Reading Rainbow

Apparently I have been living under a rock, but I just found out that Reading Rainbow has ended!  I haven't watched it in a long time, but I do remember watching it as a child and really enjoying it.  I am sad about this development, but it leaves me wondering as well. 

In light of my recent readings about TV and kids, I have mixed feelings.  The general opinion of the book I read was that while educational programming (they focused on Sesame Street) is better than other types of shows, no TV is better than watching the educational stuff.  So where does that leave us?  Although to be honest, I preferred Sesame Street and Mister Rogers to Reading Rainbow, I still enjoyed it.  I can't help thinking that Reading Rainbow was important for kids who didn't have parents to model reading for them at home.  Is that plausible at all?  Thoughts?

Here is some additional reading for those who are interested:

Blog Post by The Book Whisperer

Article from NPR

Definition of a Common Reader by Virginia Woolf

As I mentioned previously in my discussion of Ex Libris, by Anne Fadiman, I have been wanting to read Virginia Woof's The Common Reader.  In the preface to Fadiman's book, she quotes Woolf's definition of a common reader, and I wanted to share it.

The common reader "differs from the critic and the scholar.  He is worse educated, and nature has not gifted him so generously.  He reads for his own pleasure rather than to impart knowledge or correct the opinions of others. Above all, he is guided by an instinct to create for himself, out of whatever odds and ends he can come by, some kind of whole."

Fadiman also quotes Woolf as she describes, "all those rooms, too humble to be called libraries, yet full of books, where the pursuit of reading is carried on by private people."

What do you think of Woolf's description of a "common reader".  In many ways, I agree with her assessment.  I believe I would consider myself to be a common reader, and I am by no means a scholar or a critic.  I like to consider myself well-educated, but not compared to a literature professor.  I definitely believe in the last part of her description, as I do seem to be looking for some kind of whole in the disparate volumes I read everyday.  

I want to read more about "all those rooms" and the books they hold.  I am most looking forward to arranging my modest library when I finally move into a new apartment so that I may carry on the "pursuit of reading".

Curious George

Most recent read: L.M Alcott: Signature of Reform

I LOVE to read the history and background to some of my favorite books-especially older children's books.  I have always been a big fan of the Curious George series by Margret and H.A. Rey, and recently, I've learned some new interesting information about them.

First, it started when I watched the Curious George movie with my nieces and nephew the other night.  I had never seen it, but love the Jack Johnson sound track.  I actually need to watch it again, because I sort of missed the middle.  But what I did see was delightful!  Two things in particular caught my eye.  1) The ship that the Man with the Yellow Hat took to Africa was called the H.A. Rey!  So cute!  (I love it when they slip in details like that!  It's especially fun when they appear in kid's movies as a little extra entertainment for the adults!  Or maybe I'm just a dork.)  And 2) The Man with the Yellow Hat finally got a name!!!  Ted!  That probably delighted me the most.  Ted seemed to fit him, but I was wondering where the name came from.  

Fortunately, I did not have to wait long.  The very next evening, I was putting another niece to bed and read a story that she picked out.  She selected See the Circus, by (wait for it...) H.A. Rey!  A complete coincidence and I had never read this book before.  It was very cute, and toward the end, there is a man with a yellow hat (and outfit) with a monkey.  The monkey is unnamed (but my niece squealed, "It's George!" anyway) but the man is called Ted!!!  How clever of the movie people to keep the same name!  

So that made me curious!  I looked up H.A. and Margret Rey on Wikipedia and discovered even more delightful facts about them.  George started out as a character in Cecily G. and the 9 Monkeys.  I had read this book previously, but forgot that George was in it.  They decided create a whole book for George after that book's success.  

But first they had to escape from the Nazis and so they successfully left Paris on BICYCLES!  These were amazing and fascinating people.  Do read more about them when you get a chance. 

So, if you are a fan of Curious George, check out these other books if you are not familiar with them already.   I'm looking forward to watching the movie in its entirety as well.  Will Ferrell does the voice for The Man with the Yellow Hat/Ted and Drew Barrymore is his love interest.  My sister thinks that her cartoon rendition looks like her.  Great movie that captures the spirit of a whole series of books and still has a plot of its own.  I love it when that happens!

All images from Amazon.com.

Updates

Most Recent Read: L.M. Alcott: Signature of Reform, edited by Madeline B. Stern

I have been driving all over the state of Texas in the last week!  I went to visit my sister (a 3-hour drive) for a few days, and then drove back Sunday afternoon with my 3-year-old niece to attend my other niece's 4th birthday party in New Braunfels.  Then we spent the night in San Antonio and drove back to College Station on Monday.  Then I drove back to San Antonio on Tuesday morning, and then back out to New Braunfels Tuesday evening.  The reason for this little geography demonstration is to explain why I have been silent for a week.  I have also been having camera issues, but that's another story.

I have managed to get a great deal of reading done, and to acquire some new books.  I started and finished American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield, which my BFF, Katie, and I are reading for our online reading group.  I will be posting about it soon, and perhaps include some of our discussion.  

On my way back from College Station, I stopped at Half-Price Books in San Marcos to check out their collection.  There, I bought Little Men, Jo's Boys, L.M. Alcott: Signature of Reform, Real Homeschool Families, and a CD collection of poetry that is a companion to the Norton Anthology of Poetry.  I am starting to read the book about Louisa May Alcott, and it's great.  I look forward to revisiting her work in the next few weeks, and to reading more about her.  

I hope to catch up with some upcoming posts once I get organized and get some pictures together.

Here's a preview:

Curious George

_____ For Dummies books

Various organic and local food movement books

American Wife and online reading group

More about Louisa May Alcott

Long Overdue Interview with a Fellow BYW member, Alycia Wicker, about her lovely blog.

Julie and Julia: Book vs. Movie

Nice to Come Home To

Most recent read: The Art of the Handwritten Note, by Margaret Shepherd

Yesterday I finished reading, Nice To Come Home To, by Rebecca Flowers. I found it on the bargain shelves at Borders a month or so ago, but had other things to read in the meantime. When I finally picked it up a few nights ago-I barely put it down. Obviously, it was a pretty quick read, but it was fun and I would recommend it.

It's the story of Prudence Whistler, a woman in her mid-thirties, who looses her job and her boyfriend in pretty rapid succession. At first, it was eerily similar to my own life, as she was searching for a job in the nonprofit industry (as I am). The similarities seemed to stop there, however (except for her fondness for lists and planning-a fondness which I also share). Although the set-up is fairly typical for chick-lit, I suppose, the story did not turn out quite as I had imagined it would. And in the end, I was very satisfied!

Flowers' book was smart, too. She is a contributor for NPR's All Things Considered, and included my beloved public radio into several parts of the story line, which was very cool. The descriptions were vivid and the characters were very real.

If you are looking for a fun end-of-summer read, grab Flowers' Nice To Come Home To. I was definitely glad I finally did.

Chinese Rejection Slip

"We have read you manuscript with boundless delight.  If we were to publish your paper, it would be impossible for us to publish any work of a lower standard.  And as it is unthinkable that in the next thousand years we shall see its equal we are to our regret compelled to return your divine composition and beg you a thousand times to overlook our short sight and timidity."  

-Chinese Rejection Slip

This is one of the quotations from A Writer's Commonplace Book.  I wish there were more details.  But even as it is, it made me smile.

Ex Libris

As a fellow book-lover, I really loved this delightful little book. In it, Anne Fadiman collects a series of essays she wrote about her books and her love of reading over the course of a four-year period. It is only about 150 pages and reads pretty quickly. I read the whole thing while my nephew took a nap!

It first caught my eye because of the subtitle: "Confessions of a Common Reader", but wooed me completely as I flipped through the pages. I adored the first essay, and it remained my favorite. "Marrying Libraries" was all about the saga of finally deciding to merge her massive collection of books with her husband's (after they had already lived together for several years). She spoke of arguments over organizational systems (alphabetically or chronologically?) and the tragedy of letting go of duplicate copies.

Other essays were about words ("The Joy of Sesquipedalians"-which is such a big fancy word (that means, well, basically big fancy word, apparently) that my spellchecker won't recognize it!), inscriptions ("Words on a Flyleaf"), and book care ("Never Do That To A Book").

The author was so clearly attached to her books (as I am) that it made me wonder. Is there a difference between someone who loves books and someone who just loves reading? I tend to think they go together, because they do for me, but maybe they don't. I'm assuming that a lover of books (someone who gets attached to the physical paper and glue) also loves reading, but isn't it possible that someone who loves to read isn't really all that fond of the books themselves? Does that make any sense?

Regardless of what kind of book/reading lover you are-I would recommend Fadiman's books. It's short, but delightful (a National Bestseller, as well!).

And I'm curious-have any of you ever had to marry your library to another?

Little Women

Most recent read: Nice To Come Home To, by Rebecca Flowers.  

Like many young girls, I read Little Women when I was in the 3rd or 4th grade.  I loved it and went on to read Little Men and Jo's Boys as well.  When I was 13 or 14, I took a trip throughout New England with my parents and we toured Louisa May Alcott's home in Massachusetts.  I loved the most recent movie version when it came out, and purchased the DVD sometime in college.  I always watch it around Christmas time, but find it comforting any time of year.  

This is all to say that I already loved Little Women and was familiar with the story, but thought it would be fun to listen to it again, so I bought it from iTunes for my iPhone.  I first bought it because my sister and I were going to be driving to Dallas from here house, which was a several hour drive.  We ended up just talking the whole time, so I started listening about two weeks ago when I got home.  It was over 20 hours long-at least!  And it was so good!  There were so many little parts that weren't in the movie that I had forgotten.  Some were familiar from my previous reading so long ago, and others seemed completely new.  Listening to it was a really fun experience as well.  The reader was excellent and before long I could tell who was speaking by her voice changes before the speaker was identified.  I know some people who look down on audio books, but I think they're fabulous.  Certainly not a replacement for real books, but such a joy on long car trips, or while exercising, or even just lying in bed in the dark.  I don't normally do classics via audio books, but Little Women was perfect, especially since I had already read it.

One of the main things that impressed me this time around was the complexity of the stories, emotions, and characters in the book.  While it is certainly appropriate for young people to read, I couldn't help but think as I was listening that I must have missed so much the first time I read it.  Alcott wove such a beautiful story-I hope that more adult readers are revisiting this classic as well.  I want to go and get a copy of the other two now.  I seem to be entering an intense Louisa May Alcott phase.  I want to read Little Men and Jo's Boys, first and then reread Eight Cousins and A Rose in Bloom.  I loved those two as a young girl as well.  Eight Cousins was the first book I remember being so attached to that I was really sad when it was over.  Then I was delighted to find A Rose in Bloom, the sequel.  I am also dying to read An Old Fashioned Girl, which I have never read.  Then I may need to take a break from Alcott.  

This whole experience is making me think about what other books I need to revisit from my childhood.  I reread The Giver and Number the Stars in college for my children's literature class.  What other ones do I need to read again?  What were your favorites from childhood?  Have you reread any of them?  Which would you recommend now?

What about Louisa May Alcott?  Any lesser known gems that need to be read?