Children's Literature Reading Log
No, I don't just read children's books. I'm taking a class on children's librarianship and have been tasked with reading at least 60 titles, with various stipulations for how many of each type and age group that I won't bore you with here. I'm using this as my own way of giving my personal thoughts on each book, so I won't forget what I thought about what I read. For the moment I'm choosing not to add cover art, both so this doesn't get too long and because I'm lazy and don't feel like relearning how to add images.
The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales, Jon Scieszka illus. Lane Smith
Childhood favorite. I remember the exact section of the elementary school library it was kept in. I thought it was riotously funny back then. Reading it now, I still do find it funny but maybe not laugh-out-loud funny. I do believe it would make a fantastic book to read aloud, and I'd love to do that if I ever get the opportunity.
Thinking of all these books brings back a flood of memories of even more books I loved as a child but have seldom thought of today. Animalia, A Bad Case of Stripes, The Name of this Book is Secret, etc etc etc. Unfortunately the prof wants us to choose books from like, reccommended educator sources and such. Many of these books DO have entries on such lists, but I know she'd be suspicious if I only logged books that were convieniently around when I was a child, haha. Need to find some more modern titles.
Verdi, Janell Cannon
Another much loved childhood favorite. It features a young snake learning to accept that someday he must grow up and become like the boring adult snakes who don't play all day like he does. Features some truly beautiful illustrations. My favorites were always the ones where Verdi leaps into the sky. I wouldn't mind having a Verdi tattoo.
Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism, Georgia Byng
This was a childhood favorite of mine. Odd choice for little me, because I don't really have an interest in pugs (the one on the cover is the heronine's sidekick) or glamorous wealthy lifestyles. I guess I must have related to the main character, an ugly, bullied girl, and vicariously enjoyed when she discovers, more or less, that she has superpowers. There were more books in this series in which she gets different powers--I remember one in particular where she learns to shape-shift, which was always my pick for coolest superpower ever-but I don't remember wanting to hypnotize people. Reading the book as an adult, I can appreciate it for what it is- a nice solid book. Not a masterpiece by any means, but this time I picked up on the book's strong theme of forgiveness and self improvement. One might even call it 'restorative justice', though I prefer not to because it implies I'm some nut who doesn't believe anyone should go to prison ever. Back on topic, sorry. I also think this would be a great way to teach a kid about symbolism and motifs. Throughout the story, Molly is compared to the cuckoo, both as a victim of the cuckoo (as an orphan, Molly was 'pushed out' of her parents' 'nest' like cuckoos do in real life to other birds), and the cuckoo itself (she uses her powers to take opportunities from others that she didn't put the work into deserving herself). I'm glad I read it again after many many years, but I probably won't return to it again.
Gender Queer, Maia Kobabe
Read for a different class's assigned reading. Gender Queer was the most challenged book in the USA in 2023, meaning that it held the record that year for the most attempts by parents to remove it from school and public libraries. I don't really want to write a treatise on my thoughts on gender identity and gender theory, so I'll stay as brief as possible. Reading the author's story definitely helped me understand asexuality better, though I can't say the same for gender identity. I still don't really get why it's so important to worry so much about how others see you, and having never experienced it myself, I don't know what it means to have an innate 'sense' of gender. I've never 'felt' like a woman, I just am one. So I don't really know what it means either to "not feel" like a woman. It's a well told story in terms of art and narrative structure, but I also wish the author would have touched on how idyllic and privledged their life and upbringing was. Kobabe's parents must be absolutely LOADED if they were able to pursue a fucking master's degree in comics in San fucking Francisco. All this said, I did see some of myself in the author. I too was a tomboy who liked to play outside, and I too keep an extensive log of what I read. Would I reccommend it to a kid? probably not, because the discussions of sex and masturbation are pretty explicit, and no reccommendation would be worth potentially losing my (nonexistant) job over.