Publisher : Roaring Brook Press
ISBN : 0761315357
(Buy / Borrow)
I find it both interesting and encouraging that I had quite a bit more difficulty selecting a piece of literature for this week's featured blog entry. Last week, I think that the sense of urgency I had to find an award winning book, make observations, and form opinions about it within an allotted time frame, led me to choose my subject after only a cursory examination of the possibilities. Now, having worked through the experience from start to finish already, I am more in tune with what I need to include here and am beginning to understand more about the ways in which I can combine that content with my own vision of what this blog should be. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending upon your point of view), this has meant that I have devoted a bit more time and effort to the selection made for today's entry and I hope this careful consideration will translate to a better and more thought provoking experience for my readers this week.
As shown above, I have chosen the Caldecott Award winning book My Friend Rabbit to write about today, for several reasons. The storyline is an excellent tale for young people to read about, understand, and relate with. The style of the illustration, though quite different from last week's selection Tuesday, is just as superb and dimensionally dynamic. What struck me most about it, wasn't only how artistically skilled Eric Rohmann obviously is, but also his ability to effortlessly include so much comical detail in his pictures. There wasn't one page that I turned during the several times that I read through this book that I didn't smile or laugh a little bit, and I think that this quality is essential for holding a young person's interest. It is a quality that allows them to not only read, but also finish the book.
After my experience with My Friend Rabbit, I was struck with a bout of nostalgia that brought me back to some adventures (and misadventures) of which I was a part with both my childhood friends and my sister. In many cases I can clearly remember oddly contrived schemes that ultimately ended badly for one or more of the parties involved, yet throughout there was never a doubt of our close relationship or the esteem in which we held one another. This feeling, is what Eric Rohmann has captured so well in both his written words and in the way Mouse and Rabbit interact with one another. He allows his readers the greatest level of ease when it comes to identifying with the characters in the book and the bond between them.
My next thoughts, were of how many ways this book could be used in a group or classroom setting, because there are so many. While it is not specifically written as a counting lesson, for instance, it could certainly be used as one. As rabbit gathers his animal friends up to form the giant tower that he plans to use to recover Mouse's airplane, a group or class could count along to see how many animals high the tower goes.
Another lesson/activity that could be derived from this story is about diversity and the beauty in different individuals coming together and working toward a common goal and purpose. It introduces complex concepts such as metaphors to young people in a way that is plain to see and easy to understand. I find this to be an especially important idea to demonstrate in classrooms today, where the students that make up many of our classes come from a wide variety of racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.
The last idea for a lesson or activity that I have to mention is also my favorite. It came to me as I was looking over some of my bookmarked news stories from 2009. One in particular caught my attention, and I thought it would be wonderful to use with a group or class as a demonstration of text to life comparison.
It is the story of Bella and Tarra, a dog and an elephant living at an elephant sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, that are real-life best friends, just like Mouse and Rabbit. True, Bella and Tarra might not have ever had to address an issue such as an airplane caught in a tree, but the depth of their friendship, after having read their story, is just as obvious and in my opinion, even more heartwarming.
I am grateful for the experience of having read both of these stories, one fiction and one non-fiction, and being able to understand the connections that can be made between them. Depending on your own point of view, it's art imitating life or life imitating art, but either way you choose to look at it, it's a lovely way to finish the book.
John,
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading you blog on “My Friend Rabbit” I see that you are passionate for using different types of literature. I like how you are very particular in the kind of story you wanted to use for this entry. The way you mentioned last week’s blog and how this story was different sparked my attention. As I continued to read your blog, I see that you had a lot of fun reading this story. I enjoyed that you found “My Friend Rabbit” to be a comical relief as you read through it. I know from experience, that many children want to sit and listen to a story that is both fun and entertaining. Like you said, this is an essential quality that holds a child’s interest.
In addition, I thought it was great that you were able to make text to self connection with the story. I like how after you read the story it made you think back to a time when you went on an adventure or misadventure. I also noticed how just by this one story you were able to incorporate many different lessons for children. Just by your descriptions I see how for a younger grade you can use the book as a way to learn numbers and counting. Children can count each time rabbit gathers his animal friend’s to make the tower. I see how you though about even introducing complex concepts like metaphors which can be targeted for older children.
Not only did you incorporate this type of math and reading lessons in the story, you thought about teaching about diversity and the beauty in different individuals that are coming together and working towards the same goal. It was great to see that from one book you were able to come up with so many different lessons. Each one of your ideas just shows that you have children’s best interests at heart. I appreciate your thoughts and ideas on what you wrote within this blog and I look forward to reading more of your entities.