Kids' books for adults

I had the pleasure today of leading a discussion on "children's classics for adults" at the West End branch of the Richmond Public Library. A committed group of grown-ups gave up the most beautiful day in months--well, an hour of it--to talk about Bud, Not Buddy, Becoming Naomi Leon, A Single Shard, and The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place. We talked about art, families, agency, and finding a home--and left all kinds of things unsaid.

Which is just as well, as there are two more meetings, over the next two Saturdays, at two more branches (Ginter Park and Belmont, for those of you in town). I'll have a different group at each discussion, but some folks today said they wanted to come to the others, too. I hope they will--I want to hear more from them!

A fascinating sidelight: three out of the four books have important scenes in libraries. My favorite is in Bud, Not Buddy: the title character's first impulse when he's in trouble is to seek out his local librarian, a Miss Hill, who has (to his dismay) just married and moved to Chicago. I hadn't known this before, but a little research revealed that Miss Hill is in fact a historical figure, Charlemae Hill Rollins of the Chicago Public Library. I'm sorry I hadn't known about her sooner; read a little more about her here, and here, and you'll see why I'm glad to know about her now.

Self-Promotion

I'm just back from a meeting with some fabulous librarians about a program I'm doing for them next month. They've planned a wonderful opportunity for adults to talk about children's books, and I'm delighted to be facilitating the discussions. There are three of them, at three different branch libraries--here are some details.

“A Family Affair: Children’s Classic for Adults”
“A Family Affair: Children’s Classic for Adults” Dr. Libby Gruner, Associate Professor of English, at The University of Richmond will lead our discussion based upon the selected books: Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E.L. Konigsburg, A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park, and Becoming Naomi León by Pam Muñoz Ryan **Registration is required.**

The sessions are from 2-3 on three successive Saturday afternoons: March 7, 14, and 21 at the Belmont, Ginter Park, and West End branches of the Richmond Public Library. There are details here, along with a number to call for more information.

don't ban books

I'm too busy to blog, really--I have a stack of grading that is not getting any shorter. (The fact that I am not actually reading the exams might have something to do with that.) So I must address that.

But in the meantime, read about Maureen Johnson's novel, The Bermudez Triangle, which I now want to read (after the exams, of course) and why some people think you shouldn't read it (scroll down on that last one for the mention of pusillanimous twerps; keep going to read about some particularly, um, interesting Utah Republicans). Three cheers for librarians!

(Note that all above links are anti-book-banning. I do not link to book-banners.)

Banned Books Week

It's Banned Books Week again. Feels like it was just--well, last year, in fact. In honor of Banned Books Week our library hosts a read-out; last year I read In the Night Kitchen (nudity). This year I think I may read the Easter passage from Bridge to Terabithia (religious content, language). I am always astonished at the children's books that make the list, but it does stand to reason: we think children are more susceptible to influence, and thus more in need of protection, than adults. If you want to find the rationales for banning, you can--look for, for example, Parents Against Bad Books. (I'm not linking, because they don't really need the publicity.) They helpfully excerpt lots of the dirty bits from books they don't want your kids to read. Um, perhaps counter-productive? (But pretty amusing, nonetheless.)

I don't think I'm currently teaching or reading aloud anything off these lists, but they certainly appear on my syllabi.

It's always useful to remember, too, that books are challenged for a variety of reasons. I may feel that the challenges to BtoT and In the Night Kitchen are absurd, but the challenges to Huck Finn, Little Black Sambo, and Little House on the Prairie come from the "left." I don't agree with any of them--I've read Sambo, for example, and I would share it with a child, though not without some discussion. Some people don't agree: they don't want to have the Little House books on library shelves, as the attitudes towards Indians in them are certainly offensive and potentially damaging. I don't know how to answer that, except to say that the problem isn't in the book but in the attitude, and we can't change attitudes without studying them. That sounds a bit lame as I type it, but it will have to do--I have to go read a non-controversial book to my son now. Good night.

Library Thing

Attentive readers (hi, there!) will have noticed the new link over on the right to my library thing. Who has time for this? I am a complete library nerd; I worked in the interlibrary loan office of my college library for a couple of years, and then for a library automation company in the early 80s, so I come by this honestly. But I've never tried to catalog my books before, and to do so at this late date seems, well, crazy. Nonetheless compelling.

I've only added the books right next to me on my shelves to the library thing so far. And I'm not sure how many more I can, realistically, try to add in. Others seem to have done it, and I bow to their more organized minds, their more thorough natures. I am so far just playing with it, and I may not get very much further. But imagine the possibilities: actually to know which editions of various texts I own! Actually to have access to them! What a concept.