The Greaveyard Book

In class today we discussed The Graveyard Book being accepted into the Newbery tradition.  This was a tricky question to me because part of me just wanted to say no but then the other part would say yes.

            The Graveyard Book was a very scary and dark story and because of this it did not seem to meet the standards of the Newberry tradition.  I don’t think this would be very interesting to young children. I know, as a child, if I had read the first couple of pages I would have probably had nightmares. Also, at the end of the novel, I felt like I did not get much from the book. To contrast, in the stories Charlottes Web, Holes, and Number the Stars; I felt like there were strong moral implications underlining their basic plot. In The Graveyard Book I did not have a feeling of accomplishment and knowledge towards the end of the novel. Also there were certain challenges to this novel, which is not like the other challenges in the Newbery’s we have read. The major challenge was that it did not go smoothly throughout because Mr. McKean wrote it first as a short story.  Second, this book did not have a moral message that was clear to the reader. I just think that he was so close to making a moral statement between the living and the dead, but instead he was not able to do it. He was not able to make the statement that could have made the novel better and more engaging.

A reason that I support the decision to make this book into a Newbery was because it followed the themes of death and being an outcast. At some point in everyone’s lives, everyone feels alone and unwelcome. When reading this book that has that same outcast character we feel that we are no more along. By reading this book and witnessing the experiences of the outcast character the reader has someone to relate too and no longer feels ostracized. At first we are creped out about this boy who does not have a family and now is called Nobody. How more of an outcast could this boy be? He is stuck between to worlds, one is with the dead and the other the living, but he does not ever belong to one group. In this way the novel could fit into the Newbery tradition because it follows the general themes of being an outcast that are often present in other Newberry award winning books.

Spufford and Dicey's Song

I first want to start off this blog with a quote. “You’ll never understand someone until you get into their skin and walk around in it” (Spufford 30). I truly believe in this quote because it is true. We never know what others are thinking or what they are going through until we take make that first step to understanding who they really are. To find out who they are we need to get into their skin and be able to go through what they are going through. I believe that Dicey’s Song really helps us as readers take that first step in trying to understand who Dicey is. The first question we answered was, how does Dicey’s Song get you to step into Dicey’s skin? This took me a minute to find the perfect answer because I could not find it at first. I decided to go with the paper she wrote to Mr. Chappells. I really was able to get into her skin and feel what she was feeling. Right before Mr. Chappelle started reading her paper she did not know what to think. I know that feeling as well. When I was in school and a teacher was reading my paper I was a nerves wreck because I did not know what the teacher thought about the paper. Was it a good paper? Did I do really bad and the teacher wanted to read a good paper and then a bad one to show the students the difference between the two? My head was always spinning and my heart beating really fast. Voigt goes into so much detail about what Dicey is thinking that we can really feel it as well.  We learn that the paper is too good to be written by Dicey and that Mr. Chappelle believes that she plagiarized. If I heard this I would have gone crazy. Trying to cope with what I just heard and going off saying that every word was my own. This then leads us to the next question. What does it mean that Dicey’s skin is already full? When we go through something that maybe someone else has as well we are not all going to perceive it the same way. Dicey just stood in silence and did not care about the grade she got. On the other hand I would have really cared about my grade. Asking why he said the things he did, or what should I have done better? I would have not been able to just sit there and accepted the grade like Dicey did.  I think this is very important to know when getting into someone else’s skin, to know that I might already be full and not to judge on what we see.

I also what to add in that I really do think this could be a children’s book for students in middle school. I had to read this book for my other Children’s Lit class and we discussed that it is a good novel to read not only for its readability but also for its emotional text. We really need to understand that his novel is not a fantasy but a reality of someone’s life that we are having to get inside of.  When reading this novel we might have faced similar problems but not everyone will solve to problems same way. I think this novel shows us that we are not always alone, because there are people everyday that could be facing similar problems as well.

 

 

When I was young, I never read Pippi Longstocking. I only remember watching the movies and thinking how cool it was to have a horse on your front porch. Also, I thought about how Pippi was never afraid of anything; if someone wanted to come into her house she would make a game out of it. In my mind she was a young fearless girl who did not ever think of danger.

On Thursday, my group talked about not having parents and how that affects the way Pippi behaves. I could not image growing up without parents who would support or help me through rough times. They have been always here for me no matter what happens. Also the major thing my parents wanted for me was to be happy. Not only did Pippi lack the love and attention a child needs from her parents, but also nobody ever taught Pippi right from wrong. Growing up my parents were very strict with me about manners, and how to act in front of adults. In Pippi we see a strong girl who is able to do anything she sets her mind to. She cleans the house, cooks for herself, and is able to take care of two animals. I never realized this when I was younger watching the movies what unusual capabilities Pippi had. Now as an adult I am much more aware of Pippi’s exceptional disposition.  I always thought how neat it would be to just be alone with animals and do what ever I wanted that day. As I read the book I realized that Pippi would not be the fun character she is today without her mother and father, however she needed Tommy and Annika to offset her from a normal child.

 

 

 

One Thursday we talked about Dust in The Golden Compass. I think that the elders are hiding something about the Dust. As if they know something that know body else knows about, or at least the children especially Lyra should not know. Although on pg. 82 when Lyra explains in her own words what Dust means, Mrs. Coulter and her Daemon were very shocked what she had to say.  Also throughout the first couple of chapters I really think that the Master wants to tell Lyra what is going on but has a feeling she should not know until she is old enough to understand everything.

 

After reading The Wizard of Earthsea, Harry Potter, and The Golden Compass, I have seen one theme that happen is every novel. This theme is that all the characters have an animal as their friend. I know when I was little my dog Brownie was my best friend and she still is. I think that having a pet is always nice to have, because they always love you unconditionally

Children's lit

Hello. My name is Stephanie and I am from Dallas, TX. I am also on the TCU Equestrian Team. I have been riding since I was 4 years old, and now I am competing all over the world in international shows. I also love children and so I am majoring in Early Childhood Education. My favorite book as a child was Shiloh because I loved dogs when I was younger. I really liked the story how a boy named Marty fell in love with a dog that had been abused by his owner Judd. The book goes on telling how Marty is going to get Shiloh away from his owner.