The Grimm Brothers

The Grimm brothers were two brothers, Jakob and Wilhelm.  Jakob was born on January 4, 1785 and Wilhelm was born on February 24, 1786.  They were born and raised in Germany.  They did everything together.  They went to university school together and while in school they started collecting fairy tales and folklore.  It is believed that the Grimm brothers collected these stories from peasants and villagers.  The Grimm brothers, being from Germany, really liked stories that had German culture involved within the plots.  These stories that they collected had never before been put onto paper, they were always told from one generation to the next orally.  The Grimm brothers, having put these stories on to paper, completely changed how stories were told.  People now had them on paper instead of relying on passing them down to the next generation by mouth.  People of that day and age were delighted.  The first book the Grimm brothers published contained eighty-six stories in it.  This book was published in 1812 and was called ‘Children’s and Household Tales’.  It was such a success that the Grimm brothers went on to publish seven more books with fairy tales and folklore.  The Grimm brothers were known all over Europe as experts on fairy tales and folklore.  Their stories mostly taught moral lessons.  Throughout these books that the Grimm brothers published come the stories and fairy tales we have learned to love as children.  Even though centuries have passed the stories still remain, although they are slightly changed as time goes on.  They influenced children’s literature greatly, by publishing fairy tales and folklore rather than it being orally passed down through generations.

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Gi-He/Grimm-Brothers.html#b

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimm_Brothers

http://www.grimmfairytales.com/en/bio

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm.html

Where Does Snow Come From?

The rain goddess and the arctic air god fell in love and had a baby girl.  The daughter was beautiful with white blonde hair and ice blue eyes.  She grew up quickly, like they all do, had many friends that she enjoyed playing with and was kind to all.  One day her father, the arctic air god, was to come home late due to his heavy work schedule and so rain goddess told her daughter that the family would be having a late night dinner.  Her mother, the rain goddess, told the daughter that dinner would be warm beef stew since the weather was changing and the arctic god was causing a cold streak throughout the north.  The daughter was excited for a nice dinner to keep her belly warm.  The daughter asked her mother if she could stay out and play with her friends since dinner was pushed to a later time and her mother told her that she may – only if she put her coat and hat and mittens on.  The daughter ran to the closet and grabbed the items and ran out the door.  She put her coat on but did not zip it up, she put her mittens on and without thinking she put her hat in her coat pocket.  She was too concerned about meeting the other children that she forgot to put her hat on.  She had so much fun jumping in piles of leaves and running around with the other children she didn’t noticed how cold it was outside.  She heard her mother calling her to come in for dinner and with that she said goodbye to her friends and ran home.  She ran inside and yanked her coat off along with her mittens.  Her mother asked her why her ears were so red and cold and the daughter just shrugged her shoulders and washed her hands for dinner.  Her mother asked if she wore her hat and the daughter realized that she did not.  She sheepishly told her mother that she absentmindedly forgot.  Her mother said that the daughter’s health will pay for it in the end.  That night in bed the daughter kept coughing and sneezing, she had caught a cold, and since she was the child of the rain goddess and the arctic air god she coughed and sneezed so much that when she awoke she had created a six inch blanket of snow over the entire north.

This myth follows the guidelines I learned about because it tells of why we have snow in the north, it explains how snow came about.  Jane Yolen said that (often times) myths involve gods and goddess, which my story does as well.  Even though we know where and how snow is made, having a myth to it brings about a fun story to entertain.

Reader's Sketch

Molly Sturgis

Children’s Literature, Spring 2012

Reader’s Sketch

January 19, 2012

Trying to Remember

I can remember lying on the braided rug in the family room as my mom opened up my favorite book, Babies by Gyo Fugikawa.  My mom rocked in the wooden chair; as she pushed her feet from the floor the chair creaked and as her feet were to meet the floor again another creak came from that chair.  She read the book slowly and her head would draw further from her chest with each page.  I examined the pictures as my mom showed them to me.   All the different babies, some smiling and others looked mad, I liked the colors and the clothes the babies were wearing.  She turned the page and said, “But good or bad, all babies like to be hugged and cuddled and loved.”  I looked next to me at my little baby sister.  I took my thumb out of my mouth and touched her and said, “You’re good now.”  I put my thumb back in my mouth and turned to my mom as if to say, “Ok, continue with the story.”  I remember my mom smiling at me as she turned to the next page.  I can specifically remember that this book made me feel like a big girl and I was because I had a little sister.

It was Homer Hanky season; the Minnesota Twins were in the World Series.  My dad came home with Homer Hankies for us and we put them in the air and sang “Take Me out to the Ballgame.”  I remember the announcer saying, “Next up to bat we have Kirrrrrrrr-by Puckett!”  We all cheered and jumped up and down.  The Twins won that night and we all got into our pajamas awaiting a bedtime story.  We brought our Homer Hankies with us to the family room and laid on the faded braided rug as

Sturgis 2

my mom sat in the rocking chair.  We were so excited about the game that every once in a while one of the five of us would yell “Kirrrrrr-by Puckett!” and we would receive that look from my mom, the one where her chin meets her chest and one eye is smaller than the other.  She needn’t say a word; we knew that meant ‘knock it off before…’  My mom decided she would pick the book that night, and boy did she pick a fun one.  Tikki Tikki Tembo, by Arlene Mosel was a story about a little boy that had a long name and he fell into a well.  Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo was so fun to say we all giggled laying down on that rug.  For weeks after that story I remember constantly chanting that boy’s name.

                I remember loving the pictures of The Five Chinese Brothers, by Claire Huchet Bishop because they were so simple.  The story was intriguing because of the special powers each of the brothers had.  I loved to just look at the pictures.  I remember sitting in my mom’s rocking chair, my feet not quite touching the floor so I would sit with my legs crossed and rock the chair, and holding the book just like my mom did and reading to my little sister and brothers.  I would read the pages and talk about the pictures, telling them what was happening in case what I was reading didn’t come across clearly.  I would stop on the page where the little boy was collecting the fish from the bottom of the sea, for some reason I really liked the picture.

                I can remember “Book It,” a program that partnered with Pizza Hut, where you had to read for a certain amount of time in which you would earn a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut.  I loved this program because that meant we would go out to eat if we read!  I remember a book that I so dearly loved, The Story about Ping, by Marjorie Flack was tracked for many hours of reading through this program.  I loved this book because Ping, a duck, was so little and cute and also because my mom always said Ping was full of mischief like me.  My heart would race every time I read the book worrying

Sturgis 3

about Ping returning home.  I would sit and read this book by myself in my room before bed.  My mom and dad bought me a reading light necklace so I could read with the lights out.  I would fall asleep with this book a lot.  I know that this will be a book I share with my children because it, for some reason, was very special to me.

Years go by and I didn’t read books, I didn’t enjoy them like I used to.  I had too many other things to do; hang out with friends, gossip and talk with boys.  I can’t remember any books I read, even for school, within my adolescent years.

                It wasn’t until after I met my husband that my love for reading resurfaced.  For a birthday in my late twenties I received a book by Jodi Picoult called Change of Heart.  Picking up this book for the first time it felt like I was saying hello to an old friend.  I was astonished how much I enjoyed reading and wondered how I went so long without it!  This book was a page turner for me, I considered it a little frightening for my taste (I am a big baby when it comes to scary things – the last scary movie I have ever watched was Gremlins back when I was little) but I couldn’t put it down.  I finished that book in a couple days and moved onto The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory.  This book was introduced to me by my sister in law.  We both read it in record time and finished it before the movie came out.  I remember sitting on the couch in my living room and my husband telling me to come to bed.  I would stay on that couch and fall asleep there with the open book, like I used to as a child.  He would carry me to bed in the middle of the night.

                The last great book I read was The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, again recommended to me by my sister in law.  I took this book with me on our annual camping trip up north a few years back and couldn’t put it down.  I read instead of socializing, and found myself to be consumed with the book. 

Sturgis 4

Again, I was astonished by how wonderful reading is and wondered about all the years I missed out on reading.  It’s like they always say: “If I only knew what I know now…”   

                Now-a-days I try to find time to read between school and daily life.  I seem to only find time to read books about parenting, which are interesting none the less.  For the future I would like to find time to read more of Jodi Picoult’s books, as I really found her style of writing to be interesting.  I also see in the near future finding only time to read children’s books, which I love, and am excited to start my own collection for our growing family.  I wish to instill the love for reading in my children as my mom and dad did for me.

First Entry

After reading the first article, written by Megan Cox Gurdon, I thought to myself 'this lady does have a point' yet once I started the second article, by Sherman Alexie, I was drawn in by his passion of writting and I just can not argue with his points he makes.  I think Alexie really shows his passion for writting and reading through out his article.  When he says "As a child, I read because books–violent and not, blasphemous and not, terrifying and not–were the most loving and trustworthy things in my life" I couldn't agree more.  Books draw a reader in and the most magical part of reading is that our minds paint the pictures for us of what is going on within the book, the book becomes a part of us.  I don't believe books on violence will produce violent tendencies within a person.  I believe that books allow us to escape from our life and live within the letters that turn into words that fill pages.  Whether a book's subject agrees or disagrees with your beliefs, that should be your own battle but let others make their own decisions.  If a parent is uncomfortable with a book's subject or language than they should be the ones to talk to their child(ren) about it and decide from there, a book shouldn't be censored across the board because it rubs someone the wrong way.