The reading room I wish I had as a child.

" This scene from Alice in Wonderland was painted in the bookstore Slightly Foxed in Oamaru, New Zealand. You can see at the bottom left that there is a small door with the scene of the book with the shrinking elixir on the table painted around it, for children to enter into their own shrunken reading room. The stairway leading up to the right has the Cheshire Cat perched in a tree on the top of a bookshelf." Acrylic paints
Posted by Greg Hartman at Saturday, April 28, 2007
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What is a book?

To me a book, a good novel that I choose to read, is an escape. When there's a lot on my mind and I'm really stressed out the only way to forget about all of my worries is to read. When you read you have no choice but to focus on the words and the characters and the plot. Your mind has no way to focus on everyday stresses and reality. You can get lost in the worlds of Tom Robbins, Tracy Chevalier, and Anchee Min, completely different times and places. A book is a portal that leads you out of reality and into anywhere.

What is a Child?

A child is a "blank slate." Though children are born with instincts, the way they view the world, the way they view people, the way they view life is left to be determined by experience. Children are born without judgement or preconceived notions. A very young child is optimism, naive to the reality of life. A child is a person who can think anything. A child is as close to innocence as any human can get. I think it is experience that differentiates children and adults. The more experience a child has the more adult he or she becomes.

Fairy Tales In Real Life

The story Taylor put on her blog about the man falling asleep in the midst of burglarizing a house is definitely a reminder that fairy tales are happening all around us. I wonder if anyone outside of this class would have made the connection to The Three Bears or if the man himself would find that connection humorous or embarrassing. Taking this class really makes hearing real-life stories more interesting.

Displacement Story

Mary’s Diary

March 10, 2008:
Today is the worst day of my life. Prom is less than a month away and my dad is demanding that I go with the son of some guy he plays cards with every Wednesday night. Though I would do anything for my dad and I don’t want to hurt the boy’s feelings, he’s a complete looser and all of my friends have cool dates. Plus, I heard from Suzy that Tom told her that Brian was planning to ask me to go with him and I’ve had a crush on him for so long. Plus, he’s a senior, and like how many freshmen get asked to prom by a senior? This is my first prom and I wanted it to be perfect. I wish I could die.

March 13, 2008:
I hinted to my dad today that I would rather go to prom with Brian, who asked me yesterday, but he told me it was either go with Mark or don’t go at all. I’m so mad at him. My friends were horrified when I told them I had to turn Brian down. I know my sisters are happy though, and just because their jealous that Brian asked me. I saw both of them snickering when dad told me I had to go with Mark.

April 15, 2008:
I met Mark today. He was nice, but I still want to go with Brian. I only know Mark as the weird kid who sits by himself at lunch every day. I guess he really didn’t seem weird when I met him, but I only talked to him for a few minutes while my dad picked up some tools from his dad’s house. He gave me a rose that he picked from his neighbor’s garden which was sweet, but I still don’t even know this kid and he’s nowhere near as cute as Brian, in fact, he’s not cute at all. Of the 4,000 kids in my high school why does my dad have to be friends with his dad?

April 20, 2008:
I went and bought my dress the other day, it’s so pretty. I can’t believe prom is only a week away. Mark came with his dad to poker last night and my dad made me hangout with him for like four hours. Honestly, and I would never say this to my friends, he was actually fun to be around. He brought me another rose which was nice. Then he showed me how to play some crazy card game and even showed me a card trick that I can’t wait to show someone. When the stars came out he showed me the Big Dipper and Orion’s Belt. Anyway, I still wish I could go with Brian, but Mark really isn’t as bad as I thought he was.

April 28, 2008:
Last night didn’t go at all like I thought it would. Mark showed up with a whole bouquet of roses, the first bouquet I’ve ever gotten. He was so sweet and so gentleman like. His dad drove us to the prom in his convertible mustang. When we got there all of my friends told me to ditch Mark and come with them, but I just couldn’t do that to him. But then Brian asked me to dance and I couldn’t say no. While we were out on the dance floor I saw a bunch of Brian’s friends go over to Mark and then I saw him run out of the gym. I went to see what was going on and Tom told me that they told him he was a looser and I only came with him because I had to. I felt so bad. I ran out looking for him and found him walking home. I told him that they were all jerks and that I would much rather spend time with him than with any of them. And to be honest I would. He might not be as cute as Brian, though I don’t know why I ever thought he was as ugly as I did, or as popular as Brian, but he’s so sweet and fun to be around. We talked for a long time and I never thought I would say this, but I like him. He’s supposed to call me later tonight and I can’t wait.

Robert Bly

I found an interview of Robert Bly about his book Iron John that I thought people might find interesting.

http://www.pbs.org/kued/nosafeplace/interv/bly.html

A Picture of the Rapunzel Plant

The Not So Innocent Little Red Riding Hood

The True Story

Here is a link to the True Story of The Three Little Pigs: The Wolf's Side of the Story

http://www.shol.com/agita/wolfside.htm

Finding Adverture

One thing we talked about in class was how fairytales often start out with a character being told not to do something and then always doing it. For example, Snow White would have never met her prince had she not gone against the dwarfs' wishes and allowed a stranger to give her an apple. This makes me ask the question, how you can read a fairytale to a child and then expect him or her not to enter the closet you firbid them to?

Notes From Class

Here is a list of key things Dr. Sexson has said in class:

• Children's Literature is a portal to mythology
• All lit. is displaced mythology
• Things usually happen three times in fairy tales
• There are two kinds of books: ones with morals and ones without morals
• There are no concrete originals to stories, only variants
• Stories revolve around a three part goddess: the maiden or virgin, the mother, and the crone or old lady
• The protagonist is often helped by creatures of nature in fairy tales
• Don't ask what a poem means. Ask how a poem means.
• If a fairy tale starts out by saying not to do something, the reader can be sure the character will do what they are told not to do
• Once you hear the call of adventure you can't ignore it, the adventure has already begun

One Good Moral

It seems that most of the classic fairytales in Tatar's book lack any well-defined moral, however I do believe both Beauty and the Beast and East of the Sun and West of the Moon have a very good moral. In the two stories a young woman willingly gives up her freedom for the wellfare of her family. Beauty saves her father's life by giving herself to the beast and in the other story the girl gives herself to the polar bear in order to allow her family a life of wealth. This devotion to family is something I would definitely want my children to learn at a young age.

The Little Mermaid

Though The Little Mermaid was no less gruesome and painful than most of the other children's stories, I did find it to be surprisingly different in a huge way. In this story the princess doesn't actually get the prince and in my opinion doesn't live too happily-ever-after. I don't think I have ever read a fairytale in which the main character finds dissapointment at the end of their journey. The unfortunate outcome for this princess of the sea does however deliver a message to young girls that will eventually be conveyed anyway, that you don't always get what you want. I think many of these stories set girls up for dissapointment. Girls grow up reading about other girls always getting the guy they want, always overcoming evil, and regrettably that is not how it works outside the castle walls. Though it's wonderful to have an optimistic view as a child, it is also important to prepare yourself for the harsh reality of the cruel world.

Vanity in Fairytales

One thing I've noticed so far in reading these children's fairytales is that every story that has a princess as the main character elaborates on how beautiful the princess is. They are always the "fairest in the land," the most beautiful anyone has seen. I think this subconsciously puts the idea into young girls minds at a very early age that beauty is the key in finding a "happily ever after." There are so many things in today's culture that lead to vanity and a lack of self-confidence in women. I guess I'm realizing where this all stems from. We cannot only blame our Britney Spears and Paris Hilton for the high expectations women face, but also our Mother Goose and Brothers Grimm.