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.

Owl Moon

Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen, is the story of a young child who is finally taken owling in the woods by his or her father. For the sake of discussion, I am assuming the main character is a young boy. The activity of owling involves hiking in the snow into the woods during the dead of night to call, sear for and find an owl. The boy has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time and has watched his brothers go again and again on this adventure to bond with their father and it is finally his turn! The experience proves to be just as amazing as he anticipated and seems almost reverent in the author’s portrayal of the adventure. Once they find an owl, the both stand awestruck with the mysterious and majestic qualities the owl has.

From the illustrations, I gathered that the little boy models his father's behaviors perfectly and consistently repeats to himself the things his father has told him about owling; to be silent, brave and hopeful during the search. I think that after reflecting on this remarkable adventure experienced by the small boy, I think that his father takes his children on these trips at an older age so that the knowledge they gain is more that simply how to find an owl. At an older age, children would be able to learn that patience, persistence, hopefulness and respect for nature is very important to their family and that after following these values through, the goal, or finding an owl, can be accomplished! These were simply my first thoughts, but I believe that the almost non-existent character of the father is more of an influence on all other aspects of the story than any other character. The little boy’s character is more of a reflective aid to help us see the wonderful and wise man the father really is.

I would highly recommend this story for any classroom throughout the elementary school and in upper grade English classrooms for reflection and analysis. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the beautiful illustrations.

Elizabeth George Speare

Born in Massachusetts on November 21, 1908, Elizabeth George loved to read and tell stories from a very young age. As she grew older, among the rich history of New England, she also gained a great knowledge and passion for the past, but it would not be until she had married Alden Speare in 1936, move to Connecticut and raise two children into their teen years that Speare would finally begin to bring her two passions together into writing. Her first works actually had nothing to do with history, but of home and family life in the form of articles in newspapers and magazines. Once, she felt a sense of confidence in her abilities, Speare began to consider writing something larger. Around this time Speare stumbled upon a true story from New England history about a fascinating woman, who she believed would make the perfect heroine for a historical novel. And so the story of The Witch of Blackbird Pond was born! From the first accidental premise, Speare developed a complex story plot and in depth characters appropriate for any audience.

She believed the novel to be quite an accomplishment for a housewife and accidental writer and apparently many others did as well. In 1959, Speare won the Newbery Medal for The Witch of Blackbird Pond and later in 1962, won another for her next novel, The Bronze Bow. Speare also won a Newbery Honor Award in 1983 and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in 1989. With all of these amazing accomplishments under her belt, her story is quite amazing to me. It just proves that, unfortunately for all those with fancy degrees in this area, talent in writing is really something that a fortunate few are just simply born with and comes naturally to them. Elizabeth George Speare is just such a person and is a great role model for many people that may not have much experience now in writing, but have wonderful ideas, for any sort of writing, to get their imaginations in gear and create something!

Information gathered from the following websites:
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/catalog/authordetail.cfm?authorID=4099
http://www.edupaperback.org/showauth.cfm?authid=85
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/speare.htm

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, is an amazing book that has a lot of potential for teaching may different subjects in the classroom to a variety of age and reading skill levels! I first read this book when I was in about the fifth grade during the summer for pleasure. At the time I thoroughly enjoyed the suspense and learning about the time period through the characters' experiences. At this age, the story would be very beneficial to students who need to be read aloud to, learn to enjoy the act of reading or practice their understanding of plot, since the plot of the story is very complex. I read it again in middle school for an English class and had my interest in historical fiction renewed after looking at it from a different perspective. At this age, I remember my teacher trying to teach us to read between the lines and gain information and understanding through what the authors implied through the actions of the characters, such as Kit or Hannah. Again in reading this weekend, I was more aware of the life lessons present in what the characters learn throughout the book. I was completely unaware in the 5th grade that I was being taught a lesson of standing up for what you believe in and not being afraid to be yourself. These are fairly common themes of children's stories, but in this case, the lessons are presented in what appears to be a true story in its historical context. Cleverly, the author sends her message through the plot of the story. I think at a young age students can benefit from learning of a historical time and enjoying the suspense of the story, but in my opinion more is to be learned at a slightly older age, even in college years, about life and the sticky situations we are faced with at times!

Because I am going to be a teacher, and have taken many education courses so far, I now automatically think about lesson writing and how to incorporate ANYTHING into my future classroom! So, my thought on this books are as follows:

The story itself, as a whole, is too lengthy and confusing to be used in early elementary classrooms, such as 1st and 2nd, but sections of the book, where Kit gets herself in comical situations could be used for story starters, discussions about the historical time Kit and Hannah live in and even some discussion of lessons learned if I were to paraphrase the story so that the students could understand the lessons the author has tried to portray. I also think that the younger grades would enjoy drawing scenes of the story from descriptive passages about Hannah's house or the ship, the Dolphin. This would greatly improve their listening abilities and planning abilities in thinking about the described place and putting it on paper!

This book would be great to use with younger grades, possibly 3rd and 4th, for a read aloud or partner reading to learn about the historical time period that the book takes place in. The students could compile a list of all the new things they learned from reading this story about the daily lives of the early Americans. As a class we could briefly research the Salem witch trials and talk about how the lessons that are present in the story would have effected the events of the time, if the citizens of the colonies had followed them.

In the older grades in middle school and possibly high school, students could do extensive work in researching on aspect of colonial life that appears in the book. Although this would be an easier read for many high school students, the book would be a great, quick starter on a colonial unit. This kind of unit could be done in either an English class or History class. This kind of great literature can be used in many different areas of learning.

This has been a wonderful story at many different parts of my life and I would highly recommend reading it to anyone, especially teachers in their classrooms with their students!!!