Planting a Garden

After reading The Secret Garden, I began to think of activities that I performed with my classmates and teachers throughout elementary school. One of my favorite activites that I did in second grade that would certainly correspond to The Secret Garden was plating a garden. Not only did the activity promote team work and classroom bonding, but it also allowed us to learn about nature and the life cycles of plants.

Materials: Watering Can, Seeds, Spade,

Procedure: Each member of the classroom would be given a particular job. A group would be in charge of watering the plants, another would be in charge of planting the seeds and digging the hole for the plants with a spade (Under the instructor's supervision). At the end of several weeks it is fun to glace back at your garden and see how your plants have progressed.

Francis Hodgson Burnett

In class next week we will be discussing The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett. I thought this was a good opportunity to recognize Hodgson for her works and literary successes.

Francis Hodgson Burnett was an English-American writer and is famous for her children's stories. She was born in 1849 with the name Frances Eliza Hodgson in Cheetham Hill Manchester. Due the harsh times in her childhood due to the death of her father's death, Burnett emigrated to Knoxville, Tennesee in 1865. The move, however, did not sweep the family out of poverty. When her mother died in 1867, Burnett was forced to raise her four younger brothers and sister at the tender age of 18, and she eventually turned to writing for support. She ended up writing for Godey's, Scriber's Monthly, Peterson's Ladies Magazine, and Harper's Bazaar.

Burnett moved to Washington D.C. in 1873 after her marriage to Dr. Swan Burnett. Burnett's literary success came just after her marriage. Her works consisted of That Lass o'Lowrie's (1877), Haworth's (1879), Lousiana (1880), A Fair Barbarian (1881), and Through One Administration (1883), Esmerelda (1881), and the Little Lord Faulteroy (1886). It was with her story of Lord Faulteroy that won Burnett large appeal. It was supposed to represent a children's story, but it seemed to a favorite with mothers as well. New Fashions also emerged after the publishing of the story. Long curls, velvet suis, and lace collars.

Burnett's later works included Little Princess, The Lady of Quality, The Secret Garden, The Lost Prince, The One I Know Best of All. After these literary sucesses, Burnett became to deal with Spiritualiam that carried her into World War I. The result was her novella called The White People that dealt with what happens after death.

Burnett died in Plandome, New York in 1924 where she lived the last seventeen years of her life.

The Grinch Grinches the Cat in The Hat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEGGTqutLpA

During our picture book lesson, we spent an entire day discussing Dr. Seuss and The Cat in the Hat. During our lesson, Dr. Robinson explained that Seuss saw himself as a mixture of the Cat in The Cat in the Hat and The Grinch, another one of Seuss's famous characters. After the lesson, I found it ironic that I discovered a clip featuring both of these particular characters.

The clip shows the Grinch and the cat crossing each others paths on a sunny day. The cat is enjoying a fine picnic when he realizes that his automobile is blocking the road that The Grinch is attempting to drive down. The Grinch bumps and bumps the cat's little car and demands for it to be moved immediately. The cat first tidies up his picnic and casually mentions that the Grinch has a green face. The Grinch is so offended by this remark that he solves his own problem. He angrily places his car in reverse and drives away.

Dr. Robinson mentioned in class last week that the cat in The Cat in the Hat is a con-man and at trickster hero. By viewing this video we are allowed the opportunity to see this con-man in action, and it becomes increasingly evident that this cat is, in fact, a trickster. The cat talks his way out of the entire situation, and it could be argued that the cat does not ever plan to move his automobile to allow the grinch to pass.

I must ponder on one final thought. I must wonder if this video represents the inner duel between cleverness and wickedness within Dr. Seuss. Does the video mean that the cleverness always overpowers the evil within Dr. Seuss?

Beatrix Potter's Early Sketches

At the start of our picture book unit we read The Tale of Peter Rabbit. I was extremely fascinated by Beatrix Potter's illustrations, and I began to research the author's early work. I found that Beatrix Potter began sketching the characters the we see in her stories today in her childhood. They may still be viewed today in her school journals. The top illustration is an example of Potter's drawings. The drawings ranged from caterpillars to rabbits playing in the snow. Secondly, the bottom sketch located above is one of Beatrix's Potter's picture letters. I discovered that Potter spent many of her early literary years writing letters to children that she knew. In her letters she would include a sketch of an animal character with a black pen. The particular illustration above shows Potter's original tale of Peter Rabbit that she composed for a child named Noel Moore in September of 1893. She dedicated several of her later picture letters to Noah Moore in 1901. In this particular child's letter, Potter included a story of naughty squirrels. There is much to be gained by analyzing Beatrix Potter's early works. Not only do we get the opportunity to see into Potter's mind, but we also experience the love and adoration that she withheld for children.

Top Ten Picture Books for Children

The following list of the top children's picture books in the United States for the week. The list reflects the sales and purchases of the stories. Some of the authors are familiar from our poetry unit in class. (Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein)

1. Gallop!: A Scanimation Picture Book
Author: Rufus Butler Seder

2. Dirt off My Shirt
Author: Jeff Foxworthy
IllustratorL Steve Bjorkman

3. Don't Bump the Glump
Author: Shel Silverstein

4. The Jellybeans and The Big Dance
Author: Laura Numoeroff and Nate Evans
Illustrator: Lynn Munsinger

5. Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity
Author: Mo Willems

6. Ladybug Girl
Author: Jacky Davis and David Sowan
Illustrator: David Soman

7. Zen Ties
Author: JOn J. Muth

8. Smash! Crash!
Author: Jon Scieszka
Illustrators: David Shannon, Loren Long, David Gordon

9. A Dog May Be A Genius
Author: Jack Prlutsky
Illustrator: James Stevenson

10. Alphabet
Author: Matthew Van Fleet

P.L. Travers

Pamela Lyndon Travers is credited for creating the character of Mary Poppins. Travers was born in 1899 and was an Australian novelist and journalist. The famous writer was born Helen Lyndon Goff in Queensland, Austrailia to Robert Goff and Margaret Agnes.
Travers began her writing career when she was just a teenager. She even wrote for The Bulletin and Triad. She also gain a repretation as an actress and toured Austrailia and New Zealand with a Shakesperean touring company. It was during this time she decided to write under the pen name of P.L. Travers.
The 1934 publication of Mary Poppins was Travers first major success as a writer. Her character of Mary Poppins was found in five sequels. Travers also published a number of other novels, poems, and non-fiction works.
Disney produced the widely famous film of Mary Poppins in 1964. Travers had major arguments with her series of stories being made into a Disney film. She eventually stated when she was approached with a proposal of Mary Poppins being made into a stage musical that no Americans or members of the Mary Poppins film production were to be involved in the process.
Travers never married, but adopted a boy when she was in her mid thirties. P.L. Travers passed away in London in 1996.

Film Adaptation for Mary Poppins

The muscial, Mary Poppins, was produced in 1964 and adapted after the series of novels by P.L. Travers. The film was made by Walt Disney and was nominated for thirteen academy awards. The film features Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins and comedian Dick Van Dyke as Bert, the chimney sweep. Songs in the film are by Robert and Richard Sherman . The film is ranked number six on the American Film Institute list of best musicals.

Casting History:

Julie Andrews, was quickly cast as Mary Poppins just after she was passed over by Jack Warner for the role of Eliza Dolittle in the musical, My Fair Lady. Andrews had the last laugh at the end, however, when she won Best Actress for both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards for her respected roles.

Disney Cast Dick Van Dyke due to his major sucess on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Even though the show brought him much glory, Dyke was constantly critisized for his cockney accent in the film.

Disney Battles with P.L. Travers:

Disney had a tough time attempting to purchase the film rights from author, P.L Travers. Travers firmly believed that the film versions of her books would never live up to her creation of Mary Poppins. For more than twenty years, Disney attempted to make an effort to produce a film version of Mary Poppins. Disney officially won the battle with Travers in 1961 with an agreeement of a copy of the script for Travers. Travers fought Disney on a number of issues while attempting to make the movie version. She wished Disney to feature elements of the Edwardian Period, and she strongly opposed the animated sequence. Disney, however, overrruled her objection. The result is the film that we know and love today.

Below is a clip from the film, Mary Poppins:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5IW9wK_HNg&feature=related