Week 1 Post 1 - Sendak

           

 

Sendak, M. (1963). Where the wild things are. New York, NY: HarperCollins Children’s Books.

Genre of week: Picture Books.  YA Reading   Children Reading (to 4^th or 5^th grade)

Sendak neatly book balances the books’s pictorial dimension against the text so the two cooperate to make the point that this naughty little boy Max is just that: naughty. The use of the pictures complements and enhances Sendak’s point: As the story transpires and Max gets to ‘meet’ really ‘wild’ things he quickly knows implicitly that it is time for supper and for bed and that the ‘wild things’ aren’t for him. Like all naughty little guys he goes home and finds that what he really wants – a hot supper – is there waiting for him. I love this book because it is so affirming in tone. Sendak understands how important naughtiness is and never scolds us or Max. Instead he lets us have some fun so we too can go home to dinner and sleep.

I also liked the way Sendak used “and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the wild things are.” going out and repeated it coming back with “sailed back over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day.” Repeating this ‘fun’ concept makes the episodic plot really accessible and memorable to young readers.

It is easy to see why this book won1964 Caldecott Medal Winner for the Most Distinguished Picture Book of the Year

The big question: “How can I get back to where Max is and next time go with him on adventure?”

First 536 Post

Prior to becoming Graduate Assistant for Dr. Thomas Frazier Chair of University of the Cumberland's English and Modern Foreign Languages Department, I was an International Baccalaureate Instructor for 12 years at Beijing No. 55 High School where I taught DP English Language A1, Business and Management and Theory of Knowledge and MYP English A and MYP Technology.  I was also No. 55’s MYP/DP Trainer and Foreign Teacher Liaison.

    Happily like the International Baccalarueate, during the course of my Master's study here in the U.S. emphasis has been on placing the student at the center of inquiry based pedagogy: Students are encouraged to discover how to make valid decisions based on solid evidence and then to act upon those decisions. Myself a lifelong learner, this has satisfied beautifully and buttressed my passion for helping young scholars unlock their capacity to think critically so they might order their lives in an insightfully complete, valid and ethical manner.

Now in 2012 Spring II I am taking my last two classes in UC’s M.A.T. Secondary English (Non- Certified): EDOL 636 - Problems in Education and EDOL 536 -Young Adult and Children’s Literature.  I will finish at the end of May.  At the same time I am now assiduously applying for a new IB post overseas. Opportunities are appearing on all continents, but I am hoping to relocate to Continental Europe or the UK though I am open to IB schools I am now finding in the U.S.as well as Central and South America.

Finally reading has been a huge part of my life. I can easily picture my little brother and older sister on our mother's lap or at her knee while she read to us. And starting in a little one-room country school and continuing in the town school our teachers read to us. The monthly bookmobile visits to our small town in northeastern South Dakota were a treat and we all took books home. Now before I go to bed each night I read something of scholarly appeal before I go to sleep. It all started with children's and young adult literature when I was a child.