Book Review: "Howie Helps Himself"

Fassler, Joan. Howie Helps Himself. Illinois: Albert Whiteman & Company, 1975.

Howie Helps Himself is the story of Howie, a regular little boy. He loves chocolate ice cream, he plays with his dad and his sister, Linda, and he goes to school every morning. But, Howie also has cerebral palsy and he is struggling with being able to “zoom around in his wheelchair without any help at all.” He continues to practice and practice, getting help from his teachers and parents, as he watches his friends zooming around the classroom, until one day Howie gets strong enough to finally help himself.

Carol J. Hopkins writes in an article for The Elementary School Journal that Howie Helps Himself is “about a boy whose emotions can be recognized by many children, no matter what their experience with handicaps has been” (35). This is a very positive aspect of this book. Howie’s frustration and sadness are not emotions only children with cerebral palsy will feel and so this makes Howie identifiable to all students. Subsequently, students without disabilities see Howie as a kid just like them, but a little different.

This book shows the struggles that the main character had with his wheelchair; this allows readers who perhaps are having a hard time in physical therapy know they are not alone. Plus, it can give students without disabilities a glimpse into the difficulties their peers with disabilities might have, causing them to think twice before they make fun of them. The author’s note at the beginning of the book can be helpful for readers to understand the book’s purpose. It explains what Fassler hopes insiders and outsiders will receive from reading this text. Joan Fassler is a Ph. D who, at the time this book was published, worked at the Child Study Center of Yale University studying children with cerebral palsy. Therefore, while not being an insider herself, she has been trained to understand that kinds of things Howie would have to go through, making this book accurate.

Because of the date this book was written it uses the word “handicap” to describe Howies’s situation. This is not done as a gesture of disrespect, since that was the term widely used at the time. However, this is not the term used today. Rather, Howie would be referred to as a “person with a disability”. Another interesting thing that may also be a product of the times is the stereotypical nature of some of the illustrations. When Howie is shown at school, all the students seem to be in costume and one particular child is dressed like a Native American. But, the costume only consists of a single feather on his head. Also, the African American characters all are drawn with afros. These visual stereotypes could be offensive to insiders of those groups. These two issues can and should be addressed when children read the book so that certain stereotypes are not enforced in their minds.

Hopkins, Carol J. “Developing Positive Attitudes towards the Handicapped through Children’s Books.” The Elementary School Journal Sept. 1980: 34-39.

Book Review: "Mama Zooms"

Cowen-Fletcher, Jane. Mama Zooms. New York: Scholastic, Inc, 1993.

Mama Zooms is a simple picture book about a little boy whose mother is a wheelchair user. It tells of all of his adventures while riding on his mama’s lap. He imagines her as everything from his racehorse, to a buckboard carriage, to a train, and even as a spaceship. But, at bedtime, “Mama is just my mama, and that’s how I like her best.”

By not giving the little boy in the story a name, this tale becomes universal. Any child with a parent that has a disability can put themselves into the story and find comfort knowing they are not alone. This book also stands out because the character in the story that uses the wheelchair is not the child, as is usually the case in children’s books. Cowen-Fletcher, I do not believe is a wheelchair user herself, which may account for the one-sided portrayal. The family experiences no hardships or struggles because mom has a disability. On the one hand, this is positive because it is a really a story of familial love and less a story of being disabled. However, to show life as it really is for families in this situation everything would not be wonderful all the time. At the same time, the overall happy tone of the book provides readers who live in families like this one a piece of hope that one day their lives will be happy and “normal” again. And, it tells children with a parent or a loved one who has a disability that the “zooming machine” they have to use now does not mean the person is any different.

Book Review: "Rolling Along: The Story of Taylor and His Wheelchair"

Riggio Heelan, Jamee. Rolling Along: The Story of Taylor and His Wheelchair. Atlanta: Peachtree Publishers, 2000.

Rolling Along: The Story of Taylor and His Wheelchair is a picture book put out by the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. It is the story of Taylor and his twin brother, Tyler. Taylor has cerebral palsy, and when he gets a wheelchair to replace his walker, he is allowed to experience physical freedom for the first time in his life. After some practice and hard work, Taylor is able to do things the rest of us take for granted, like going to the drinking fountain and playing sports with his brother.

Riggio Heelan paints Taylor as a “normal” little boy who does the same things his brother does. They “both like to eat chocolate ice cream, wrestle with each other, and watch the Chicago Bulls play basketball.” I think it is important that literature portray people with disabilities and people from various diverse groups as just another human being and not ‘different’ from everyone else. Riggio Heelan graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in occupational therapy and works with children with disabilities through the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. While she is not an insider per se, her background gives her the knowledge to write this story to be realistic and factual. Also adding to the realism of the story is the fact that the illustrations are, for the most part, chalk drawings, but the hands and faces of the human characters are actual photographs. The fact that real people are being depicted will enforce for young readers that this is not just a made-up story. This sweet story teaches readers, in a non-forceful way, about the effects wheelchairs can have on people’s lives and what personal freedom and mobility can mean to a child with cerebral palsy, or any other physical disability.

Questioning the Text Discussion: Confessions of a Closet Catholic

In response to Erin’s Questioning the text post on Confessions of a Closet Catholic I am writing this blog.

I felt similarly to her as as I was reading this text. I would also consider my family "twice a year Catholics." I am technically Roman Catholic, I went to Catholic school from Kindergarten til I was a senior in High School, and I do believe in God. However, for me, at least I see myself as more spiritual than religious.

My family attends mass on Christmas Eve and Easter morning. It wasn't always like that. When I was in school I attended mass once a week during school and sometimes twice a week if we also went on Sundays. I think as I have grown up I have started to look at the human aspect of the Church (meaning the mortal institution) and I don't like what I see.

I disagree with a lot of what Church officials say Catholics believe in such as issues of gay rights and birth control. I was once told by a nun (my religion teacher in fact) that I was a "cafeteria Catholic" because I would pick and choose what I wanted to believe in and, so, I was going to hell. That is just one more thing I do not believe in.

So, for me, I could see where Justine's parents were coming from when they decided not to observe many of the old Jewish customs and traditions like keeping kosher. I know in my family, we still, for the most part, refrain from eating meat on fridays in Lent. I went to an all-girls Catholic high school and the nuns that made our hot lunchs would only make tuna sandwiches and mac and cheese on fridays. I had a lot of grilled cheese, veggie soups, and meat free pasta dishes as a child. We did it because my father (like Jussy's) grew up in a strict Catholic home. When my siblings and I grew up and learned the origins of some of the practices we chose for ourselves if we were going to continue. As I was always taught, the "no meat on fridays" thing was not even about sacrifice to remember Christ's eternal sacrifice of his life. In fact a MAN (the Pope), not God, ordered this to be a part of Catholic traditions. The fishing industry was not doing well and so the Pope told his followers that not eating meat on fridays during Lent made you a good Catholic. This caused people to seek out protein in the form of fish. It solved the problem. I am not saying all religious practices are flawed or based in lies, but a great many of them are based on human decrees. This means that Jussy choosing or not choosing to follow one of these human decrees does not mean she is any more or less "Jewish."

I still observe Catholic traditions as far as diet goes on Good Friday because of the nature of the day. (the actual day Jesus was crucified). But, even on that day...my mother had to go to church and kneel and pray from noon to 3pm (the approximate time Jesus suffered on the cross) when she was a child. My family always listened to Jesus Christ Superstar on the record player, sang, and cleaned the house in preparation for Easter. It was our tradition and it meant something to us. Kneeling on the Church floor did not. So, does that make my family less "Catholic" than someone who does go to church and sits in prayerful silence for 3 hours? Perhaps, but I do not think it makes my family worse people or any less spiritual or less loved my God.

The View

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to bring something to light. I caught a little bit of The View this morning and one of the "hot topics" the panel discussed was about The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter. I thought it was interesting because we talked about this book at the beginning of the semester when we covered Native American Literature. What they talked about in particular was that the book was on Oprah's Book Club and once it was revealed that Carter had affiliations with the KKK it was removed from the list. One point I found interesting was that the panel was under the impression that Oprah knew about Carter's background before she added the book to the list in the first place. So, why take it off now? It was an interesting conversation.

Whoopi Goldberg was adament that for her the art is separate from the artist, and that if the book is good and well written it should not matter who the author is.

I think this topic also gets at our insider - outsider debate.

I am curious to know what other people think about this issue and if you want to read more about it here is a link to an Associated Press article http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hn9MPi92q2bX2QxOxZ5hRLrwaPywD8SOGA601

Little House on the Prairie

I just finished reading the Kuhlman article Fifth Graders' Reactions to Little House on the Prairie (2000).

Some things struck me as I read. First of all, I understand the concern teachers and some students may have about the way Native Americans are protrayed in the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. However, as I always understood it the books, the first one in particular, were written primarily from the point of view of Laura, a little girl girl no older than seven years old. I wonder how much a child of that age would actually know about social justice and not being prejudiced. It is entirely possible that she saw the Indian's as scary simply because her parents thought that and so that is the way she remembers the story. As an older woman writing the series she could have rewritten her memories to include a more fairminded portrayal of the Osage Indians, but she did not choose to do that. I think this series (one I loved as a child and am still a fan of) can be loved by a whole new generation of kids as well with a little guidance as to the Native Americans' side of the story. I think it can also be brought up to the students or other children reading the book that they are often from the viewpoint of a little girl perhaps even younger than themselves.

Secondly, a personal pet peeve of mine is people that do not expect much out of others. For instance, in this article the author seems to imply that everyone that reads this book series is completely blind to the negative stereotypes being portrayed in the Indian characters because that reader has been inundated with these images so much they no longer recognize them. Kuhlman says on page 390 of the article that, "the very fact that [white readers] don't remember and don't think they were impacted is because they were part of the privileged group that do not see anything amiss by the fear and hatred of Indians and their belief that the eventual 'routing out' of 'those people' was normal." I think blanket statements like these are unfair and they do not give people enough credit. She is saying here that people who claim not to have been influenced in their views of Indians from a children's book series are actually so socialized to believe the worst about Indians that they do not even notice anything wrong with the portrayal. And, that I do not agree with. I think a lot more people, especially today, are conscious of social justice in all forms of media and entertainment, including literature.

Pura Belpre

The Pura Belpre award is named after Pura Belpre, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. "The award was established in 1996 and is presented to a Latino/Latina (people whose heritage eminates from any of the Spanish speaking cultures of the Western Hemisphere) writer and illlustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth" (American Library Association). The award is given out bi-annully and is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The books considered for this award must be published in either the U.S. or Puerto Rico and must be either/or both English and Spanish. The committee to select these books must be members of the ALA and are preferablly Spanish speakers.

Some 2006 Pura Belpre Award Winners:

For Narrative:"The Tequila Worm" by Viola Canales
For Illustration"Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart" by Raul Colon

One of our class books, "Becoming Naomi Leon" by Pam Munoz Ryan, is a Pura Belpre Honor book for it's narrative.

To research this award more go to:http://www.ala.org/