The Tower

The Tower

Richard Paul Evans

This fable set in China was chosen by our second grade teacher, Mr. Sprau who has an eye for literature that builds character. It was read with Amber on the Mountain (see blog post March 13) for a series of morning openings on the theme of helpfulness. A man seeks to be the greatest in the kingdom so he builds a high tower. He has taken the advice literally that people who "look up to him" will think he is great. However, one day a bird tells him an old woman is greater than he is. Of course, this is a challenge to him so he seeks her out. She tells him that she not only thinks he is not great, but that she pities him.

“I pity him because I think he must be miserable. He spends his life where it is cold and friendless. It is my experience that those who build such towers do not enjoy the climb or the height, but only to be higher than another. Such people must always be lonely.” He argues, but she continues, “To be great...is not to be seen by, but to truly see, others.” And finally she adds, “To be great is not to be higher than another but to lift another higher.”

Through an incident on the way back home, the man reconsiders his ways. In fact, he sees how the wood from his own high tower can help many people in his village. Along with the virtue of helpfulness, this book is noted as a book on humility in the author’s “virtues collection.”

Richard and Keri Evans created The Christmas Box House International, an organization dedicated to helping abused and neglected children. The Christmas Box House is a one-stop shelter and assessment facility to aid such children in these difficult transitions. The mission and spirit of the organization was inspired by the author's book by the same name. His website has more information. thechristmasboxhouse.org

Amber on the Mountain

Amber on the Mountain
Tony Johnston

In our second grade homeroom Mr. Sprau locates picture books with great potential as literature for building character in his students. Recently he incorporated two such books in his morning openings on the theme of “helpfulness”.  In the first book, Amber lives on a mountain isolated from other children and schools. She longs to learn to read...

Amber lived on a mountain so high, it poked through the clouds like a needle stuck in down. Trees bristled on it like porcupine quills. And the air made you giddy - it was that clear. Still, for all that soaring beauty, Amber was lonesome. For mountain people lived scattered far from one another.

A man comes on horseback to teach people to read, He soon leaves because mountain life is too hard for him. So he skedaddled before Amber could learn. But another man comes with his wife and daughter, Anna, to build a road. Amber’s Granny Cotton tells the man straight out, “You can’t build a road here. Folks will roll clean off it, like walking up a wall.”

But the man said, “You can do almost anything you fix your mind on.”

Amber was too shy to meet Anna at first, but as she watched...Anna lay flopped on her stomach in a meadow, reading a book. The sky was streaked with morning. The air was warm. The grass hummed with bees. Suddenly, up jumped Anna shouting, “Once upon a time…” and hopping around, crazy as a doodlebug.

Amber decided it was the right time to say “hey.”

From then on Anna is determined to teach Amber to read. She says, My daddy says you can do almost anything you fix your mind on. I just fixed mine on teaching you to read!

The story relays how Anna helps Amber overcome her struggles as she learns to read and also how the two girls help Granny with her quilting. Later on, Amber is also determined to learn to write. 

You can see from the directly quoted portions above how entrancing the story-telling is. The paintings of the mountain region by Robert Duncan make this a nice option for a gift. 

In the next blog post I’ll share the other book from Mr. Sprau’s opening time called The Tower.

Anthologies (3) Primary, Elementary

Anthologies (3) Primary, Elementary

This is the last in a series of three posts in the anthology category of literature that builds character. I will return to this category in the future since there are so many good anthologies. I invite your comments and suggestions for those future reviews in this blog. In the next month I will review anthologies for the upper grade levels.

Ordinary Splendors: Tales of Virtue and Wisdom. Toni Knapp.
Animals from 15 legends and folktales around the world display characteristics of courage, responsibility, honor, and love.

Oxford Book of Children's Stories, The. Jan Mark.
An historical anthology of many of the best children's short stories from the past 250 years, this book offers an array of suitable character building choices.

People Could Fly, The. Virginia Hamilton.
The awards and reviews as presented by the Scholastic website.

"The well-known author retells 24 black American folk tales in sure storytelling voice: animal tales, supernatural tales, fanciful and cautionary tales, and slave tales of freedom. All are beautifully readable. With the added attraction of 40 wonderfully expressive paintings by the Dillons, this collection should be snapped up."—School Library Journal 

A Coretta Scott King Award
A Booklist Children's Editors' Choice
A School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
A Horn Book Fanfare
An ALA Notable Book
An NCTE Teachers' Choice
A The New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of the Year

Scholastic has much to offer on their website for teachers and parents. Here is the link. You can browse their reading lists, teacher resources, and tips for parents. I follow them on twitter and find the tweets useful. I find myself clicking the links to view helpful book lists on current topics such as Thanksgiving or M.L.King Day.    http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/people-could-fly#cart/cleanup

Tomie de Paola's Favorite Nursery Tales. Aesop, retold by Tomie de Paola.
This book includes fables such as "The Tortoise and the Hare," a story in which the reader learns that "slow and steady wins the race."

True Valor. Mildred. A. Martin.
Ordinary people perform extraordinary feats of courage during wartime. This book has nine such stories.

Witch of Fourth Street and Other Stories, The. Myron Levoy.
This book contains eight touching stories about various immigrant groups that live on New York's Lower East Side in the 1920's.

Refer back to blog posts for October 4 and October 23 for longer descriptions of two wonderful anthologies not listed in the three "series" posts. The Book of Home and Family and The Book of Virtue.

Anthologies (2) Primary, Elementary

This post continues a listing of anthologies. You may or may not find all of these titles in your library, but the selections here illustrate the fact that you may have find books on your own shelves or that of your parents and grandparents. Become a browser of shelves! You may find good old collections, folk tales representative of your family background, or a favorite from your own childhood. Don't forget to ask living relatives for the tales that were read or told to them - this is a rich source!

Fairy Tale Treasury, The. Collected by Virginia Haviland.
Folk and fairy tales in this treasury are stories from the oral tradition told by people of many cultures to pass on their values, fears, hopes, and dreams. With this understanding, tales can be selected and read for the ideals that are transferred through the story. In this way, many other readily available anthologies and picture books become useful as literature to build character. The collector, Virginia Haviland, was a respected authority on children's literature, chairing the Children's Literature Services Division of the American Library Association and numerous awards committees e.g. Newbery-Caldecott, National Book Award, Hans Christian Anderson. She founded the Center for Children's Literature at the Library of Congress. She was particularly noted for her knowledge of folklore so we would all do well to check out her Favorite Fairy Tale series - tales collected from sixteen different countries.

In Grandma's Attic. Arleta Richardson.
This is a classic series of books that has gone through several reprints due to clear character messages conveyed humorously through anecdotes from Grandma's childhood. Parents and teachers should note that there is Christian messaging in some of the stories and gauge whether this fits your audience. It is more moral in tone than religious.

Kids Random Acts of Kindness. Conari Press, Ed.
Children from around the world tell how good it feels to do something kind for someone else.

Little People Who Became Great. Laura Anoinette Lurge.
Printed in 1935, these stories were written at that time as "Stories of the Lives of those Whom Every Child Should Know."

Manners. Aliki.
The author employs a humorous style to teach good manners.

Anthologies - Primary, Elementary

In October I reviewed William Bennett"s Book of Virtue and promised a list of other good anthologies. Once you have a few good anthologies you have a cache of literature for building character to last for many class times, bedtimes, dinner times or anytime sessions. The annotated titles listed here are well-suited for primary and elementary aged children.

American Biographies. Eva Know White.
This biographical anthology provides historical information about Americans who made contributions in various categories of endeavor.

Belling the Cat and Other Aesops's Fables. Aesop, retold by Tom Paxton.
These fables are told in verse form. The timeless lessons learned through animal tales are simply conveyed for young children. For example, the selection "The Crow and the Pitcher" demonstrates the idea that goals can be reached little by little.  A good prose retelling of the fables for children is called Fables from Aesop by James Reeves.

Champions all the Way. Barlow Meyers.
This book contains the real life stories of outstanding men and women in the world of sports.

Children's Book of Heroes. William Bennett.
Well-written collection of stories about heroes are compiled and edited by Bennett and enhanced by illustrations.

Classics to Read Aloud to Your Children. William F. Russell.
This is a collection of excerpts from classic stories and poems. Each one is accompanied by an introduction to the work and the author. A nice feature is an approximate time for reading aloud.

Doctor Coyote: A Native American Aesop's Fables. Aesop, retold by John Bierhorst.
Coyote wisely instructs his sons in the virtues of hard work.

More anthologies will be featured in the next several blog posts.