V.’s Comments (group member since May 21, 2014)

V.’s comments from the Reading Rams Summer I, 2014 group.

Tricia wrote: "What an awesome book! Again, never read it before, but I know it's a 4th or 5th grade classic. How did I never read it? I remember in other literature classes, people have read and reviewed and eve..."

It would be fun to do a character map for Maniac. I tried to do a time line for my post, but there was too much.

We probably all identify with Maniac and like him because he wanted to borrow one of Amanda’s books when he first meets her, and then he is seen running everywhere carrying the book. My heart just about breaks for Amanda when she realizes the confetti during the celebration at Cobble’s Corner is from the encyclopedia A.
We know the Beales love Maniac when the little ones and Amanda try to steer him clear of the house to give Mrs. Beale time to clean “Fishbelly Go Home” off the front of the house. We see that Maniac realizes the Beales are being harassed because of their association with him, and he wants that to end.
Grayson knows it is important for Maniac to go to school and is impressed to find out that he is continuing to learn in a nontraditional way by reading things he is interested in from books he can buy very inexpensively from the library. Maniac gets to teach Grayson how to read. What an accomplishment for both of them. I’m glad Grayson and Magee got to spend Christmas together in a traditional family way. I think it meant a lot to both of them. It created good memories for Maniac.
Maniac meets the two little boys running away from home. They just happen to be Giant John McNab’s two little brothers. What a contrast to the Beale home where parents are involved with their children and encourage them. I’m not sure what Maniac was thinking when he took Mars Bar to the McNabs for the birthday party. The McNabs is where he detected the vile stench of bigotry. It was dangerous to take Mars Bar there.
Later, he has to face his fear of the P&W Trolley which turned out well anyway because it allowed Mars Bar to be the hero. The end is satisfying when “bad” Mars Bar/Snickers has to enlist the help of Amanda to get Maniac to come back to them.

Sarah wrote: "I enjoyed reading Tuck Everlasting. Although it had some realistic elements, such as fear, love, searching for…, friendship and consequences for your actions. It also had some fantasy's, for exampl..."

I think the time period worked with this story for a couple of reasons. First of all, the Tucks found the bubbling stream of water in a foresty area before most of the country was owned by individuals so people could go almost anywhere they wanted. Then, one hundred years later, the Fosters own the land, but it is still wooded. Another hundred years later, the land is becoming urbanized and more people are settled in the area. I'm not sure where the author would put the stream today. . .maybe a national park, but an author could incorporate all the changes of technology that have occurred just in my lifetime and the story would be interesting. It would probably look a little different if the Tucks were more educated and sophisticated, too. I think it might resemble some of the movies that have been done lately with people who are able to travel through time.

Cathy wrote: "I have always wanted to read this book. Many times I have tried to get my daughter to let me buy the movie for her so she could watch it. She loves all the Air Bud movies but she didn't want anythi..."

I guess the reader really doesn't know why Opal calls her father the preacher instead of Dad. I also assumed he would be cold and somewhat close minded, but that really wasn't the case. I don't recall Opal having any grandparents. They could have helped her fill in the blanks about her mother, but maybe the preaching jobs moved them away from extended family.

Even though I had read Tuck Everlasting before, I had forgotten many of the details of the story. As many of you have already stated, this story would give students a lot to think about and sort out in writing activities with the most obvious being the advantages and disadvantages of being able to live forever and not being able to experience pain. I’m so glad Mae did not allow the man in the yellow suit to make Winnie drink the water from the spring. She would have always been his slave, and she would never have had the opportunity to experience life as an adult. I’m not so sure it would be a great thing to be a perpetual 17-year-old either.
Several times in the story Winnie thought about or talked about wanting to do something important with her life. The first important thing she did was let her family and the constable know that the Tucks were her friends, and even though she did not go with them willingly in the beginning, she realized their intention was not to harm her. They provided an adventure for a little girl who was basically isolated from others; and even though she had a family who loved her, her parents and grandmother didn’t provide her with many opportunities to think for herself or make her own choices.
The second important thing she did was to hide under the blankets in the jail so the constable wouldn’t know that the Tucks had taken Mae and this gave them more time to leave town without being detected.
We know from the inscription on the grave marker that Winnie lived a normal life span. She had married and had given birth to children. Those things in themselves are important things that people accomplish in life.

This book is a good example of why it is so important to give students choice in what they read. Some of us found things we liked about Bunnicula while some of us didn't care for it. I was one of those people that thought I needed to finish reading every book I ever started. It wasn't until recently that I read or was told that it's ok to stop reading something if you aren't enjoying it. Many things contribute to what we will enjoy reading - our personal experiences, what we are interested in, maturity levels, if we are parents of preschoolers, etc.
It is important to remember to give our students the right to decide what they like and don't like.

Jennifer wrote: "I really enjoyed reading this book! I generally like reading books with animals as characters. There were several times I had a tear in my eye. I liked that Ivan told the story from his point of..."

Jennifer - What a great idea to have science students read this book. It would present career opportunities available for those with a heart for the animal kingdom and an aptitude for science that many students might not get exposure to otherwise.

Marshall -
You commented making a comparison between Ivan and ESL students and the process that takes place as they try to integrate the two worlds they come from. I see the same thing in my classroom of ESL students. I try to encourage my ESL students to try to excel in both academic worlds which would involve reading in their first language as well as in English. When young adults, they can then decide if they wish to participate professionally in the world of their first language or in English or they can help bridge the gap between the two communities for others who are not as proficient in both languages.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book narrated by a gorilla. I like the things all the animals think and say.
I enjoyed the picasso entry where Ivan is thinking about something yellow to draw, and he finally decides on a banana. Then, he thinks again, wondering what else might be yellow. “I draw another banana. And then I draw eight more.” I think this episode is where I began to dislike Mack.
Stella, who according to Ivan has a better memory than he, (Well, of course. She’s an elephant!) remarks that she always tells the truth although she sometimes confuses the facts. I totally relate to that.
There are some good descriptions in this story. Ivan’s description of Ruby is one. “Her eyes are like Stella’s, black and long-lashed, bottomless lakes fringed by tall grass.” A few pages later, he describes Ruby’s voice. “It’s like the song of a bird I recall from long ago, a tiny yellow bird with a voice like dancing water.” Great metaphor and simile.
I like Julia. It makes me happy that she and Ivan share the art of drawing and use that to connect.
When I realized Ivan was painting a word in the creation of his puzzle, I thought of Charlotte’s Web. In both stories a little girl is used to put the puzzle together or draw attention to the words in the web and involve the grownups leading to the resolution of the story. Even with these similarities, the topic of The One and Only Ivan is much more serious. I like following Ivan’s thinking process of how he will keep his promise to Stella, and how he uses the medium of art to accomplish it. His connection with Julia paid off, and his faith in her was justified. The picketing demonstration that results reminds the reader of Stella’s words after hearing Ruby’s story, “Humans can surprise you sometimes.”
Allowing Ivan to observe through television the troop he will be integrated into so he can see how to behave was so wise. These techniques are probably used in the real zoological world.
This is a wonderful story where Stella’s wisdom is built upon to make everything work out for all the other characters – even Bob!
I think it would be a great story for ESL students to read. The placement of words on the page with so much open space between lines makes it less intimidating.
Hmmm. I wonder if the open space between the lines is done purposely to contrast the small enclosure these animals were kept in while in captivity and to symbolically represent the natural habitat they were created to live in.

Marshall wrote: "V. wrote: "The entrance of Winn-Dixie into Opal’s life seems to have opened so many doors for her. She met lots of people who became good friends. As we learn more about each of them, they are re..."

I saw a few other similarities, too, but I still like the book. One reason is because it is written for children younger than those that will read To Kill A Mockingbird. I wonder if a kid who reads Because of Winn Dixie before they read To Kill a Mockingbird will say, "It just reminds me too much of Because of Winn Dixie." (I'm teasing. I think very highly of your opinion and enjoy reading your posts.)

Sdg22 wrote ". . .the border of red flower anchoring each page softens the blow of Moe Moe's death. It made me think of a memorial."

I had not noticed this in the picture and went back to the book to see it. I agree. Thanks for pointing that out.

Jenna wrote: "Sarah made sacrifices for this family and that alone makes her a true wife and mother. She put their happiness first and adapted her needs to accommodate her new life on the prairie. I don't think ..."

Your comment about blended families reminded me of what I didn't explain very well in my initial post. I think blended families in the age of the pioneer days might rival the amount of blended families today. The reason I say this is that many women died during childbirth, men were killed in accidents, or Indian skirmishes, etc. Men needed women to raise any children left behind by a deceased spouse and women did not have the career opportunities they have today so they needed economic support. And again, the nation was not very populated yet. If anyone nearby was single and you both needed a spouse, you probably got married to meet the practical needs of every day life.

One of us (I can't find the post right now) commented that they had heard about this book forever but had never read it. I was the same way. I also did not know it was a movie so I'll add this to my List of Things To Do as well.

Jenna wrote: "Shanay wrote: "This book is always a good read. I enjoyed it that much better this time around. I still find it funny that Papa put an ad in the paper for a wife and to have someone respond is biza..."

Oh, Jenna! My husband and I were driving our son back to DFW Sunday night. Hwy 121 now has the upper and lower road system and everything is quite a mess. I said, "You know, my dad told me his mother used to live in the Lewisville Area. Can you imagine her coming back and seeing it today? She wouldn't recognize it at all." Then, we talked about how it's hard for us to recognize it from just a few months ago. Of course, horse and wagon were transportation for my grandmother when she was a young girl.

Marshall wrote: "Cynthia wrote: "I have never read Sarah, Plain, and Tall, but have heard so much about it. However, I was expecting something more. The story itself was slightly problematic, but the sentence str..."

Very well written post Marshall.

Marshall - The comparison between the freckles and braces is good.

The entrance of Winn-Dixie into Opal’s life seems to have opened so many doors for her. She met lots of people who became good friends. As we learn more about each of them, they are real people who have conquered real problems.
Gloria Dump gives her some wonderful advice about not being too hard on people and their pasts. This reminded me of the short story “Thank You, M’am” by Langston Hughes. Gloria takes Opal outside and shows her the tree with all the bottles in it. Each bottle represents a mistake she made in the past. In “Thank You, M’am,” the woman who helps Roger after he steals from her, lets him know that she has done some things in her past that she is not proud of.
Miss Franny Block makes wonderful statements: “War should be a cuss word, too.” “It is a sorrow-filled world.” “I believe, sometimes, that the whole world has an aching heart.” I love the preacher’s prayer at the party about the “complicated and wonderful gifts you give us in each other” and how our assignment is to love each other “the best we can.” It’s amazing that everyone who puts a Littmus Lozenge in their mouth associates it with a negative experience in their life tasting its sorrow.
When the preacher tells Opal she should apologize to Stevie for calling him a bald headed baby and he tells her who Carson is, I began to think he was the same type of father as Atticus in To Kill A Mockingbird. This is a very sweet story.

Jenna wrote: "I feel like I'm dumping on some kind of children's literature treasure or something but I didn't like Bunnicula. Not even a little. I've never been a fan of books about animals really. I did like W..."

I read Watership Down as a senior in high school. (I was trying to become more scholarly.) It took me at least 1/3 of the book, but after that point, I loved it.

Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery – I like a good mystery, but I steer clear of Stephen King and Dean Koontz. The art on the cover is more like the latter so I wasn’t sure I would like reading this story. I usually stay away from reading our posts until I have made my initial one so I’m not swayed by others’ opinions, but I read Cynthia’s first post and knew right away I would enjoy Bunnicula. I found Harold’s narration delightful – “. . .I have some pretty fancy bloodlines running through these veins and Russian wolfhound happens to be one of them. . .I was able to recognize the language as an obscure dialect of the Carpathian Mountain region. Roughly translated, it read, “Take good care of my baby.” But I couldn’t tell if it was a note from a bereaved mother or a piece of Roumanian sheet music.” My son is 23 and happened to be home this weekend. He recalled reading and enjoying some of the Bunnicula books as a kid. I read these lines to him and sang the “Take good care of my baby” line. When I asked if he knew it was a song, he smiled and said, “No,” he didn’t.
The drawings in this story are entertaining. I especially liked the one of Chester dressed in Mr. Monroe’s towel as a vampire trying to warn the family. Chester’s description of how he was hypnotized into a deep sleep while watching the pendulum of the clock was funny.
How was Bunnicula getting out of his cage at night? Maybe some of you viewed the video on Facebook this week as I did of the horse that was able to open his own stall and then walk around and open the stalls of all his equine friends. Animals are smart. Even though Bunnicula was young, maybe he had figured it out. He certainly knew what he needed to be eating.
I really believe that Chester’s heart was in the right place and that he was trying to protect the family. I’m sorry it resulted in Bunnicula not being able to eat. Harold was able to think a little more clearly and get Bunnicula the help he needed. I’d like to read more of this series of books.

Many of us have wondered about the cause of the riots. I wondered if the LA Riots that a few of us alluded to were the same as the riots that followed the Rodney King incident, so I did a little bit of research and found out that the Rodney King episode was part of what made up the LA Riots. They occurred in March of 1991. In addition to the police beating of Rodney King, a teenage girl was murdered in a store by the sister of the store's owner who had accused her of stealing. The results of the trials were the causes of the riots. The riots and looting resulted in $1 billion worth of damages. www.southcentralhistory.com
It grieves me that all of what happened occurred here in America.