Ramona and Her Father

Ramona and Her Father by Beverley Cleary was a favorite story of mine as a kid but I couldn't remember even the basic story line, only that I had loved it. I decided to read it again over Spring Break as one of my 10 outside reading books and it really had an impact on me. Ramona in the book, tries and tries to control and fix her family and their problems that are too large for a young child like her to fix. She learns through a lot of trial and error that some troubles fix themselves and some you just have to let someone else fix for you because they are too much for you at the time. Among the many smaller problems the family members face in the story, the most important troubles are with her Dad, hence the title of the book! In the beginning her father looses his job and so they are tight on money. Her father also smokes and begin to smoke heavily because of the loss of his job. These two problems give Ramona a lot of trouble because as hard as she may try, she can not fix them. As a child, I also tried to fix problems that were out of my league and she to even now try to take on too much at once. Take for instance this semester, my course load, working, my dog, my friends, roommate issues, being involved in 4 student organizations and holding a position in my sorority have given me a run for my money keeping up with everything and on top of all of this my sister is getting into trouble as a freshman in college and my great grandma is very sick. Try as I may, I can not fix these problems and it does not a bit of good to stress over them, but I still do. I understand Ramona and feel that I can stand to learn a lesson or to from her and her trials before mine get out of hand! I really enjoyed this story and I definitely think that it is relevant to all!

The author Beverley Cleary, who continues to write in the 21st century, strives to bring characters to children who are just like them and that they can learn from. As a child in Oregon, Beverley searched the school libraries for stories she could relate to and characters she would love but was left empty handed at the time. One teacher commented to her in 7th grade that she should just write the stories she wishes to read and become a children's book author. Beverley took the idea and ran with it, never doubting what she would become and thankfully for this, children today have tons of tales of characters such as Ramona, to get to know, learn from and understand to help them get through their own childhoods!

The Birthday Present

The Birthday Present by Maria Edgeworth is a simple, didactic, and vividly written story about a young girl who must learn the tough lessons of modesty and generosity. Rosamond the main character has her friend, Bell's birthday party coming up and to make herself look better, she tries to make a show of her generosity but ends up making a fool of herself. Rosamond's sister Laura is not concerned with making a show and keeps her money until their is a person in need of it, which turns out to shine a lovely light on how generous and kind Laura really is. Rosamond has to learn a tough lesson that I think a lot of young people would appreciate reading about. Many adults I know need to learn this lesson! Because of the broad and universal lesson set in motion by this story I think that it is still relevant to people today and should be shared.

The author's name was Maria Edgeworth was lived and worked int he 19th century. She was a spinster who lived at home with her beloved father and took care of his 21 children he had through several marriages. His last wife, who out lived him, was the same age as Louisa and actually became her best friend. Maria's father was extremely influential in her writing, even controlling in the beginning, not allowing anything to be published until her approved of it. I believe that this story was one of Maria's first ventures into publishing in her name, by herself, without the assistance of her father. They published several parenting volumes together on their beliefs and studies of all the children in the house including, "Parent's Assistant" in which this story first appeared. They primary belief about raising children was that parent must be present in their children's lives and not leave them to be cared for by the nursemaids, as the character Bell was. Rosamond was a common character in Maria's writing, using the young girl as a bad example who learns a lesson in the end. The story falls under domestic fiction which was incredibly popular at the time, although Maria did not choose this genre for this reason, she simply wrote about what she knew. I really enjoyed reading this book and I think that it can certainly be relevant in today's world.

Little Women

The story of Little Women is one that I have enjoyed for much of my life. My sister and I have watched the movie version with Winona Ryder so many times that I could quote the majority of the movie still to this day! However well I thought that I knew the story from knowing the movie version by heart, does not compare to the love I have for it now after reading the novel. I also thought it even more intriguing after researching the author a little more in depth. Louisa May Alcott, the author, actually loosely based her main character of Jo March on herself. The character of Jo is interesting to me because of the way she feels an outsider in her own world. It is almost as if she must have been adopted into the family. This sense of separation from what is expected of a girl in her station and what is considered proper is plainly seen in the text through the descriptions of her actions and her thoughts on her life. All of the sisters suffer from an extreme amount of longing for better things and wishing for more, expect Beth, who I would consider as Jo's opposite. Beth never complains and always seems to behave in the correct way and be the perfect, polite, though shy, girl that was the ideal then. Jo having married the mysterious professor in the end is the only truly visible difference between her character and Louisa's personal life. Louisa never married but seemed determined not to ever marry, having multiple offers over her lifetime. It is a wonderful tale about a typical middle class family of the time and I definitely think that all of the discreet morals in the story still heavily apply today. I would recommend this story to anyone!

Goodnight Moon

This first time I remember reading this book, I was babysitting my neighbor, John, who I had been watching since he was only a few months old. He was mesmerized with the pictures, rhyming and finding all of the items that the story talks about in the room. It was a kind of searching game that we played that really didn't relax him for bed at all, but it was his favorite. This book was written in 1947 and it is interesting to me the use of color pages and strictly black and white as well. That is only seen occasionally even now and it gives it a real sense of television when you read through it. It is as though you see the stage/set of the show in the paintings of the room. Then they pan into the scene to highlight an object of importance, then pan back to see the whole room and for you to search with you eyes the item of importance. The pages are also very informal and comfortable with the position of the text usually inside the picture, floating in space. The room paintings, not being framed on the page, give it a really relaxed feel, like a home would be like, where as the panned in pages of black and white are more formal with the framing, the text outside the frame and the absence of color. The bright use of color is definitely ahead of its time, and confuses me in the way it is used. Why use such vibrant colors in a children book about going to bed. I supposed the only explanation is that as the images dim with the little mouse’s night light, it is easier to see the change throughout the book if the beginning colors are brighter and more vibrant to begin with. Overall, I think that this book is a great addition to any classroom or family library and obviously has some merit and credibility having been a classic for so many years.

When Bluebell Sang by Lisa Campbell Ernst

When Bluebell Sang, is a story that I grew up with along with many other tales by Lisa Campbell Ernst. Her illustrations and clever dialogue between characters made reading so much fun for me. The reason I decided to write about this story today is because it has a similar theme as Ella Enchanted woven into it. This theme many not be the author's most important or intended message, but it stood out to me and can be applied to my life. Previously, I talked about how, in Ella Enchanted, I could see myself in her through her struggle to make her own choices and not always simply obey what she is told. This same theme is present in the story about Bluebell, the cow, who can sing beautifully and is taken advantage of by a mean and bossy agent out to make himself rich. Bluebell, and her farmer Swenson, learn not to trust Big Eddie, the agent, or his motives and to make the decision to go back home by themselves by cleverly tricking the agent in the end.

In my life, as I have mentioned before, I have trouble telling people no and standing up for myself. These ideas may seem completely different than the themes of the books, but the connection I am making lies in the reasons why I never say no or stand up for myself. I have to learn not to always obey or take what someone else says for truth and to make my own decisions. I also can see this connection in how college students change their views slowly throughout school. I have never been one to constantly question things, but I find that now more than ever, the professor must prove or argue why something is so. It seems that I am beginning to move away from obedience and more towards thinking independently for myself, and I believe this is part of growing up.

Ella Enchanted = Amazing

I was one of those people who raised their hand timidly in class because I read the book from cover to cover in a very short amount of time, despite our equally spaced chapter reading assignments. If I could have I would have read and read until it was finished after the first few chapters. Unfortunately my daily life got in the way of my reading and I had to stop and restart several times before I was finished. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine was published in 1997 and is a contemporary version of the Cinderella tale we all know. I found the story intriguing because of Ella character and the situations she gets herself unintentionally into. For me, I related to Ella at a symbolic level. Ella's curse of always obeying represents how I felt growing up until I left home for college several years ago. It was not that I was ever forced to obey physically, like Ella, but I wanted to please my parents and teachers so much that their disapproval of anything I did or said was enough to teach me a lesson. Being a people pleasure is something that I struggle with even now, with the apparent inability to say no and to stand up for myself when I really need to. I accomplish small feats of defiance now occasionally, but I struggle to completely disregard someone else's wishes, even when they are not my own. Ella can not disobey an order because of the curse, but I rarely can to someone close to me without a guilty conscience weighing me down until I given in.

For this reason, I was intrigued by the character of Ella because of her innate defiance against something she can not control. She inspires me to pump up my defiance against what I am always asked and to decide what the best choice is for me, Erin. At the very end of the book, Ella is fighting against the curse one last time, after countless trials of trying and failing to break it. Finally, she breaks the curse and realizes that she can choose to do anything she wants! She repeats such lines as, “Myself unto myself. One. Me.” She must repeat these phases several times in the process of realizing the full meaning of the complete absence of the curse permanently. (228) I hope that I can have a moment such as this, when I realize it is okay to say no and that I can not always make every one happy!

The Acrostic: Erin Marie Hays

Excellent at patiently listening.
Ready to take on the rest of her life.
It will be a moment of pure pride to see her Aggie Ring glistening.
No she will probably not be the perfect wife.

Making people laugh makes her world go around.
Absolutely in love with her dog Lily.
Resolutely will cherish the colors mode and brown.
It pains her to find the weather so chilly.
Expects to live peacefully outside of town.

Has a great love for her traditions.
A smile her friends always can bring to her face.
You may have met her under many different conditions.
Spend time knowing her and a loving hug you will embrace.