My African Children

So far in class we have had the opportunity to read literature from many different origins including: Scotland, England, Ireland, Germany, and China. This has been extremely interesting to me to see the differences in the works from different origins. Some works I have found are more patriarchal, while others gladly support feministic power. Some villains are witches, others ogres, and plenty of evil stepmothers. Because I enjoy traveling myself I have noticed in different cultures the diversity in how their children are raised. Recently I have had the chance to travel to Africa to work with AIDS orphans, mostly ranging in age from 5 to 17 years. I did notice however the lack of children’s literature, and I was not sure if this was because of the poor economic status of the area I was, or, if it was because there just was not any being written.

Researching this, I found that it must have been the latter. There is plenty of African children’s literature out there, it has just evolved much later than in other countries. In an article by Lillian Temu Osaki, she states “Books like Black Beauty, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Alice in Wonderland, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves are a few examples. These books have a western background and are based on western values. While some of them present moral teachings, I would argue that African children would have benefited more if they had read these books alongside books that had an African background with African cultural values.” The culture in Africa is drastically different than the cultures around the world. Evil is very predominant in the children’s lives, witch doctors still exist, and war is so real to them. In this non-protected environment, I know that allowing children to enter into this fantasy world of make believe and good over evil, sometimes can be dangerous. Yet, in the case of African children, I feel as though they need these stories to escape from their reality. In my research I was very happy to find, that more and more authors are writing stories just for the precious children of Africa!

A Modern Cinderella

Every girl desires to have her own 'Cinderella' type story. To meet her prince charming, to rise above people who have been evil to you, and to live in a far off castle. Okay, well, maybe not every girl dreams of that, maybe more of a modern version of it though. In 2004 Warner Bros. Entertainment released a modern tale of the old Disney Cinderella story. Featuring none other than Hilary Duff, a popular teen favorite. In this comedic film, Cinderella is actually a waitress under the low profile name of Sam. She is left to her evil stepmother when her father dies, and they live in a wealthy community in California. With an emphasis on money and name brand things, Sam gets camouflaged in a world of Mercedes and Salmon only diets. Through the internet and text message, Sam finds her prince charming, yet behind their ‘screen name’ disguise, they have no idea who each other is. Finally, the poor waitress makes her big break at the annual high school costume ball. They finally meet and kiss, but under her costume, Sam cannot be identified. As the cyberspace relationship continues, the two encounter many obstacles on the way to finding true love. At the end, the two end up together, and as the story goes, they live happily ever after. The end.

Tummy Ache

In class we read a 12 sentence fable that left the reader completely satisfied. This is a hard task, especially for those who seem to have the ability to write forever. Dr.Robinson challenged the class to go home and attempt to write our own… so here goes:

Jeremy sat in the airport, palms sweating, mind racing, and knees… well, definitely shaking. At the mature age of 12, Jeremy had avoided airplanes his whole life, and while he fantasized about the adventure of being a pilot or the courage of joining the airforce, there was something holding him back, fear. Unfortunately last year his beloved grandmother moved to California, a mere five states away from his home of Kentucky. Jeremy had promised to spend the summer there swimming in the ocean, climbing the mountains, and enjoying his grandmother’s famous cooking.

The day came fast, way too fast for Jeremy, and it was now 20 minutes before he boarded the plane. His dad leaned over to reassure him that nothing bad would happen, and all that came to Jeremy’s mind were flames, smoke, and crash landings. Jeremy sat and thought hard about what he could occupy himself with that would make him not so afraid. He remembered back to when he was a little boy and his older brothers would watch horror films late at night, well Jeremy wanted to be like them, so he sat and watched the films too, and the only thing that would calm him was his favorite candy, gummy bears.

Jeremy quickly rose and ran to the magazine stand, pulling a twenty-dollar bill from his pocket he purchased 14 boxes of colorful, delicious gummy bears. As he confidently stepped on the plane he began popping the bears into his mouth one by one. By the time he landed in California he had eaten exactly 280 pieces of the little gummies. Even though he had made it through the plane ride with no tears of fright, he missed playing in the ocean and climbing the mountains because for the next 5 days Jeremy lay in bed with a terrible tummy ache.

A Faithful Elephant

“I meant what I said and I said what I meant… an elephant’s faithful one hundred per cent!” Reading through another classic written by none other than Dr. Seuss I am reminded of why I wrote the previous blog. This children’s picture book is a fun and educational story with a wholesome underlying moral. I would recommend this story to any children and even as a reminder for how adults should stick to their word. Here are are the facts:
Title: Horton Hatches the Egg
Main Character: Horton (the elephant)
Moral: Stick to your word and remain faithful in your actions.
Mayzie, a mother bird, has left her baby egg in the care of Horton (an elephant). Through cold weather and killer hunters, the elephant sits atop Mayzie’s nest and remains steadfast to his word. Meanwhile, Mayzie is vacationing in Palm Beach. After Horton’s tumultuous seasons of taking care of the egg, Mayzie returns to claim it. In the end, Horton begins to back down and allow the egg to return to it’s rightful mother. When the egg finally hatched, to everyone’s surprise, the baby was a flying elephant! In the end, Horton is rewarded for his faithfulness to his word.

Outside Reading List

Book 1: Horton Hatches the Egg
Author: Dr. Seuss
Picture Book?: Yes
Posting Date: January 27, 2008

Book 2: Where the Sidewalk Ends
Author: Shel Silverstein
Picture Book?: No - Poetry
Posting Date: February 12, 2008

Book 3: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Author: Mildred D. Taylor
Picture Book?: No - Chapter
Posting Date: February 21, 2008

Book 4: Anne of Green Gables
Author: L.M. Montgomery
Picture Book?: No - Chapter
Posting Date: March 2, 2008

Book 5: The Magic Soup
Author: Janaki Sooriyarachchi
Picture Book?: Yes
Posting Date: March 18, 2008

Book 6: World's Greatest Mom (series)
Author: Kath Smith
Picture Book?: Yes
Posting Date: March 19, 2008

Book 7: The Red Pony
Author: John Steinbeck
Picture Book?: No - Chapter book
Posting Date: March 27, 2008

Book 8: From the Bellybutton of the Moon
Author: Francisco X. Alarcon
Picture Book?: Yes.
Posting Date: April 10, 2008

Book 9: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Author: J.K Rowling
Picture Book?: No
Posting Date: April 15, 2008

Book 10: The Pearl
Author: John Steinbeck
Picture Book?: No
Posting Date: April 22, 2008

Book 11: The Bean Trees
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Picture Book?: No
Posting Date: April 26, 2008

A Moral Dilemma

Growing up my grandmother was a librarian, so we spent our childhood immersed in the fantasies of children’s stories. Looking back we not only enjoyed these books, but we learned a ton from them. Truly these stories have the ability to mold and shape children’s moral code. The first day of class Dr. Robinson shared a little about her life; we know now that she has two sons and she makes sure to censure through books before either of them want to read it.
I think as media and television begin to allow more and more immoral things to be aired on children’s networks, it is important that storybooks and novels stay true to the maturity level of their audience. In pop culture even, children’s minds are flooded with terrible images and ideas.
While I know that children’s books with underlying adult messages will always exist, I do feel that it is the parents responsibility to be a filter between the bookshelf and their children’s hands. Forever this genre of book has been innocent and moral, teaching kids lessons in life, and I believe that even though the times are changing the content of these books should not.