Did You Carry the Flag Today, Charlie?

Did You Carry the Flag Today, Charley?
Rebecca Caudill

Carrying the flag is an award for a child at the Little School who has been very good. When Charley Cornett starts school, his brothers and sisters explain to him that such a high honor is a privilege and goes to someone who has been the most helpful. This has been a tradition at this school in the Appalachian Mountains. Charley happens to be a very curious boy who gets into mischief. Growing up in the mountains has been the perfect place for him to love rocks, snakes, tree-climbing, and exploring. Certainly he is not expected to ever be the one who carries the flag! Yet, one day, Charley ends up with the award in a surprising way. And Charley learns something big that day too.

Rebecca Caudill grew up in Kentucky and many of her books are rich in pioneer history and/or the Appalachian Mountain setting. Tree of Freedom was a Newbery Honor book in 1959 and A Pocketful of Cricket, illustrated by Evaline Ness won the Caldecott Medal in 1964. The latter has beautiful poetic prose. Another popular book (among many!) is The Best Loved Doll. In honor of her contributions to children's literature the town of Cumberland, Kentucky dedicated a public library in her name, and the state of Illinois created the annual Rebecca Caudill Award for the favorite children's book of the year.

It is well worth the time to explore the website that hosts the Rebecca Caudill Young Reader Book Award.

http://www.rcyrba.org/

Children from Illinois vote for their favorite book of the year from a list of twenty titles. The choices over the past 25 years provide a wonderful list of quality reading for young readers. I loved this quote by the author found on this site: 

“The first essential in any book is that it have something significant to say --a book that leaves the reader with bigger ideas than when he began reading - that stimulates his thinking, stretches his mind, deepens his feelings. A good book sticks to your ribs.”  Rebecca Caudill In her intentions for the role of children's literature in the lives of children, she is an author after our own hearts!

The Gold Coin

The Gold Coin
Alma Flor Ada

The cumulative tale style is fun to read, enjoyable to hear, and a wonderful example of how picture books inculcate values in children. Though an original story, it has the feeling of folklore and fable. Set in Central America, a thief named Juan tries to steal Dona Josefa's gold coin. She has just said she thinks she is the richest person in the world. However, Juan is to learn that what she meant is more about the value of friendship, hard work, and goodness. As he follows her in his attempts to steal her coin, he is affected by the beauty around him in nature and the pleasant memories that come to him from his prior life. These encounters with the old woman lead him to realize he cannot be a thief anymore. The illustrations by Neil Waldman portray the Central American setting and hardworking farmers along Juan's path. The story won the Christopher Medal given to a story that uplifts the human spirit. A CD is available in which the author reads the story in English and again in Spanish. La moneda de oro!

My Uncle Emily

My Uncle Emily
Jane Yolen

This is a beautiful story from the life of Emily Dickinson, told from the view of her 6-year-old nephew, Gilbert. He begins by explaining that she calls herself "uncle" and that this is a joke in their family. Gilbert is entranced by the words his aunt uses to describe bees and roses. We learn that he loves to spend time with her in her garden, and it seems quite natural that Gilbert has taken on a poetic way of talking that fills this story with descriptive phrases and similies. As he tells about this episode he also ponders what his aunt means by poetry, and readers get a sense of the curiosity and wonder of this young boy. When he punches a boy in the nose who he thinks is making fun of his Uncle Emily, he has more to learn about being impetuous and about telling the truth. This becomes the ripe occasion for the author to bring into the story one of Dickinson's great poems. Tell all the truth...but tell it slant...   

The Story of Ruby Bridges

The Story of Ruby Bridges
Robert Coles

In 1960, Louisiana began the desegregation of its schools at Franz Elementary School in New Orleans. Ruby Bridges was the first African-American child to attend an all-white school in the South  Federal marshalls had to accompany this six-year-old little girl as she walked up the sidewalk to the school amidst the jeers of an angry racist white crowd. For several months white parents kept their children home from school in protest, and Ruby entered her first grade classroom alone. This is a story of courage and faith, one which served as a catalyst for desegregation to continue in schools throughout the South.

I have read this picture book version of the story to students in grades four to eight. At least two messages are clear and powerful: dignity in the face of adversity and forgiveness. To enter into the times and feelings of this event more fully, I also recommend the movie that was made for TV in 1998. It can now be purchased as a Disney DVD. (98 minutes) Other inspiring characters are fleshed out in the movie. Children see how this was not an easy decision for her parents who struggled between the high cause of desegregation and the impact on their daughter. They knew how Ruby's actions could inspire others and pave the way for other children to live in a more just society; yet, they understood the peril of exposing her to the hostile mob. What is particularly striking (and encouraging to me) is that the movie portrays how racist white people could actually change their views.

Note on Robert Coles: 
Coles is a child psychiatrist, professor at Harvard University, and author of books with titles such as The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination, The Moral Intelligence of Children, and The Spiritual Life of Children. He feels that we learn our most lasting moral lessons through stories. Among his many awards, he has received the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In the early years of looking for literature that would build character in children at our school, we stumbled upon Coles. As we sought to describe how it is that stories have power to kindle and hold the moral imaginations of children, his writings provided eloquent support.

Abraham Lincoln - 2

Several months ago I shared several quality biographies about Abraham Lincoln for early to middle elementary grade children. This second installment provides a few titles for the middle to upper elementary age group. Comments are welcome! Share your enjoyment of these books or let us know about other good biographies of Lincoln.

Abe Lincoln: Log Cabin to White House by Sterling North
This biography for middle school and junior high students recounts the many obstacles Lincoln faced and portrays how his disposition and wit enabled him to continue on his interesting path from poverty to the presidency. I admit that I singled this book out of the many offerings on this subject because I love the author! Sterling North wrote the story called Rascal, one of the most beautiful stories for children and adults ever written! There is a Sterling North Society in Edgerton, Wisconsin which celebrates his literature and good children's literature in general.
http://www.sterlingnorthsociety.com/

Sterling North was commissioned by Random House to write a biography about Washington and Lincoln for the Landmark Biography Series. This is one of the original books of the series.


Abraham Lincoln by William Jay Jacobs
In the fourth and fifth grades, we have used this biography as a read-aloud in our opening times at school and also for a class book to be read by all students. Jacobs accomplishes both a well-written narrative and a clear portrayal of Lincoln's virtues.


Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
You cannot go wrong when you pick up any history or biography book written by this author. Freedman incorporates reliable historical research - including photos, letters, and speeches - onto the pages of his books. Every book of his presents an engaging account of a topic, person, or era in history. This stunning book won the Newbery Medal in 1988 for the manner in which he combined nineteenth century art and historical photographs with appropriate historical writing for children. He knows how to handle complex societal and political issues in a way that explains topics such as slavery and elections to children without weighing down the text. He covers Lincoln with depth and in a manner that is well-rounded; while he does not exaggerate Lincoln's virtues, his story portrays the greatness and importance of our 16th president.


Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years by Carl Sandburg
This won the Pulitzer Prize and for an older reader and lover of Lincoln it is a wonderful (though lengthy) biography. It was originally published in six volumes, but it has been since published in one volume. When it was written, it was considered one of the finest biographies of the time. In Sandburg's poetic style he seeks to discover what makes a man great.

Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin

 I like how some authors can weave a pet into their biography and turn out an entertaining story! This book portrays how a child with talent evolved into the great American painter through hard work, respect for his parents, and patience. As a Quaker boy, convincing the community that art was beautiful not shameful required both perseverance and understanding. And Grimalkin? His loyal pet provided fur for his brushes.
Benjamin West is sometimes called "The Father of American Painting". You can find his pictures at the website of the National Gallery of Art.
Here is a link to his picture entitled "Penn's Treaty with the Indians."
http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-1E6

Marguerite Henry is the author of many beloved horse books such as the Newbery winner Misty of Chincoteage.

The Ugly Duckling

Oh dear, it looks like I took the entire summer off and then some! Literature for building character has been a career-long goal and a life-long experience (begun at birth), so this blog is destined to continue on for the rest of my life - despite any lapses.

I am picking it up on the occasion of my youngest daughter's 30th birthday with the fairy tale about the ugly duckling. In this tale by Hans Christian Anderson, the big egg in mother duck's nest produces a large gray baby duck that does not look like the others. As a result this "duckling" spends the first part of life suffering from taunts and isolation. However, there comes the day when the true swan nature becomes manifest, first to the swan and then to everyone else.

When she was a little girl, my daughter thought of herself in this way. She would notice things about herself such as that she learned to tell time a little later than others (so what! but to her it was a difference...), she loved to write late at night rather than to read like her older sister, and she had the usual ups and downs with friends that all children pass through. While we understood and recognized the beauty of her unique virtues, she had to grow into this realization herself. One evening at the dinner table we were talking about how each child had a metaphor to symbolize their unique process of growth. Beginning with the oldest we settled upon a pearl, an oak, and a lion cub. When we came to the youngest she herself blurted out: "and I am the swan!" We were amazed at the self-awareness. We had known about her struggles to accept herself and we could not believe the wisdom that came flowing forth in her exclamation. She was not even totally aware of how insightful she was being. But it was true - in other areas of her life we could see that she was becoming happy in her own skin. Self worth came not from comparisons but by contentment.

And herein is the lesson from The Ugly Duckling: with patience, ones true nature WILL come out. Like the swan, each child can eventually spread their wings and join their majestic kin who float along the waters, serving as a source of delight for others. Versions of this story abound in anthologies, picture books, and - in those treasures of treasures - classic fairy tale collections. To illustrate the beauty of well-written fairy tales, here are some translated excerpts from Andersen's Danish version in his story published in 1844.

"...The duckling had never seen such beautiful birds, dazzlingly white with long, graceful necks...As the ugly little duckling watched them mount higher and higher up in the air, he felt a strange sensation...When they were out of sight, he dived down to the bottom of the waters, and when he surfaced, he was almost beside himself with excitement. He had no idea who these birds were, nor did he know anything about their destination. Yet they were more precious to him than any birds he had ever known...

...One day, the sun began to shine again, and the larks began to sing. Spring had arrived in all its beauty...Then all at once he decided to try his wings. They whirred much louder then before, and they carried him away swiftly. Almost before he knew it, he found himself in a large garden. The apple trees were in full blossom, and the fragrant lilacs bent their long green branches down on a stream that wound its way across a smooth lawn. It was so lovely here in all the freshness of early spring! From a nearby thicket, three beautiful white swans emerged, ruffling their feathers and floating lightly over the still waters. The duckling recognized the splendid creatures...

...What did he discover in the clear surface beneath him? He saw his own image, and he was no longer a clumsy, gray bird, ugly and unpleasant to look at - no, he was himself a swan!...

...He now felt positively glad to have endured so much hardship and adversity. It helped him appreciate all the happiness and beauty surrounding him...The three great swans swam around the newcomer and stroked his neck with their beaks...

...He felt quite humbled, and he tucked his head under his wing - he himself hardly knew why. He was so very happy, but not a bit proud, for a good heart is never proud."
From the book The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales. Edited by Maria Tatar.

Happy 30th Birthday to my youngest daughter - a beautiful swan!