tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308496865542922193.post950276929522914375..comments2024-03-26T16:48:47.411-07:00Comments on Stories are Good Medicine: Willy Wonka as Marie Antoinette: Classism in Children's ClassicsSayantanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11408914738803274489noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308496865542922193.post-90962710046944693182010-12-01T05:28:16.608-08:002010-12-01T05:28:16.608-08:00Thanks de Pizan! wonderful! I can't believe I ...Thanks de Pizan! wonderful! I can't believe I didn't think of the SE Hinton's novels - I LOVE her. (in fact, the other one, not the outsiders, but Tex is a lot about the two brothers scraping by... even the outsiders is about the rich kids and the poor kids..)Sayantanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11408914738803274489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308496865542922193.post-4067163638051237442010-12-01T00:04:05.903-08:002010-12-01T00:04:05.903-08:00Most of these are pretty matter of fact about pove...Most of these are pretty matter of fact about poverty--the characters may not have much, but their lack is not necessarily the driving force behind their actions and it's not the dire circumstances of Charlie's family: The Tillerman cycle by Cynthia Voigt, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, Cat Royal adventures by Julia Golding, Ashes of Roses by Mary Jane Auch.<br />And then there are novels set in poor countries like The Breadwinner, Homeless Bird, Sold, Under My Mother's Feet, etc where poverty is much more of a driving force and constantly present thing.de Pizanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05964044612138432034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308496865542922193.post-68457323187773938932010-11-30T07:29:26.373-08:002010-11-30T07:29:26.373-08:00Thanks Olugbemisola - I agree she's just fabul...Thanks Olugbemisola - I agree she's just fabulous! So glad we 'met' in this space - and looking forward to following your blog, etc. too!Sayantanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11408914738803274489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308496865542922193.post-7943944765396996942010-11-30T03:22:25.233-08:002010-11-30T03:22:25.233-08:00Ooh, great post and links -- thank you! Yes, Mital...Ooh, great post and links -- thank you! Yes, Mitali is really wonderful -- on the page and in person, she just shines. I'm so glad and grateful for her!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308496865542922193.post-82684374642076285382010-11-29T16:20:49.005-08:002010-11-29T16:20:49.005-08:00Thanks Chutzpah! Do look up the Phil Nel blog on o...Thanks Chutzpah! Do look up the Phil Nel blog on oompa loompas and more - it's brilliant (there's a link to it on my post about little house)<br />Storytreasury - love the idea of a little kid knowing the whole golden ticket thing is just a product placement scheme - hah!<br />Good thoughts with Prince and the Pauper and Anne of Green Gables... also the Secret Garden, and I just realized the Little Princess, right? In that one, she's rich, then poor, because they think her dad is dead, but it is a little problematic because we only feel sad that she must act like a maid beause she's 'rightfully' not a maid... hm... but she IS very nice to Becky, the little maid she befriends, still...Sayantanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11408914738803274489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308496865542922193.post-6801229806339621682010-11-29T15:53:41.677-08:002010-11-29T15:53:41.677-08:00I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 6th gr...I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 6th grade but even than I remember thinking that giving away chocolate like that wasn't meant to feed them, was just a way to get his brand out there. lol <br /><br />The secret garden is the only one that comes to mind. The girl was an orphan, even though her uncle was rich, and some of the secondary characters didn't have much I think. None of them were all that poor though. Maybe The Prince and the Pauper? Anne of Green Gables? Which is another orphan story. Now that I think of it all three have a fairy tale aspect to them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308496865542922193.post-29960541527108989092010-11-29T14:44:56.799-08:002010-11-29T14:44:56.799-08:00This was a great post, very interesting to read- f...This was a great post, very interesting to read- funny, albeit a little disconcerting. Good old Roald Dahl, though, what a guy. To be honest, I've never read this book- I read Matilda, the BFG, James and the Giant Peach, but never Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I remember wondering how a lifetime supply of chocolate would help, though. And Willy Wonka never struck me as that great of a person. I'll definitely be looking at the link on the Oompa Loompas! Thanks for this one.Emma (the Expat)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17174368667951995131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308496865542922193.post-16205944770662000432010-11-27T17:16:03.718-08:002010-11-27T17:16:03.718-08:00Hi Olugbemisola - pleased to 'meet' you --...Hi Olugbemisola - pleased to 'meet' you -- and glad you liked the post. OO, Lois Lenski, yes, thanks for reminding me. Recently did a post on radical children's lit - there's Lenski stuff in those links: http://storiesaregoodmedicine.blogspot.com/2010/11/books-made-my-baby-bolshevik-on-radical.html <br /><br />Thanks for visiting and I hope you continue to do so...Did I recently see a conversation you did with Mitali Perkins? Just interviewed her (prev post to this one)... she's so lovely and generous..<br /><br />Kari - I have to go look at My Side of the Mountain again, SOO long since I read it but just saw it on boy's bookshelf. Oh, and you just blogged about Jane Smiley, but go read too!Sayantanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11408914738803274489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308496865542922193.post-40042090841289313922010-11-27T15:59:26.867-08:002010-11-27T15:59:26.867-08:00fantastic post, and great blog. i'm finding th...fantastic post, and great blog. i'm finding that re-reading childhood favourites with my daughter has brought about many complex conversations of this sort; sometimes she'll suggest alternate endings/scenarios....:)<br /><br />Oh -- Lois Lenski's books protrayed poverty in different US regions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308496865542922193.post-59402897243301459512010-11-27T11:28:21.731-08:002010-11-27T11:28:21.731-08:00I'm sitting here at my kitchen table asking my...I'm sitting here at my kitchen table asking my daughter and her friend if they've read any books where the main character is poor...mostly because I'm having a hard time thinking of any. Or at least any with any substance! THey suggest My Side of the Mountain -- where the family isn't completely impoverised, but they have bunches of children and there isn't enough room for them all, so the boy runs away. Interesting... Jane Smiley's series that begins with The Georges and the Jewels is about a poor ranching family... Now I'm going to be on the lookout!Karen S. Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116824802269613088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308496865542922193.post-86057294492581293762010-11-27T05:23:54.826-08:002010-11-27T05:23:54.826-08:00Thanks Satia! I agree about "The Witches"...Thanks Satia! I agree about "The Witches" 100% - I loved it as a child but when I revisited it all I could see was how mysogynist it was! (women who eat children rather than, as they should, bear them)<br /><br />You're right - Andersen's "Little Match Girl" - all about noble poverty, but unlike Charlie, she doesn't find a Golden Ticket - for her, it doesn't 'get better.' <br /><br />One of the links above is to a post about "Little House" - but to the racism in it, I didn't really think about the money issues (although someone told me recently the real Pa Ingalls had to move all the time because he was in so much debt - The House at Plum Creek was apparently a case of them just squatting on land - I haven't looked up the veracity of that!)<br /><br />Thanks for visiting - and hope you're enjoying your coffee!Sayantanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11408914738803274489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308496865542922193.post-8178441688512236082010-11-27T01:14:53.892-08:002010-11-27T01:14:53.892-08:00I remember when I revisited Charlie and the Chocol...I remember when I revisited <i>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</i> when reading to my children and thinking about the colonialism of the novel that I, as a child, couldn't comprehend. <br /><br />I also just read <i>The Witches</i> by Dahl for the first time and found it offensive. As it turns out, I am not alone. I think that reading words like bald women are "indecent" would offend anyone who has seen a woman live through the ravages of cancer treatment. And if I had not known there were other women out there who found the book offensive, I probably would have internalized the perception as a personal issue.<br /><br />Andersen's fairy tales have children who are not wealthy and <i>The Little House</i> books are another example of children growing up without affluence. I've never read all of the latter but there was a strong sense of community in the first book in spite of the financial struggles everyone faced. <br /><br />That's all I can think of off the top of my head at the moment. It is not yet 4:30am and I haven't had my morning coffee.Satiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03227625739706115993noreply@blogger.com