A majority of it was about new techniques of writing for her to teach to her students. Everything she told me sounded so interesting. Also, she said that she understands why I love this children's literature class because she sat through a children's literature seminar which she said was very neat. All of her information that she received, and her talking about this conference boosted my interested in a career in education.

Island of the Blue Dolphins

I picked to read this chapter book because I enjoyed the story when I was younger and the whole situation amazes me. Karana, the main character, lives amongst the dogs in a cave on an island. She makes a life of her own after being stranded by her tribe. She makes friends with the women of the Aleut tribe after hiding from them. They teach each other their own languages and Karana recognizes how lonely she has been on the island by herself. Her dog eventually dies and she finds one that is his son. She takes him in and finally one day a boat comes to rescue her. The dog and her go back to be at her real home, even though she knows that her heart is on the island because that is where she was raised.

I enjoyed this chapter book because the girl had to survive on her own. She became the family of dogs and sought out goods in order to survive. It is a very adventurous story and is inspiring to know that a girl can survive in the wild.

Future Career

I am taking this class, but I am not an education major and I am not pursuing a career in education. Yet, after being in this class and being opened up to so much, I feel that elementary or intermediate education would be a career that I could take part in. I have really enjoyed learning this literature that we have studyed in this class so far. I believe that I would enjoy teaching with children's literature as well. This is a big difference from my political science major, but I believe that I am going to stick with that. I am thinking about pursuing a teaching certificate though which will allow me to have another option of a career that I know I will enjoy. I am fortunate to be in this class since it has helped me realize that teaching could be an option in my future.

Bridge to Terabithia

Besides being a new movie, this is a classic children's literature book that is one of my favorites. This book shows many themes and those are friendship, knowledge, creativity, adventure, death, and coping. Jess, a small town boy in the book, befriends the new girl Leslie even though others think her family is different. Both kids are very adventurous and create the land of Terabithia in the forest by Jess's house. This land is one where anything is possible. If you believe, it exists. One day though, Jess was invited to go to the museum in the city and did not want to invite his best friend Leslie. Unfortunately, he returned to find that his best friend had died while crossing the river to Terabithia. This is the most emotional part of the book and I cried. Jess goes and builds a bridge across the river to the fantasy land and lets his sister in on the adventure at the end. I really, really enjoyed reading this book and I would like to see the movie.

The Upcoming Week

I look forward to reading The Hobbit and The Giver in the next 2 weeks of class. I have read both before, and The Giver is one of my favorite books. I am ready to focus on one work unlike the poetry where there were many works that we looked at in a day of class. I am looking forward to the in depth discussions on these two books because both have storylines that seem scifi like.

I am excited to be focusing on one work because I can focus concern my attention to that one story. This helps me think about the stories more in depth than what I would if I read many stories in a week.

Reading Rainbow

Yes, I will admit that I was a PBS kid growing up. I watched every kid show on that channel from Mr. Rogers to Barney. Yet, one of my favorite shows ever was Reading Rainbow. I remember once meeting the host, LeVar, in Austin and he signed a shirt for me. This show is designed to get kids to enjoy and become active readers.

Every episode introduced a new book and had an adventure that related to the book. I always thought that I had to go buy the books after they were read to me on tv. This program really does a good job at introducing children's literature to its audience. I remember that sometimes we would watch episodes at school as well. This show is still on tv and comes on everyday here in College Station at 2:00 pm. I watched it today and it took me back to when I was a kid.

The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher

Over this past weekend I went into my attic at home to find all my children books. I was very excited when I found my collection on Beatrix Potter books from when I was little. I forgot how much I enjoyed those books when I was younger. The stories are filled with lessons for younger children, and the wording in some of the stories are pretty funny to me. Also, the illustrations by the same author are extrodinary. I cannot wait to read and discuss Peter Rabbit in this class.

The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher is one of my favorite Beatrix Potter books. It is about a frog who goes on an adventure to find supper, and on his voyage he runs into trouble like being swallowed by a fish. Jeremy Fisher gave up on looking for minnows for his dinner and decided to settle for dinner with his friends. This dinner consisted of roasted grasshoppers with a ladybug sauce. He dined on this food with his friends Sir Isaac Newton and Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise. I was so excited when I found this book in my attic and my weekend was complete when I finished this book.

Journals

I was lucky enough to have the same English teacher in 8th grade and then when I was a Junior in high school. Both years at the beginning of class, the class was given a prompt to write about for the first 15 minutes in class. I kept a journal that had to be turned in at the end of each six weeks where I would be graded on grammer, spelling, and writing in general. Being exposed to writing everyday allowed me to get used to writing properly. I would use this exercise if I was an English teacher because students need to feel comfortable writing in any situation. This exercise allows students to become comfortable using English grammer and spelling. Also, it allows the students to be creative and get thoughts out with the different prompts. I guess that is why this blog is an exercise we do in this class.

the Bible

With Easter Sunday coming up I began to think about the many Bible stories I grew up hearing especially with going to Catholic school. These lessons, gospels, and parables were told to me from since I could remember. I recognize that the Bible is a form of literature as well as in a way children's literature. This is because the stories were written for everyone to learn and to have told to them. Just like some of the nursery rhymes were written for adults and now are told to children, the Bible acts in the same way I would say.

I believe that the Bible has a big impact in many kids lives as they grow up, and I recognize the Bible as a book to live by as well as a great work of literature. I would be interested in learning about how the Bible can fit into children's literature.

poetry

I am very excited to be talking about poetry in class finally. I have always been intrigued by poetry and I believe this began when I was young and my mom would read me Shel Silverstein and also when I started to do UIL oral reading. I remember always having to sit through numerous poetry books by Jack Perlutsky and Shel Silverstein to find a poem that would be interacting enough for oral reading. Having to put expressions and different tones to these poems was something that I thouroughly enjoyed while growing up. I liked getting in front of the judges and my family and entertaining them with these poems. It has been a long time since I have even looked at poems and I am so ready to read through the poetry book that we have for this class.

Tom Sawyer

A classic book that I think every child should read is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. I first read this book when I was very young, and throughout my reading career so far, I trully enjoy most of Mark Twain's writing. I am captivated through the reading because the lessons and experiences are experienced by many children while growing up.

Tom Sawyer is very mischevious and a trickster. He grows up as an orphan and is very humourous and sly. Tom and his friends often go on adventures that lead them to trouble, but Tom quickly finds his way out of it. He also likes to get in fights and arguments at school because he likes to impress girls and doing this is an easy way to get their attention. Tom's friends Huckleberry Finn and Joe Harper also like to go and play along and on the Mississippi River together with him.

This is the perfect story about the tipacle boy who likes to find trouble and who can sweet talk his way out of it. This book takes me back to the days when I was little and I would play outside and use my imagination to be something. Tom often played that he was a pirate on the Mississippi River. Today, I wonder if many kids still use their imaginations like this. I know I would often play at the tank behind my house while pretending I was a pilgrim. I don't think my sister ever did anything like this.

Jabberwocky lLesson

The discussion of Jabberwocky in class made me begin to think about how this poem could be incorporated into a class discussion in an intermediate school class. I feel it would be interesting to have students give meanings to the different made-up words that are found throughout this poem. Like the handout that discusses Lewis Carroll's meanings, the students would have to open up to their own imagination to give meaning to the make believe words. By doing this, the view of the poem would have differences among the students and each one could explain what they experienced while reading the poem.

Many students do not open up to their own individual creativity in the public school, non-advanced class. By having this lesson in an everyday english class, I believe that all the students would take part and have fun by sharing what they individually have experienced from this nonsense poem. Allowing individual creativity to come out would allow the students to acknowledge each other on a different level.

reading to kids

This past Friday, I went to volunteer at Kids Klub for a project for another class. This is an afterschool program here in College Station that is provided by the schools. During Kids Klub, there is homework time that is optional for the kids to use the time to do their homework. There was a group of girls who didn't want to play any of the games outside, so they went in to do homework. I went inside to help if they needed any. After they all decided that they had finished their work, I decided to read them some books that were in the computer lab. I read three storybooks, and I do not remember what any of them were called, but the girls really enjoyed having an older person like me read to them.

I felt like a role model because these girls were so excited that I had taken interest in helping them and then deciding to read to them. It was rewarding to be able to do such a simple act like this which made such an impact to these girls.

After Reading Alice in Wonderland...

After reading Alice in Wonderland for this class, I have been able to be enlightened by what is actually happening in the book through the class discussions. There is so much nonsense and satire that make up the wackiness of Wonderland. Also, reading the footnotes allowed me to ponder and question a lot of what is happening in the story. One footnote that threw me off big time was about when Alice was falling down the rabbit hole and she couldn't drop the jar of marmalade because it was falling at the same rate as her. Please explain that to me because that is to much for me to comprehend.

Wonderland is a place that defies the rules of nature, logic and pretty much everything that would make sense to me. I guess this is why Alice had such a hard time understanding the world around her like the conversation at the tea party and why there was no room for her, and why her being courteous was not accepted like she was taught it to be. This book is flat out crazy on the fact that someone actually sat down and wrote such nonsense that does not make sense. Someone like me who likes to understand the facts cannot sit down and read this because it just makes me mad. This is because I am not able to make sense of anything which is the purpose of the book.

School Reading Programs

I do not believe that children are being exposed to a variety of literature at early ages. I was lucky to have read many classic stories and award winning books when I was growing up. That was not because I was to read them in class, but because my mom exposed them to me. In my hometown, the public school library has the read up program in place for younger students. There are many books for these kids to read, but even with this program in place I do not believe that children are reading on their own reading level, and children are not able to engage in discussion of the books with this program. I use my sister as an example because she never took an interest in reading. She is in eighth grade now and I don't think she has been exposed to many books in the public school system like I was at the private school I attended. I feel there is a need for teachers to read to their students and not have lessons based exclusively on the Taks test.

Barnes and Noble

This past Thursday, I spent three hours in the children’s section of Barnes and Noble along with my friend Ashley. She was looking for books for her sister's baby and I was browsing the shelves looking at different genres of children's literature and just to see what was there. I came across many books that I remember reading when I was younger along with books that seem interesting for me to read now. I pulled quite a few books off the shelves to browse. I enjoyed reading many story books that I had read when I was younger and I found many new ones that I felt would interest me. I ended up buying about fifteen children’s books that day both story books and novels. I was telling my mom about this and at first she thought I was crazy to spend my money on books that she was sure we had in the attic, but then I believe that she recognized that this is the most interest I have taken in reading since I was in middle school. With her being a high school English teacher I am sure she is proud of my interest in good writing. I enjoyed looking at the many books that are out for children. I am sure I will be back for another afternoon of browsing.

Tar Beach

For one of my outside readings I read Tar Beach. This is a short, illustrated story about a minority girl in the 1940s who imagines that she owns all the riches by laying on her roof and looking across the city. Her father helped build the George Washington Bridge in New York and he was not able to enter into the union, Cassie the main character decides to use her imagination to have the riches of the city while being in the company of her family and friends; what really matters.

Fantasy

I have always enjoyed the fantasy genre of stories. I like being able to escape in my reading to and unknown world that seems so real through the development of the story and setting. Being able to experience a world that is so unreal and creative allows me to experience magic in my imagination. Ever since I was little, hearing a fantasy story helps me escape from everyday stresses and worries to a world that I can experience that normally I can not.

Of course one of my favorite fantasy story's is the Harry Potter series. This fantasy definately made me experience something that I would not experience in my everyday life. When I was younger, the story was so convincing that I thought I might be able to go to Hogwarts. Now that seems ridiculous, but the fantasy was that good. I am excited about further learning about fantasy literatue in this class.

Alice in Wonderland

I am looking forward to reading Alice in Wonderland for this class. This past summer I bought the book to read because I had not read or heard the story since I was very little. I am looking forward to reading it in here because I didn't really pay attention to the text when I was reading it and I am interested in finding out what the underlying meaning of most of the story is.

With being a Disney movie, most people should be able to recognize the storyline of this book. I've never really gotten into understanding this story and I am glad I am going to finally have discussions about it in class. Hopefully I will be able to recognize the story as something interesting instead of a bunch of nonsense like I have before.

writing a children's book

An aspiration of mine in life is to write a real children's book. I want to write a storybook with great illustrations and has a great impact on children. Yet, I have not made a plan for this or have I stumbled upon a propmt for my story. Maybe this journal will persuade me to look into this or even to write a story while in this class. I have written small stories in the past, but none were any that I felt would be something to turn into a real storybook.

Since I am a political science major and I do enjoy politics, I could see myself writing a children's story based on politics. Maybe something to show children how democracy works or what it means to be an active citizen in society. I believe that these are important topics that many children are not exposed to or aware of. If I wrote a story that became popular, maybe many children would become aware of our political society.

Book Fair

I went to a private school when I was growing up and every semester the school would host a book fair. Students could go after school to buy books of all kinds. I would go everyday and buy a new book. I enjoyed getting the books that had activities with them such as how to make friendship bracelets and crafts like that. I am from a small town so the only place where I can buy books is really Wal-Mart. The book fair allowed small town children to get their hands on childrens literature.

An interesting type of book that was on sale at the book fair was one that would be printed with your name as a character. I remember wanting one of these books very badly. My sister was just starting to learn how to read, so I decided to buy one of these for her birthday. The book I bought had her as a friend of Minnie Mouse. I remember getting it in and being so excited to help her read it.

something to write about

Peter Pan

This past week I read Peter Pan for one of my outside readings. I have never read the original book, but I have always been a fan of the movie. I was interested in how the book and the movie compared. John, Wenday, and Michael Darling follow Peter Pan to Neverland where the kids as well as Peter Pan never grow up. This is a magical fairytale where the Darling children are taken to a whole new reality which cannot be reached in the real world. There are mermaids, pirates, fairies, and the children can fly in Neverland. The children engage in danger with the pirates who are trying to catch Peter Pan. Wendy also becomes a mother figure to the "lost boys" in this land. The story was very similar to the movie.

Ella Enchanted

It has been a long time since I sat and read a book in one day. Even though Ella Enchanted was a short, easy read I could not let it down. I loved how the main character Ella was so independent, but so restrained due to her curse of obeying everything. She knew what she wanted and she was not going to conform to her families wannabe high society. She had to though because of her curse.

The story of this book allowed me to feel like a kid again. I have not been able to enjoy any required readings in a long time because they are usually to complicated. It was nice to read a book for a class that was also fun and enjoyable. I look forward to other books we will read.

Love You Forever

For my second book review I read Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. This book was a short story with pictures about a boy growing up and facing experiences that most kids face while growing up like being rebellious or messy. Even though the boy acts in these ways and sometimes is not respectful for his mother, she shows him unconditional love. He realizes this when he becomes a father himself.

The story is a great read for young kids because it is repetitive with the same sing song verse from page to page. I remember my mom reading me this book when I was younger and I would always read along on the repetitive parts: "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." This book still has an impact on me because sometimes my mom still says this saying that is found throughout the story. The story is reassuring for both parents and children that no matter what happens, both will still have each other.

Children's Literature so far

So far this class has been everything that I could expect. It is very enjoyable and by far my favorite class this semester. I enjoy being able to read and analyze stories that are so well known to me and being exposed to versions that I have not been told. I love to read and being able to learn about literature that is appealing to children makes me want to spread this joy to others.

This weekend while I was at my cousin's house, I was browsing her bookshelf and pulled off some books to read to her. Avery, who is six, was very enthusiastic about me wanting to read to her. Being a fairly new reader she soon took over. We read The Little Engine that Could and a few others. I was able to guide her in finding the lessons of these books and to determine the character's dillema or personality. This was a very rewarding experience, and even though it seems like an everyday activity for a six year old, I was able to offer guidance.

Cinderella Discussion

After reading the various Cinderella stories this week, I am surprised to find that there are more versions of this tale than the one put together by the people at Disney. I had most of the stories of Cinderella, but I do not recall ever reading or being told any of the Catskin versions. I find this surprising because I thought I had heard every fairytale possible since I have many fairytale books at home. I guess next time I go home I am going to look through them to find these versions.

Cinderella is the epitamy of magical happily ever after stories for young girls. I do remember once being told a version of Cinderella where the step-sisters had to cut of there toe or heel to make the glass slipper fit. That version ruined the whole fairytale for me. I never have been able to watch even the Disney version without thinking about that. I am a very skirmish person and when that part came up while I was reading Cinderella for the class I just turned the page because it brought up bad thoughts from my childhood. Cinderella since has not been a very happy story for me. I just cannot imagine someone wanting something so bad that they would do that to themselves.

The Catskin tales did catch my attention and brought me back into the Cinderella story. Since I have never heard these tales I was able to enjoy reading them unlike the classic Cinderella tale. This version showed me that even if a girl could have everything she wanted she still may not be completely happy without true love.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

For my first children's book to read as an outside reading for this class, I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I pulled this book off my shelf at home and remember it to be one of my favorites. This is a very easy read and is targeted for new readers. The illustrations are very unique and colorful. I would say it is eye-catching for a young child.

The story is about a caterpillar who munches his way into becoming a butterfly by eating foods such as lollipops, ice cream, watermelon and other appealing foods for a young child. The words in the story are simple for children to read and understand also. The story helps teach counting because the caterpillar eats a certain number of each food and the days of the week. I think it is unique to teach these things to children through the story of how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.

Eric Carle stories are favorites of mine because the stories hold my attention and the illustrations by Carle are different from other drawings seen in books. I would recommend this book to children especially those who are just starting to learn to read.

Toad Hall

A very vivid memory from my childhood was going to Toad Hall in Austin which is a children's bookstore for story time. When I was little, I was a very avid reader and I would beg my mom to go there whenever we went to Austin. . I would buy stacks of books before leaving. This store is a very unique store for children's literature. The store only carries children's literature, and it is decorated for a child's imagination. Also, there are always events for children like author's who come to read to the children. I remember going to some of these events and I have books that were signed by these authors. These experiences helped create my appreciation for children's literature.

Book List

Book 1: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Author: Eric Carle
Chapter or Picture Book: Picture Book
Posting Date & Number: January 27,2008 #4

Book 2: Love You Forever
Author: Robert Munsch
Chapter or Picture Book: Picture Book
Posting Date & Number: February 3,2008 #7

Book 3: Peter Pan
Author: J.M. Barrie
Chapter or Picture Book: Chapter Book
Posting Date & Number: February 9,2008 #9

Book 4: Tar Beach
Author: Faith Ringgold
Chapter or Picture Book: Picture Book
Posting Date & Number: February 22,2008 #15

Book 5: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Author: Mark Twain
Chapter or Picture Book: Chapter Book
Posting Date & Number: March 8,2008 #21

Book 6: The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
Author: Beatrix Potter
Chapter or Picture Book: Picture Book
Posting Date & Number: March 23,2008 #25

Book 7: Bridge to Terebithia
Author: Katherine Peterson
Chapter or Picture Book: Chapter Book
Posting Date & Number: March 29,2008 #28

Book 8: Island of the Blue Dolphins
Author: Scott O'Dell
Chapter or Picture Book: Chapter Book
Posting Date & Number: April 3, 2008 #30

Book 9: Number the Stars
Author: Lois Lowry
Chapter or Picture Book: Chapter Book
Posting Date & Number: April 20,2008

Book 10: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Author: C.S. Lewis
Chapter or Picture Book: Chapter Book
Posting Date & Number: April 23,2008

Baby Book Basket

My best friend's sister is having a baby, and for a gift my friend and I are putting together a basket full of children's books. We have been brainstorming on what books should be bought for this gift. From starting to read the Children's Literature textbook for this class, I am reminded of some of my favorite classic children's books that I believe every child should be exposed to. Goodnight Moon, The Velveteen Rabbit, Where the Wildthings Are, and the Beatrix Potter books like Peter Rabbit and Flopsy Mopsy. In the textbook there is talk about what books help children seek comfort and help learn life lessons. Goodnight Moon is an exceptional book for teaching children to find comfort when their comfort zone is not available (like parents). I am very excited to learn about the history of children's literature from this class because I think it will help in picking out ideal books that will benefit a young child. This gift is going to be very special to give because I remember being read all these classics when I was younger by my mother, and I hope Ashley's sister will be able to share in this experience with her child.