Fairy Tales

When I was younger, fairy tales were mostly told to my sister, since she was usually the one who liked magic, fairies, princes and princesses and happily ever after endings. However, I do remember the impact that Robin Hood and Peter Pan had on me.

For my 4th birthday, my parents got me a custom made Robin Hood book in which i was included as a character in the book, along with my sister and two neighbors. I made my mom read that book to me almost every night because I loved being Robin Hood's sidekick as he stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Robin Hood became my hero and I pretended to be him all the time, running around my house with a stick which was supposed to be my bow and arrow. I would pretend to steal candy and give it to other children who did not have any candy. I think that the story was very important in teaching me how to share and to help those less fortunate than me.

Peter Pan was also a favorite of mine since he could fly. I loved the cartoon movie by Disney as well as the later-released Hook starring Robin Williams. I just oved how he refused to grow up and could fly just based on happy thoughts. I think that the notion of never growing up and having to deal with the problems and responsibilities of being an adult was one of the main reasons why Peter Pan stuck with me and was such a favorite of mine.

Celebrities Writing Children's Books

I really enjoyed this article. I also have no problem with Celebrities releasing children's books. Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Bill Cosby, Will Smith, and even Madonna have done it. Who knows, maybe some of these celebrities' true calling was writing children's literature. However, there are definitely some who do not have the gift.

In my opinion, being a celebrity shouldn't mean they should not be allowed to write successful childrens books. However, like Park mentions in her aticle, I think that since their status makes their books more popular are more read by children, their books should all carry strong messages and be written well. Otherwise, hildren will be exposed to badly written literature in lieu of well-written literature, but take no notice of the difference and grow up lacking this knowledge of the difference.

None of the books we have read have been written by celebrity authors but I know that not judging a book based on who wrote it is an important idea to think about when choosing a book for a child to read. Unless, however, it is written by an author who has become a celebrity for his/her writing excellence.

Beach Article

In the article that dealt with how adolescents respond to multicultural literature with alternative values, I found it similar to my experience with Esperanza Rising. I am generally very unfamiliar with Mexican values and customs since not only am I a white male, but I was born in England and have been nrought up with British values and customs. However, similar to what the article explained, after reading novels such as Esperanze Rising and Copper Sun, I was able to better understand the different customs and values in the different culture, both African and Mexican. Reading about the different traditions in the novels allows the reader, in this case, me, to get a glimpse of how important these values and customs are to the characters in the book who practice them. Reading about the different values and customs allows the reader to put themselves into the shoes of the characters and view the customs throught the words int he ook which are describing them. All in all after reading Esperanza Rising and Copper Sun, I got a better understanding of the traditions practiced in both cultures and I was more accepting of them because they were no longer so "new" to me. Also, I could understand them to a better extent and see how important they are to the particular people who did them.

Research Proposal

For my end of year Research paper, I want to explore the different ways that adolescents behave in novels in which they must struggle to survive after some sort of a disaster. There are many books out there which focus on the survival strategies of adolescents after they are stranded somewhere that is unfamiliar to them. One of the books which focus on this are Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, where Brian must adapt to survive in the Canadian wilderness with no tools but a hatchet. Brian, however, evolves into a new person who becomes very intelligent in his efforts to survive using only what nature gives him. Another book I plan to use is Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, where a group of young boys are stranded on an island and at first are civilized, but then most of them grow into untamed savages when required to survive on their own. Another book is My side of the mountain, by Jean Craighead George, where a young boy named Sam escapes to the mountains in New Yor where he gets help from a man named Bill to survive. Although he begins being very poor at survival and eventually grows into a success, Sam ends up realizing that once he starts to gain experience in the outdoors, he finds himself building a guest house in a tree, showing his secret desire to be back in civilization.

One final book I may or may not use is Life of Pi which is about a boy named Pi who is stranded at sea on a lfieboat with only a Tiger. Although he has supplies and knowledge to survive, he is faced with a unique and dangerous addition, a Tiger in his presence who he tames and takes care of.