Posted by wendy b. on January 6, 2003, at 17:55:16
In reply to Mrs. Frisby The Rats on NIMH, posted by NikkiT2 on January 5, 2003, at 8:25:41
I read this book right before it was decided that this group would do it. So I'm thrilled to be able to join in here... I picked it up in a 4th grade classroom where I was substitute teaching for the day - the title intrigued me. Interesting that the view from inside the NIMH is quite a scary one (as I recall, the rats are slowly being medicated, something about losing their memory, their ability to think, the thing that makes them stand out amongst other animals).
> I think, as a childrens book, this gives a really positive image as to mother hood and how women can be mothers and still be strong within themselves. I really don;t like books trhat have a "moral message" behind them, and even though this book did have that in a way, it was ever preachy nor did it ever make me feel that I should be living my life a different way (which many books do at the moment!).It's interesting, isn't it? As I say, I substitute teach for a living right now (what a way to make a buck, right?), and I see so MANY wonderful childrens' books. It's just wonderful for kids right now... I don't remember having such beautiful illustrations or such high quality materials.
Anyway, yes Nikki, I have found that childrens' book are usually very big on 'morality' or 'ethics,' as though kids needed coaching in that. Maybe they do, I'm not sure. It almost seems that the function of the fairy tale or the legend or the folk-tale is usually to give the listener/reader a lesson in a sense of duty, love one's neighbor as oneself, family values, strength, courage, etc. And thus the modern children's book is just a take-off from that standpoint. They all MUST relate to the good vs. evil, light vs. dark theme.I don't have any opinion on that, except to say that it does make for satisfying reading, especially when you're doing it with a child. My daughter and I always read together, even now we read aloud, and she's almost 11. Every night for at least a half hour when she was younger. Now she reads me good passages from the young people's novels she reads. Obsessively reads, always got one in her hands, never goes anywhere without one...
> I'm a huge fan of kids books! So many of them deal with such difficult issues in such a wondrous way.Yes, I am too. What a nice book for you all to have chosen.
best,
Wendy
poster:wendy b.
thread:783
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/books/20020616/msgs/802.html