Journal 8 - The tale of Peter rabbit

        

        Peter rabbit, a naughty rabbit, lived with his mother and sister. One morning, while Mrs. Rabbit were going out, she asked her children not to go into Mr. McGregor’s garden. However, unlike other rabbits picked blackberries, Peter rabbit ran to Mr. McGregor’s garden. After he ate lots of radishes and parsley, he met Mr. McGregor. Peter rabbit was shocked and tried to run away, but he was caught by a net. Then Mr. McGregor tried to trap Peter rabbit, he wriggled out immediately. He jumped into the watering can for a while and then jumped out of the window safely. He ran as fast as he can to flee the garden. After Peter returning home, he got sick. Mrs. Rabbit made him some tea and took care of him.

• Line: There is no straight line in every picture, which conveys warmness and harmonization to the readers.

• Painterly Techniques: Water color

• Shape: Most of characters and background are rounded shapes. They suggest comfort and stability.

        Peter Rabbit is familiar with us. I learned this cute little bonny from the packing of cookies in my childhood. When I grew up, I realized that he was from a picture book. What’s more, I was attracted by the picture books of Peter Rabbit because of the author’s warm and light painting style. The series of Peter Rabbit are not serious and didactic; I think it is one of the reasons why Peter Rabbit are so popular for a long time.  

Journal 7 -Cloudland

         Albert and his family went mountain climbing. When they were going down, Albert fell off a cliff! His parents looked everywhere but not found him. At this time, the cloud children saw him falling down and spoke out some magic words. So Albert became very light and was caught by the cloud children. After Albert slept over a night in the cloud, these cloud children had breakfast, played jumping games, and played cloud ball with Albert joyfully. While the clouds became darker and darker, they made lots of thunderous noises. They swam in the rain, painted in the rainbow, and had races in the wind. As Albert was left far behind, he nearly was crushed by an airplane. Luckily, he walked to the other cloud children through pain which the plane left. Although Albert seems to enjoy the time in the cloud, he missed his home. He told to the queen and queen promised him that she would make the cloud drift over his country. Before Albert’ leave, the cloud children planned a party for him. Next evening, the cloud arrived and the queen spoke out the magic words again. Albert returned home, but he still thought whether he could go back to the cloudland by the magic words.

Line: There no straight line in each characters. 

The illustrator used undulating line to compose every picture.

Artistic media: Composite Technique

John Burningham used photos as background, and pasted hand-drawn pictures.

        I had dreamed and imaged to stand on the top of the cloud when going mountain climbing in my childhood. As I grew up, I almost forgot this childlike imagination. Thanks to this picture book, it reminded me something important. In the end of the story, Albert tried hard to return to the cloudland. However, he could not remember the correct magic words so that the cloudland remains innocent and pure times somewhere in his heart. 

Journal 6 -When I was young in the mountain

        This book talks about a period of time when she was young in the mountain. She lived with her grandparents. Her grandpa worked in the coal mine. After he came home, grandma would prepare lots food for us. During the leisure time, the girl and little sister went across the wood and swimming in a hole which was muddy and dark. On their home, they bought some butter in Mr. Crawford’s baking store. Before taking a bath, they had to pumped water from the well and heat it. They wore clothes near the stove where grandma heated cocoa. In the night, the mountain was so natural that they listened to frogs, and sometimes snakes would appear. Grandma killed it and took a picture with kids. She never wanted to go to anywhere else except the mountain. Living in the mountain, sitting leisurely on the porch with her grandparents in the evening are enough for her.

• Narrative point of view: First person narrator

In the story, the author used “I” to narrate the whole story for us.

• Theme: A contented mind is a perpetual feast.

In the end of the story, the girl said, “I never wanted to go anywhere else in the world, for I was in the mountains.”

• Color: Yellow, brown, and white

The author chose warm shade to represent a warm story, such as yellow, brown. 

        As we learned in the class, Children’s literature is aim for teaching and entertaining children. But how does the literature influence adults after reading the literature? I think that it reminds me the peaceful time without anxiety and worry in my childhood. I went to my grandparents’ mountain when I was eight. I swum in the brook and caught the little fish. Everything there was novel for me because I lived in the city. Now there is no more fish in the brook, and I am too busy to return. If I get there one more time, could I be as joyful as a child? The last picture made me very miss my grandparents and the mountain. 

 

Journal 5 -Allison

        A little girl, called Allison, lived with her family and her favorite Japanese doll, MeiMei. One day she received a package which was packed a beautiful kimono. After she dressed up the kimono with her mother’s help, she looked at herself and her parents in the mirror. At this time, she found that she was totally different from her parents, except MeiMei. At lunch time, Allison asked them where she came from and realized that they were not her real parents. Her parents told her that her real parents could not keep her and show up in front of Allison. Next day, Allison asked her classmates and got the answer that her classmates had their real parents. Allison felt depressed. When her mother picked up her in the afternoon, she did not want to hold her mother’s hand. At home, Allison destroyed her mother’s favorite doll and her father’s baseball. MeiMei was her only friend and family, she thought. There was a stray cat outside the window. Allison found it did not have mother, either. She fed it with milk and took it to ask her mother whether she could keep it. Her mother agreed with her if Allison can take care of it carefully. Then, Allison apologized to her parents and smiled happily.

•           Plot: dramatic plot

In this book, conflict happened when Allison looked into the mirror and found she was not her parents’ children. Climax is Allison broke her parents’ toys.

•            Conflict: protagonist against

Allison had an emotional struggle. She could not agree herself that she was her parents’ children.

•           Theme: The love we give to others is unconditional

As the parents loved Allison without any reasons, Allison loved the cat unconditionally.

          Some children are forced to leave their family of origin because of violence and abandon. As they arrive in new families, they regain the happiness and live with their new family members happily ever after in our opinions. Do they really feel happy when facing different family members? Or have they ever asked where their mother and father were? This picture book gave us the following story about the above conditions. I think that the process when Allison found she was not her parents’ child brought her lots of pain and distrust. It seemed that what she believed and relied on for a long time collapsed overnight. As a result, she broke her parents’ favorite toys to show how she felt mad and helpless because she could not change this situation (she could not go back to her family of origin.) However, a little cat went into to her closed heart. This cat became a special bond connected Allison with the parents. Allison loved the cat no matter where it came from and who it was, therefore she realized that her parents loved her as she loved the cat. Love is unconditional.

Journal 4 -Jessica

         Ruthie, a little girl, had no sisters and pets, but she had Jessica. Ruthie did everything and went everywhere with Jessica. For example, Ruthie read books and went to the playground with Jessica. Even though Ruthie’s parents said there was no Jessica, Ruthie believed there was. At the day when Ruthie was old enough to go the kindergarten, Jessica followed Ruthie as usual. In the kindergarten, Ruthie and Jessica stayed together, but they did not interact with other children. At that time, a girl came up to Ruthie and asked Ruthie to play together. She was Jessica. Finally, Ruthie and Jessica walked hand-in-hand.

• Theme: friendship

In the end of the story, Ruthie found a real friend finally instead of being alone with her invisible friend.

•  Conflict: protagonist against self 

Only Ruthie believed there was Jessica, however, she still felt lonely when she was in the kindergarten until she met a real Jessica.

         Every child had had an invisible friend in the childhood; especially they are the only child in the family. They may be so lonely that they image there was a friend who they can play with. What’s more, children even express the deeper feelings and emotions though this invisible friend. For instance, Ruthie did not want the parents to leave her alone, so she said Jessica wanted them to stay home. As for me, I have a younger sister and brother. It is a little hard for me to understand Ruthie’s feeling. If I did not have sisters and brothers, I will be  lonely so that I will pretend there was someone there to play with.

Journal 3 -Sleepless Beauty

        

          One day a cute little baby called little beauty was born with her parents’ love. Her parents loved her so much that they held a birthday party to welcome this little girl. As a result, they invited all their friends and relatives except the witch. However, the witch appeared during the party and shocked everyone. The witch got closer to the cradle and gave little beauty her present. The present was that everyone would fall asleep included little beauty for a whole hundred years. But the witch also mentioned that a rock star would wake the little beauty. Before little beauty’s fourteen, her parents threw out all things sharp. As little beauty grew up, she found that she could not use any knife, pin, and pencils. Finally, the witch appeared again on little beauty’ fourteen birthday. The witch asked little beauty to hold the pin and touch it. At this time, everyone and little beauty fell asleep. Next morning, little beauty woke up as usual because she set the alarm clock. They were awakened by the sound of the rock star from the alarm clock. At the end of the story, little beauty met the rock star and lived happily ever after.

l   Setting: backdrop setting

The first sentence in the story tells us its setting- one day I was born. The author did not give a very clear timing and place.

l   Conflict: protagonist against another

The conflict happened when the little beauty met the witch. The witch cursed the little beauty that she would sleep for a hundred years.

l   Word: rhyme word in the second and forth sentence

In each paragraph, the second sentence and forth sentence have the same rhyme. For example, “witch” are a rhyme for “hitch.”

 

l   Tone: surprise

At the end of the story, the little beauty did not sleep for many years. To our surprise, she was awakened by her alarm clock.

        The story was revised according to a classical fairytale. But the ending is different from the classical version. It is surprising and funny that all of characters woke up because of the alarm clock; instead of the prince charming’s kissing. But the prince and princess still lived happily ever after in this version. Besides, I think that the parents’ throwing all of thing sharp is over protection. They kept little beauty from dangerous things but they could not avoid a little girl’s curiosity. Little beauty still touched the pin, and she set the alarm clock. She solved the crisis by herself instead of waiting for a prince. In the end of the story, she still live happily ever after with her prince, who was the rock singer. 

Journal 2 -Madeline

     

  In the old house in Paris lived twelve little girls and Ms. Clavel. Twelve little girl walked, ate meals, brushed teeth, and slept in two lines. They smiled, frowned, and felt sad together. They left house in rain or shine. Among twelve girls, Madeline was the smallest and bravest one. She was not afraid of mice, tiger. One day Ms. Clavel found something wrong. It was Madeline that cried and cried. Madeline was diagnosed with appendix. Dr. Cohn sent Madeline to the hospital as quickly as possible when other girls were crying. After the operation, Madeline stayed in the hospital for ten days. In a nice morning, Ms. Clavel and eleven girls went to visit Madeline with solemn faces.  After they reached Madeline’s sickroom, all of the girls found that there were toys, candy, a dollhouse in the room. What’ more, they also found a scar on Madeline’s stomach surprisingly. In the night after eleven girls returning home, they stayed on their beds and began to cry. All of them wanted to went to hospital, too.

l   Setting: backdrop setting

In the beginning of the book, the setting is general: “in an old house in Paris that was covered with vines.”

l   Narrative point of view: omniscient narrator

In the book, the narrator tells what Madeline thought in the hospital and Ms. Clavel rushed to girls’ bedroom in a hurry.

l   Sentence: repeated rhythms with slightly variation in every three pages

Three pages a rhythm. For example: They left the house at half past nine in two straight lines. In rain or in shine.

        I have watched the cartoon version of Madeline when I was very little. After Emily introduced Madeline in the class, I found that my favorite cartoon came from a picture book. The Madeline in the TV was a brave, naughty, and energetic girl, so was her in the picture book. She was not afraid of tigers and mice, but she still cried when she felt hurt in her stomach because she was just a little girl. This is my favorite children’ literature since I was as childlike as Madeline.