Posts tagged childrensliterature

As you may know (unless you are living under a rock) the first book of The Hunger Games trilogy is being released this weekend. Having read the books about a year ago, I am excited to see what the movie brings to the storytelling and, from what I have read already, I don’t think I will be disappointed. 

However, today I had a strange confluence of things happen. At the same time as I was reading a review of The Hunger Games, I happened to also read an article about the anniversary of the Titanic. 

Now, I am sure you are wondering what brings those diaparate things together. The interesting thing is that they both talked about the same topic; how we deal with and teach on the topic of death today, whether it is at school or at home.

To provide some context, the author of the article reviewing The Hunger Games stated the usual critiques about camera angles, actors, etc. They captured the usual events in their critic’s eye But the reviewer then stepped outside the usual confines of the format and formed a thought that I hoped made other readers take pause, namely that, 

“The audience at Monday’s packed preview of The Hunger Games came out juiced and happy, ready to spread the good word, while all I could think was, They’ve just seen a movie in which twenty-plus kids are murdered. Why aren’t they devastated? If the filmmakers had done their job with any courage, the audience would have been both juiced and devastated.”

At the same time, the article dealing with the anniversary of the Titanic asked, how do we  balance “potentially scary details with more palatable, inspirational fare”?

How do we deal with the death aspect with children? We have two very real depictions of death; one fictionalized but very, very real and one historical and fascinating in it’s own gruesome way.

Before going further, I have to say that I loved the books in The Hunger Games Trilogy. They were so well written and, despite the content, evoked a very real desire to see the outcome. You were mentally a part of the action, cheering for Katniss and Peeta, sad when other likeable characters died but realizing that that meant one less person fighting for a spot. You were drawn in to the situations and characters in a way that hasn’t happened since the Harry Potter series. But in those books, you knew that the people dying were either the bad guys or people dying to destroy evil. The Hunger Games does not really have that. While there are some more unlikable characters in the Games themselves, many of the contestants are not inherently good or evil. They are there, like the others, because of the circumstance. 

I also had a huge interest in the Titanic, from the time I discovered that my birthday shared the same anniversary as the actual sinking. I read books, found images, built models and this was all before the actual site of the sinking and wreckage was found. I knew all about the bodies floating in the water slowly dying of hyperthermia (I mean, I lived next to the Atlantic. Ever tried swimming there?).

However, being a teacher now, this question of how to approach this topic, makes me take pause. It’s a question that every teacher has to answer. In fact, my teaching partner and I had this very conversation when reading “The Series of Unfortunate Events” series to the students. The students loved it but my partner had concerns over the cavalier nature of death and murder in the stories while I thought that students were already well acclimatized and saw much worse.

Which brings us to the crux of the problem: Do we gloss over death in literature, hiding the reality of it, in the hopes that we protect our children from harsh realities or do we bring it out in the open, hoping that as teachers we can bring a more rounded perspective to the depictions of death in literature?

The thing is, death has always been a part of the lives of children. In the past, children were constantly surrounded by the horrors of death, whether it was with the farm animals or the diseases we take for granted today but had such horrific effects on the people with no access to our modern scientific knowledge. People constantly got hurt in minor ways but ended up dying from infections treatable today. Diseases like tuberculosis, smallpox or whooping cough caught even the most healthy in it’s clutches. Death was not something hidden or uncommon for children. 

Neither to the children of today though, in many ways, it is more deceptive and alarming in how it is presented to children. The modern child is exposed to probably more gruesome death like caricatures than ever in previous generations. While highly fictionalized, it is still very real and in it’s fictionalization, maybe made too real in it’s attempt to sensationalize death. Coming alongside that, is the appearance, from the first days of video games, of the un-death death. No matter how many times, Mario walks into that turtle, he always comes back to life. The shoot-em up, shoot everything in sight stylings of Grand Theft Auto has left our youth with a very distorted view of death as something that is not really real. They have become acclimatized to it in way that has deadened their senses to the true emotions and realities surrounding death and it’s actual effects to the people surrounding that death.

As the movie reviewer bemoans, 

“But where is the pervasive, lingering sense of loss? Where is the horror? Maybe the true horror is how easily the movie goes down.”

So, what do we as teachers do? 

As I look at the kids in my class this year and their smirking attitudes towards someone being hurt and hear their misunderstanding of the full impact of what death actually means with their understated cries of, “That’s harsh”, it makes me sadly realize that what the youth of today may really need is more connection to death. That is, an arena where the concepts and situations involving death are brought out and discussed in the context of teaching life lessons. Maybe the classroom is the only place where these real discussions will happen. Maybe the bodies floating in the frigid waters of the Atlantic are important images. Maybe the atrocities of the Holocaust are important ideas that our students need to bring a truer understanding of the sacrifices, the pain and the mistakes our human race have made in the pursuit of knowledge, power, greed, and misunderstanding. How can we hide the things that have been so painfully gained? Do we continue to let movies, tv shows and video games teach our students about death?

Maybe Grade 1 is too young to bring full light to these concepts but certainly, I don’t think that we do our students any service in glossing over things so we don’t make them cry.

Two things brought this to light for me. First was our Annual Terry Fox Day Run. Terry Fox, for those who don’t know him, fought cancer twice to run across Canada raising money and awareness for Cancer research and those suffering and dying from cancer including young children. As is usual, most students don’t have a clue as to who Terry Fox is and why we are spending part of the day running around the track in his name. They usually see it as some free time to run around. However, the last couple of years, I have shown a really honest, emotionally compelling video on the life of Terry Fox. And I usually have children, including this past year, who are crying at the end (much like their teacher). Before you state how awful that is, making children cry, let me state that since I have shown that video prior to running, the students get it. They understand why this is important, they understand the sacrifice he made and the pain he went through to help others. They emphasize and they run with a different spirit than the other students.

The other thing is our annual Remembrance Day, which is particularly important since the passing of my Grandfather. My grandfather fought in WWII as an airplane mechanic. He never killed anyone or actually participated in the actual fighting, but, despite all my questions and queries, he still never told me a word about what it was like. When pressed, all he would tell me was that it was too sad for me and he didn’t want me to hear those sad details. To think what it was like for an airplane mechanic in England to not want to talk about the war because it was still too painful for him. How do we get our children to understand that type of pain, loss and desire to still sacrifice to protect countries and lives if we gloss over these types of remembrances.

If we do that, all our children have to pin their experiences with death to are Grand Theft Auto and C.S.I.  

What do you think? How do you deal with the topic of death in literature or otherwise in your class?

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Pockettales had the opportunity recently to catch up with renowned children’s author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers and ask him some questions about his writing process.

Oliver Jeffers has written a number of children’s books including Lost and Found, Up and Down, The Incredible Book Eating Boy, Heart and the Bottle, How to Catch a Star and The Great Paper Caper. His story, Lost and Found was recently adapted as an animated film in 2008 winning the BAFTA award for short film. His most recent book, Stuck in a Tree, tells the story of a boy who loses his kite in a tree and goes through incredible lengths to get it out of the tree.

We asked Mr. Jeffers five questions about his writing, illustrations and his favorite books.

Pockettales:  What led you to become a children’s book author?

Jeffers: I always enjoyed drawing and writing, and I have collected children’s books my whole life, so at university it occurred to me I could pair what I loved doing to make my own picture books.

Pockettales: What inspires you as you look for new ideas for your stories?

Jeffers: Everything and everyone around me, real life events, people and places. I always carry my sketchbook to be sure I remember any ideas I have. 

My recent book ‘Stuck’ was inspired by a true story.

Pockettales: What is easiest/hardest part of the creation process for you?

Jeffers: I’d say the easiest part is when I get to knock off early and go out and its also the hardest part, disciplining myself and being my own boss.

Pockettales: Do you create the pictures for your books first or do you write the story out? 

Jeffers: They happen at the same time, and I don’t mean I have a pencil in both hands! I mean I think visually and make the words and pictures as I go.

Pockettales: Who is your favorite children’s lit author?

Jeffers: Tomi Ungerer, Roald Dahl, Eric Carle and Maurice Sendak but to name a few.

With Oscar buzz in the air, I thought it would be fun to highlight a really neat resource I have used in the classroom in the past but had forgotten about. As I was searching through my resources, I stumbled across this gem of a site. 

Storyline Online is an effort by the ScreenActor’s guild where well known artists and actors read children’s stories. Choosing one of the stories will provide students with a video of the actor reading the story with closeups of the book illustrations intersperse. The videos are well done with background music. As they are mostly actors, the stories are read with great expression. While there are not a whole lot of stories, the stories chosen are very good choices and the selection of stories are being added to with Betty White the most recent of contributors. 

All in all, it’s a fun site with several well know actors (maybe more recognizable to adults with the exception of Haylie Duff perhaps) and well done. The site also supports teachers with lesson plans and support materials to go with each story.

Visit Storyline Online!

More and more, kids are using digital platforms like the ipad for reading. With recent studies showing that kids prefer digital e-books with enhanced content over regular paper editions and comprehension levels remaining similar for both digital and print copies, enhanced books are going to become increasingly popular. While some critics state that, 

the level of recall actually was less when comparing an enhanced ebook to a standard digital edition” and that “the culprit seemed to be too much focus on enjoying what the screen could do rather than the material itself

there is no doubt that enhanced books are engaging and fun forms of literature that take advantage of new technologies and new ways to bring stories to life (For more on the debate, check out the articles, “Digital Media Brings the Reader into the Book” and “Are Children’s E-books Really Terrible For Your Children”).

My own children, ages 3 and 1, both love the Dr. Seuss books available on the ipad. Not only can they have the books read to them and follow along but they can also touch objects on the screen and have the app say what those objects are. The text is highlighted as it is read so children and see and hear the words and they are both very engaged. Of course, we don’t use the apps exclusively and we provide tons of great print books for our children which they also love. We believe it is always about moderation and allowing them to enjoy the fun of the apps but also knowing that the act of reading print books to our children is also an important bonding experience that an app just cannot give.

Regardless, there are some great apps out there. The blog, Digital Media Diet, has a great post on 25 Essential Children’s Book Apps, where the author has,

whittled down my favorites to just 25 apps I would recommend for a well-rounded collection. This list represents just 10% of the 250 books reviewed on our site (and includes insights from previewing over 1000 book apps overall).

Our Top 25 Children’s Book Apps:

Essential Fairy Tales & Nursery Rhymes:

The Three Little Pigs - Nosy Crow Interactive Storybook

Nursery Rhymes with StoryTime

Cinderella - A PicPocket Book

Extra Special ‘Wow’ Factor:

Teddy’s Day

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

The Penelope Rose

Great Enhanced Storytelling:

Fierce Grey Mouse

Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Really BIG Adventure

A Fine Musician

Digital Classics:

The Cat and The Hat – Dr. Seuss

PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit

The Monster at the end of this Book

For the Very Young:

Scruffy Kitty

The Going to Bed Book

Pat the Bunny

A Present for Milo

For Older Kids:

Treasure Kai and the lost gold of shark island

Be Confident in who you are: a middle school confidential graphic novel

Trans-Media Chart Toppers:

Toy Story Read-Along

Angelina Ballerina’s New Ballet Teacher

Bedtime Favorites:

The Wrong Side of the Bed

Nighty Night!

Too Unique to Miss:

Bartleby’s Book of Buttons Vol. 1: The Far Away Island

The Strange & Wonderful World of Ants

Lazy Larry Lizard 

Another great site to find Digital E-books is Digital Storytime. The site lists e-books that are available on the ipad and reviews them so you can get a good idea of what the story is about and about how the interactive elements work.

Whatever you decide about digital e-books, there is no doubt that there are going to be more and more published as publishers jump on the digital bandwagon. 

What do you think about digital e-books for children? What are some of your favorites? 

Join us by adding your comments! If you haven’t already, let us help you sign up for an account to start using Pockettales in your class. Teachers and classes are always welcome! Sign up at Pockettales.com!