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mathmama
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| Posted: Sept 12 2011 at 7:18am | IP Logged
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Ok, I need to preface this by saying that I am a mathy person who is trying really hard to keep up with my nearly 7 year old who reads everything in sight. I am trying awfully hard to keep her in good books. All my time at the library is spent pouring over book lists that have been recommended to me. Most of these books I have not read myself, but have decided that unless a book comes recommended from a friend I know and can ask questions of, that I need to start pre-reading books (a friend thankfully alerted me to the Ouija board stuff in one of the later Betsy-Tacy books before I got it from the library and dd read it).
So, this last time I picked up From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler. This book is a grade 2 rec from MODG. I sat down the other night to start to read it and couldn't get through the first chapter. The nastiness/surliness of the children really bothered me. This is behavior I am trying to root out in our children. I went to Amazon and read the 1 star reviews and see that some people had the same impression as me. So, I came on here and did a search and saw only glowing reviews.
Can anyone give me some insight here? Did anyone else have the same impression as me? Can anyone set me straight if my thinking is off? Thanks, I am just trying to learn how to be a good discerning critic of literature.
Beth
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Sept 12 2011 at 7:24am | IP Logged
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I wouldn't read it aloud to a young child for that reason. I didn't read it until 6th grade, and I would probably hold off but allow an older (less impressionable) child read it themselves.
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Sept 12 2011 at 7:31am | IP Logged
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Yes, 2nd grade is a bit young for that book.
In the end, the children do become nicer characters because they have had to work together to accomplish something that was important to them.
One thing to remember is that no child is perfect, in real life or in literature, and many children dislike reading about perfect kids because they are not interesting.
If your dd is reading well enough to read the high school Betsy-Tacy books, you will be a busy mom, screening books every day to find appropriate titles that will challenge her intellectually. There's a lot of poorly-crafted children's literature out there, and many new titles in the Young Adult section aren't "young," just "adult."
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Pilgrim
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| Posted: Sept 12 2011 at 7:55am | IP Logged
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I will say, I'm pretty careful too about this kind of stuff in books. If there's a *little* bit of bad attitude, I may overlook it, but I come down on the side of being pretty conservative. Like you said, we are trying to teach the opposite of these attitudes, and a frequent exposure to or allowance to even read this kind of attitude, I feel, introduces attitudes to our children's minds and *does*, even subtly, affect their minds and attitudes.
I'm not meaning to criticize anyone for their opinions or choices, etc., just to let you know Beth that you're not alone and there's nothing wrong with your assessment/judgement. Every family will be different in their choices of these things. I have found a number of times that even if a book is listed in a Catholic homeschool list or recommended by other Catholics, it doesn't turn out to be one I would like my children reading. At first I found it surprising that some books were lincluded in these lists, but I think it truly is because every persons likes/dislikes, comfort levels, etc. with things are different.
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JennGM
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| Posted: Sept 12 2011 at 8:19am | IP Logged
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I had mentioned it here that I wasn't completely comfortable with the book,
JennGM wrote:
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was one of my favorite books (reread a billion times), but when I heard it read aloud, it was a jolting experience. The main character doesn't talk nice about her family or talk nicely to her brother. I think reading it alone I could smooth out those rough spots so I could get to the story and not let that bother me. Read aloud it sounded so stark and mean.
And come to think of it, reading The Velvet Room out loud you see the cruelty of language and sibling rivalry, also. It's not as glaring and ugly when read alone. |
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I never was comfortable with the idea of the children running away, nor how they talked to each other (nor how the brother cheated in cards). But the premise of the book, how they lived in the museum, bathed in the fountain, familarity with all the beautiful art, etc. was just fascinating, and that was the draw of the book. I reread it over and over, but I know I didn't read it until 4th grade.
I would not read it aloud at 2nd grade -- no way.
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Grace&Chaos
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| Posted: Sept 12 2011 at 12:29pm | IP Logged
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I've waited too. My oldest read this book for the first time on a trip to New York a few years ago. I thought she would appreciate some of the sites like the Metropolitan (which she did). And yes there were some things that didn't seem right, but like the other ladies have mentioned my oldest does have a mature mind and can process right and wrong better than her younger sister at the same age (she won't be reading this for a few years still). We could find enough silver linings to make it worth while at the time.
BTW, our home school group just assigned this as the next reading for the tween group/book club (we're talking middle school 6-8th graders). I'll have to ask her if she has different feelings about it this time around.
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mathmama
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| Posted: Sept 12 2011 at 1:17pm | IP Logged
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Thanks for the responses. I am glad my instincts were right. I will be dropping this off at the library this afternoon 
Beth
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: From the Mixed-up Files...
