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

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

Very perceptive Marshall! "People often see others as if in a smokey night."

Jennifer 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..."

From my posts, it is obvious that I am a fan of Sarah so I really like your last line in the post above, "She may have been plain and tall, but she was strong and committed."

I think I would like to read this book to my class and have copies of all the books it alludes to available for students to choose from to read on their own. I'm embarrassed to admit that the only one I have actually read is The Three Bears. I began 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea once but didn't finish it. I've seen the movies of Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz numerous times, but haven't read them. I've been told the book The Wizard of Oz is very good and very different from the movie. You'd think every little girl would want to read a book about a horse, but I've never read Black Beauty either. I'll add them all to my reading lists.

Jennifer wrote: "Shanay wrote: "This year my students read several books of Patricia Pollaco, Thank you Mr. Falker was one of them and each time they noticed how similar the drawings were. This story is no differen..."

Tonight I talked with a gentleman who shook Dwight D. Eisenhower's hand when he was a fourteen year old boy. President Eisenhower was coming to the gentleman's hometown so he got permission from his principal to go to the event and write about it. I told him about the story of Pink and Say being written by a descendant of Say's about 5 generations later. I encouraged him to share the story with his children and grandchildren which he has already done. Of course, I included the line we all like, "This is the hand, that has touched the hand, that has touched, the hand, that shook the hand of Abraham Lincoln."

Cynthia wrote: "V. wrote: "This is the first book I have read by Patricia Polacco. I enjoyed it and will have to check out other books she has authored. It begins with the illustrations of both mothers sending t..."

Thanks for these recommendations. I'll add them to my reading list.

Cynthia wrote: "I have mixed feelings about this story. I have enjoyed other Judy Blume books in the past, but had never read Freckle Juice. The first thing that struck me was how outdated it was. Freckle Juice..."

I don't like the character of Sharon either.

Shanay wrote: "Freckle Juice was such a cute book. It reminded me of a time when I wanted freckles as a child and hair passed my behind. I would pray every night that God would give me long hair and freckles!
I d..."

I have spent my life straightening my curly hair and wishing it would grow long and look like Cher's did back when she was married to Sonny.

Cynthia - I don't think Sarah is whining about Maine. I think she is comparing Maine to Ohio. (They are in Ohio, right?) Sarah had lived her entire life in Maine and the family had lived their entire lives in Ohio. This would be a major change in Sarah's life. Living on the East Coast most likely provided more contact with civilization than a farm located in the middle of America. If she decided to stay with the family, she would be making the larger sacrifice. It's a decision that needed to be made with your eyes open.

Shanay and Cynthia - Your posts mention placing an ad in the paper for a wife as being a "bizarre" thing to do. During this time period in history of settling the United States, there weren't a lot of women traveling out west, so ordering brides by mail was a common thing to do, hence the term, mail-order bride.
The term "fetch" is cultural to the time period and the people using it. (I think my age and culture are about to make themselves known.) The characters in "The Beverly Hill Billies," a show my family enjoyed watching when I was growing up, are always "fetching" something.

I read Sarah, Plain and Tall many years ago and remember watching the movie. I recall Sarah running through a field of hay billowing in the wind. The hay reminded her of ocean waves and home. I think I would like to do some research on mail order brides. I tend to think of marriage relationships today being not as long lasting as they were in the past, but, on the other hand, because of all the work that had to be done on farms and the children that needed to be raised, people got married for very practical reasons instead of romantic ones. I wonder if needing someone for a practical reason helps us be more committed compelling us to be more agreeable to working things out. Also, people didn’t live in as close proximity to one another as today so choices were somewhat limited, and of course, eHarmony didn’t exist yet, so one might choose a good person instead of searching for that perfect “soul mate.”
Sarah was an educated woman. I think it was very wise of her to write everyone in the family to get to know them. Even though one month is a relatively short time to base a life decision on, traveling so far away from your home in that day and age was a very brave thing to do. As a single woman, Sarah was used to being independent. I like the line in Chapter 8 where Anna writes, “In the morning, Sarah dressed in a pair of overalls and went to the barn to have an argument with Papa.”
Caleb, never having known his own mother, is enamored with Sarah and desperately wants her to stay with the family. He hangs on to every word she says trying to interpret its underlying meaning. Will she stay or won’t she? As children do, when he thinks she won’t stay, he blames it on himself. I think Sarah was very unselfish to stay with Caleb, Anna, and Papa. She had seen so much more of the world than they. She did not want to be in the way of her brother and new sister-in-law, and I think she desired a family of her own. This is expressed in the line where she says, “I will always miss my old home, but the truth of it is I would miss you more.”

Judy Blume exposes several fallacies of the human race in her story for second graders, Freckle Juice. First of all, human beings always seem to desire what we can’t have. It wasn’t in Andrew’s genetic make-up to have freckles, but he had come to greatly admire them on classmate Nicky Lane’s neck as he daydreamed about how they would make his own life so much easier if he had them on his neck, too.
This desire leaves him gullible to Sharon, another classmate, who after observing Andrew ask Nicky how he got his freckles, decides to capitalize financially upon the situation. Sharon offers to sell Andrew a secret recipe for fifty cents that will cause him to develop freckles. She claims that her family does not have freckles because they have the recipe which is a mixture of common ingredients most people have in their kitchens. After mixing it up and drinking it very quickly, Andrew suffers from an upset stomach. Most of us get upset stomachs, too, when we realize we have fallen victim to a financial scheme.
When freckles do not appear, Andrew draws them on his face with a blue magic marker. His patient teacher, Miss Kelly, offers him her secret recipe for Freckle Remover. When Andrew returns to class with no freckles, Nicky now wants the Freckle Remover recipe. Miss Kelly is able to diplomatically affirm the self-confidence of both boys in their individual appearances.
While reading this story, I recalled that my daughter had read it in elementary school. We created our own recipe for freckle juice as part of the report. I think we may have used kiwi in our recipe because of the little black seeds.

This is the first book I have read by Patricia Polacco. I enjoyed it and will have to check out other books she has authored. It begins with the illustrations of both mothers sending their sons off to war. Later in the story Say says he and Pink have similar backgrounds although Pink’s home may be “more poor.” This fact is evident in the drawings. As Pink determined to carry Say to his home to be cared for by his mother, my mind could not help thinking of the story of The Good Samaritan. I think the illustrations help make this connection. Say is seriously injured and will die if left behind just as the victim in The Good Samaritan. Pink does not seem to give a thought to the fact that they are different races. He only realizes that Say needs his help.
Pink’s description of the weapons his unit, the Forty-eighth Colored Company, was given to fight with continues to be a downside to technology even today. At first they were not issued actual fire arms, and then they were given old muskets from the Mexican-American War that did not work properly. That sounds so much like my classroom this year. I have decent computers and laptops, but I was placed in a room that does not have access to WiFi on a regular basis so we are unable to use what we have. On a personal note, my eye doctor has not had computer access in his office for about a week, and that has slowed down me being able to order a new pair of eye glasses. It is interesting that Pink’s not very likeable master had taught him how to read and that Say could not read.
In the short time Say was with Moe Moe Bay, he developed love for her and his trust in her is exemplified when he confides in her how he feels about returning to battle and that he was actually deserting when Pink found him. I am so sorry the story ended with Moe Moe Bay and Pink losing their lives. The connection of touching the hand that touched the hand of Abraham Lincoln for Pink and for five generations of Patricia Polacco’s family is such a strong legacy.

The background to the text in Smoky Night is full of texture and color which could be a visual representation of the chaos created by riots. Using matches as part of the texture before the story begins is a way to foreshadow the fire that will occur. Although we aren't told what precipitated these riots, as I began reading the story, I was reminded of the riots that followed the Rodney King incident in California several years ago. The book had examples of rioters stealing things you know they can’t use. They don’t even know what they are stealing. I suppose they might sell some of the goods, but I think the main purpose of a riot is to vandalize property, and this messes with my need for order and civility. On the other hand, when life has not been civil to you and there is no way to communicate your message, your concerns, or your needs, rioting might be your only course of action in response to things that are clearly unfair. I began to feel anxious as the mother and child tried to sleep in the midst of the rioting. The reader infers the fire is an act of arson as part of the riot. In the midst of the mess the rioters create, Bunting brings beauty and order to the text by using similes and alliteration: “They toss out shoes like they’re throwing footballs,” and “I see the distant flicker of flames.” The descriptions as the people walk closely single file along the sidewalk to the shelter add to my fear as I continue reading. “We walk along the sidewalk, which sparkles with broken glass,” and “. . . I think I see a dead man with no arms lying there, too.”
When Mama says, “. . . it’s better if we buy from our own people,” the reader gets a sense of the disconnection among the different cultures in the neighborhood. The bonding of the cats in a life threatening situation serves as a model for their owners to follow to connect with each other and begin building relationships. My own neighborhood is multiethnic, and sometimes it is hard to live in close proximity to others when the norms for everyday living might be very different. This story has a message for all of us.

Cynthia wrote: "The first thing that drew my interest and attention to Isabella Star of the Story was the cover art. I loved that there was a girl sitting on a pile of books because I connect to it on a personal ..."

Cynthia -- You mentioned that you love to read and get lost in stories. It reminds me of the time my family was on vacation. I was about ten. We were driving through New Mexico, I think, and stopped at a look out in the mountains to have our picture taken. I wouldn't put my book down so I am in the photograph with my face buried in the book instead of taking in the grandeur of the mountains. I'd like to get that picture from my mom and have it blown up into a poster to post in my classroom.

Before I began reading this story, my eye caught the dedication of the illustrator ML -Mike Litwin. We know these people! Stan & Jan Berenstain of The Berenstain Bears. Mercer Mayer, author of the Little Critter books. Maurice Sendak who wrote Where the Wild Things Are. Shel Silverstein and his beloved poems. C.S. Lewis of The Chronicles of Narnia, John ? (I’m not sure.) Judy Blume of Freckle Juice. Donald ? (I’m not sure again.) and Dr. Seuss of Green Eggs and Ham. The Berenstain Bears and anything Dr. Seuss were read to me and my brothers and sister by my mom when we were kids. I associate the characters in these stories with happiness. I fell in love with the Little Critter books when my daughter was a preschooler. I’m sure we had a copy of each one. As well as thinking of the characters as friends, the situations they found themselves in helped develop character in the reader.
I like that Isabella is so enraptured with each book that she imagines herself in each of them living out the life of a character. This illustrates the unique capacity that reading has of being able to draw the reader inside the story.
Even though Isabella is a little girl, most of the books her life is entwined with are for older readers. I like the notes the author has included at the end of the book about each story and its particular author.