Boys, Gross Topics & Books

We all know that girls generally begin reading before boys and are more likely to become avid readers.  But does it matter how we try to get them reading? In a recent edition of the Wall Street Journal (24th Sept 2010) Thomas Spence suggests that if we want to teach boys to read, we should avoid "gross-out books and video-game bribes".  We know that the difference between boys and girls in reading ability reflects an earlier start with language than boys and the fact that boys don't read enough. The question is why don't many boys seem to like reading as much as girls and what can we do about it?  Spence lays the blame at the feet of video games and a diet of reading that is based on gross topics. He writes: 

One obvious problem with the SweetFarts philosophy of education is that it is more suited to producing a generation of barbarians and morons than to raising the sort of men who make good husbands, fathers and professionals. If you keep meeting a boy where he is, he doesn't go very far.

Are the comments of Spence fair to the many authors who seek to engage boys with topics that focus on topics like gory death, macabre crimes, weird and unusual life forms etc? The philosophy of writers for boys like Raymond Bean who writes Sweet Farts, R.L. Stines who writes 'Goosebumps', and Terry Deary and others who write 'Horrible Histories' is to shock boys and to appeal to their interest in death, bodily functions, horror, blood and so on. Their overall aim (beyond selling books) is of course to get boys reading.

While the 'Butt' books by Andy Griffiths (and others) with titles like 'Zombie Butts from Uranus', seem to hit a fairly low mark in terms of linguistic complexity and their banality of plot that I'm not keen to see children read, there are other books like 'Horrible Histories' the work of authors like Jennings, Dahl and others that have a place.  Writing about gross or sensational topics can be done well or poorly. In limited quantities they can be helpful. The key is to make sure that this isn't all that boys read; that boys have their literary horizons expanded.

But Spence wants to take this much further, suggesting that we need to limit access to video games and provide what he would see as classic literature

"The secret to raising boys who read, I submit, is pretty simple—keep electronic media, especially video games and recreational Internet, under control (that is to say, almost completely absent). Then fill your shelves with good books....a boy raised on great literature is more likely to grow up to think, to speak, and to write like a civilized man. Whom would you prefer to have shaped the boyhood imagination of your daughter's husband—Raymond Bean or Robert Louis Stevenson".

While the choice between Stevenson and Bean is easy in literary terms, there are many boys who would need many years of reading before they could tackle the likes of 'Treasure Island'. While I struggle to see much value in some of the worst of the 'gross-out' genre (e.g. 'Sweet Farts'), for some boys teachers need to try just about anything to get them reading. Some of the issues in this debate are not dissimilar to those that raged when I was a child concerning comics (see my previous post 'Comics, are they still relevant?')

Spence implies that somehow the problem with boys and reading is due to schools, but the fact is that most boys who have reading problems at school arrive poorly prepared for reading.   

How can we prepare boys better for reading?

There isn't space in a blog post for a complete answer to this important question, but here are 6 things key pieces of advice that might help.

1. Fathers and mothers need to work hard at listening to and reading with their sons. Reading to and with adults should be enjoyable for any child, not boring or a chore. See my previous post on this topic (here).

2. If your boys find it hard to concentrate on books, tell them stories. You don't have to be a great storyteller, start by telling them about your childhood memories, your interests, real life stories etc.

3. In particular, fathers or another adult male role model should have a key role in any boys' early literacy and learning development (see my post on research in this area here).

4. Boys need a lot of help choosing books that they will not only like, but which they will be able to read. Take the time to help boys choose books, if they pick up a book with an exciting cover and find that they can't read it, this will be a disincentive. Read to them at first and then, as they get older and can read, slowly hand over reading responsibility to them. But do still keep looking for books that they might like and read with your boys, even when they are in late primary school.

5. The writers who are into 'gross' or unusual topics know that boys are more likely to be pick up books and read them when the books and the reading events offer opportunities to discover, experiment, explore, learn new things, laugh, consider the curious or unusual, help them to play, see how things work, share trivia, tricks and facts with other boys, explore the unknown, and generally do interesting things.

6. Work hard at helping boys to discover the many authors who try to write engaging material for boys that isn't simply appealing to base instincts and interests (see some of my previous posts on boys and reading below). There is good literary material out there that isn't too difficult but is still engaging. I'll write another post on this soon.

Summing Up

There is little doubt that if your son has spent most of his spare time in the first 10 years of life watching TV, playing video games and spending lots of time on the Internet, then he might well find books dull. If this is the case then you'll have some work to do. I agree with Spence that the answer isn't simply to provide a diet of gross-out material of the poorest kind, but you might well make use of some of this material to excite some positive interest in books. Once you get them started with fiction the key is to move them on and to encourage them to try new authors, genres, themes and topics. Don't forget as well, that there are other pathways to literacy beyond fiction.  For example, for many boys, non-fiction will be a great help in moving them from reluctant readers to independence in reading.

Previous Posts & Suggestions of Books for Boys

Thomas Spence, 'How to Raise Boys Who Read - Hint: Not with gross-out books and video-game bribes', Wall Street Journal, 24th Sept, 2010 (here)

Post on 'Boys and Reading Success: Get them Reading' (here)

'Getting Boys into Reading Through Fiction' (here)

'Getting Boys into Reading Through Non-Fiction' (here)

Key Themes in Children's Literature: The Other

As I have argued in previous posts (here & here), we learn a great deal from literature. Literature brings great pleasure but it also teaches us and can impact on us emotionally. It passes on aspects of our cultural traditions, it introduces us to other cultures and it teaches us about our world, its history, its people and what it is to be human. A piece of literature is more than just a good story. I wrote in one of my books (Pathways to Literacy, Cairney 1995, p.77-78) that literature can act as:

• A mirror to enable readers to reflect on life problems and circumstances
• A source of knowledge
• A source of ideological challenge
• A means to peer into the past, and the future
• A vehicle to other places
• A means to reflect on inner struggles
• An introduction to the realities of life and death
• A vehicle for the raising and discussion of social issues

In this post I want to look at a group of books that I would loosely term books that help children to become aware of the 'other'. The concept of 'otherness' has its roots in continental philosophy. The German philosopher Hegel was one of the first to use the concept. The notion of the 'Other' is important in defining our sense of self.  In the social sciences it is also used to help us understand the way we exclude groups within our society or across broad cultural boundaries.  The emergence of a sense of the ‘other’ is one of the ways that children first become aware of those who are different and to differentiate between that which can create fear, and that which is familiar and certain. Lithuanian-French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas helped to popularise the term in modern times and suggested that a sense of the other comes before our need to respond by ignoring, rejecting, helping and so on.

Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale 'The Ugly Duckling' first published in 1843 is a fairytale that speaks directly to this theme.  As the young ducks grew older they could see that the last 'duck' was not like them: 'He's too big!" "You're appallingly ugly!" "I wish you were miles away". They struggle to work out how to deal with his difference, "But why should we care so long as you don't marry into our family?"  While the 'Ugly Duckling' and other stories often speak of many things, some have the wonderful quality of shifting children's focus beyond themselves, to become aware of the other, to understand their difference, and to re-shape their sense of self as they see themselves in relation to those who are 'other' than themselves.

The books that follow are just a 'light' sample of the many books available for young readers. I have mainly chosen picture books but there are many children's novels that include this theme. I may re-visit this theme for older readers later. I have also used some sub-headings to offer a sense of just some of the senses of 'difference' that are brought into focus.

1. The Aged

'Remember Me' by Margaret Wild & Dee Huxley (illustrator)

Margaret Wild's delightful book centres on the first person narrative of a grandmother who talks about her life and how frustrating it is when she forgets things. Her granddaughter is her little helper, enabling her to survive the day. While Wild's intent is to look specifically at memory loss and how it impacts on the aged, it also offers an insight into how this is read and responded to by others. In time the woman even forgets her granddaughter; but by mentally reliving her experience of the little girl (from birth to the present) she remembers her and the little girl promises that she'll be around to help her remember.  The older person with failing memory is not a problem, but someone to be loved, supported and learned from. And of course, in the process, our lives are enriched.  

Other examples in this category include 'Wilfrid, Gordon McDonald Partridge' by Mem Fox & Julie Vivas (illustrator). This is probably my favourite Mem Fox book.  Another example is 'Waiting for May' by Thyrza Davey. In this wonderful story a social worker wants an old man 'Old Alec' living on a houseboat in Queensland with his dog to move to a retirement home. He 'escapes' to avoid this fate but in escaping his fate, a fierce storm and a little young boy change everything.

2. The person of different race or ethnicity

'The Burnt Stick' (1995) by Anthony Hill & Mark Sofilas (illustrator)

This novel for younger readers (8-10 years) is set in Australia prior to the 1960s.  It is the story of a young Australian aboriginal boy named John Jagamarra, who had been taken (like thousands of other Indigenous children) from his family. John was taken from his mother by the Welfare Department of the day, and sent to live with his white Father at the Pearl Bay Mission for Aboriginal Children. He grew up in this beautiful place, but he knew it was not like being home with his mother and his people.  He remembers how the 'Big Man from Welfare' had come and taken him away. His story illustrates how well intentioned government policy at the time failed to deal with the problems of Indigenous communities and failed to understand the full needs of people 'other' than themselves. While the story positions us as reader to see the tragedy of the 'Stolen Generation' through John's eyes, at the same time it offers child and adult readers the chance to consider the issues of racial difference and how we understand, live with and when necessary, reach out to people other than ourselves.

Mark Sofilas' wonderful charcoal images add a haunting and powerful additional dimension to the story. The Children's Book Council of Australia named it Book of the Year for Younger Readers in 1995.

Another more recent exploration of this theme is Matt Ottley's epic picture book 'Requiem for a Beast' (which I have reviewed HERE), that uses story (in picture book form), image and music to explore the painful experiences of the 'Stolen Generation' and in the process helps us to learn much about ourselves and how the non-Indigenous are positioned relative to Indigenous Australians. This book is a picture book for secondary aged readers, not young children.

From the difficult, to the simpler rendering of this theme, Dr Seuss has also written a number of examples that touch on 'otherness'.  'The Sneetches' is an obvious one that tells of two types of creatures (Sneetches) one with a Star on their bellies and the other without. Needless to say one felt superior and the other inferior. One day a man arrives with the perfect solution, a machine that can add a star to the belly. But without the stars how could the 'superior' group differentiate itself? The man had the solution, his machine could take the stars off (!) the Sneetches who were the original 'Star Belly' kind.

But perhaps an example even closer to the theme is 'What was I scared of?' a funny story about a small creature who while walking at night is confronted by a pair of pale green pants that are out walking by themselves. He is terrified when on each walk he sees them. But of course it turns out that the pants were just as scared of him and finally all is resolved:

And, now we meet quite often,

Those empty pants and I,

And we never shake or tremble.

We both smile

And, we say

"Hi!"

3. The person in different social circumstances

'Way Home' by Libby Hathorn & Gregory Rogers(illustrator)

This is the story of Shane, a young street kid (which isn't revealed until the end of the story), who finds a lost kitten. The story takes us through the city streets to Shane’s ‘house’; which the kitten will share with him. The illustrations by Gregory Rogers portray Sydney at night. They show the constant shift (which is part of Shane's life) from busy streets ablaze with lights to dark and sometimes threatening back alleyways. There are hazards and dangers for Shane and the tiny kitten at every turn. The story offers an insight into the life of the homeless and is a poignant story of two survivors. Suitable for 7-10 years olds.

4. Understanding the 'other' gender 

There have been many books that look at differences of gender. A recent author who has focused on this theme is Aaron Blabey. His first book 'Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley' is about friendship and relationships. Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley are the best of friends, but they are different in almost every way. Pearl likes solving mysteries and moves rather fast in the world; Charlie likes taking baths and watching his garden grow. So how can Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley be such good friends? Because that which is in the 'other' can complement that which is in him or her.  The book won the Children's Book Council Award for Picture Book of the year in 2009.

Blabey continues tangentially with a variation on theme in his second and third books 'Sunday Chutney' and 'Stanley Paste'.  In these, his first person narratives are more focused on how the child copes with their difference rather than us coping with the other. The rather unusual girl Sunday Chutney is always moving from school to school due to her Dad's jobs, coping with difference and awkwardness all the time. 

In 'Stanley Paste' we learn of the very small boy (Stanley Paste), who hates his size, until one day a new girl arrives at school who is very tall. Like Stanley, she hates the way she is. They become good friends and see different things in each other than many of the other kids at school who have made their lives miserable.

Summing Up

Each of the books above does much more than just presenting the theme that I have pointed to. However, the concept of 'otherness' is an important one in life and each book offers children the opportunity to consider who they are and how do they situate themselves relative to the 'other'; This is just one example of how literature does more than simply present enjoyable narrative accounts.

Other posts

All previous 'Key Themes' posts HERE

New Aussie Books - October 2010

This is another of my 'New Aussie Books' updates. There are so many great Australian books published each year that it isn't possible to keep up with all of them. In each of these updates I try to share 8-10 recent books across the ages 0-16 years.


1. Picture Books (0-6 years)

'A Giraffe in the Bath' written by Mem Fox & illustrated by Kerry Argent (Viking, 2010)

This is a very funny picture book. The cover alone suggests this, but the text is also amusing and engaging for young children in the typical Mem Fox style. Would a giraffe in the bath make you laugh? Maybe a frog in the flour? A sheep in the shower, an owl with the flu, or even a roo on the loo? Well if not, maybe a crocodile with style will just make you smile? Mem does her magic with the text once again. Simple but effective language that is predictable but not repetitive and boring.

Kerry Argent's wonderful illustrations add greatly to the text and helps to create a book that children will want to return to again and again.

'April Underhill, Tooth Fairy', by Bob Graham (Walker, 2010)

This is the story of two fairies who come of age. High in the sky above Parkville, toothfairies April (7 and 'three quarters') and Esme (6) leave their nervous parents as they head off on their first tooth collecting journey. There are many challenges along the way but they experience success on their first very unusual visit to Daniel Dangerfield's house. As always Bob Graham does a wonderful job as storyteller and illustrator; he never disappoints. Children up to age 6 will love this book.

'Queen Victoria's Underpants' written by Jackie French and illustrated by Bruce Whatley (Harper Collins, 2010)

Fans of Bruce Whatley as an illustrator and Jackie French as an author will remember  the brilliant 'Diary of a Wombat' (Jackie French & Bruce Whatley) and its companion volume 'The Secret World of Wombats'. This lovely new book might well have lost them their heads once (!), but it amusingly offers an insight into the reign of Queen Victoria and her underwear. Against the revealed fact that at the beginning of the reign of the 'Empress of half the world' very few women wore underpants, the book asks, did Queen Victoria have underpants?

After briefly setting the scene for the question, we soon meet Lizzy whose family are in the clothing industry, and find out about Queen Victoria's role in developing underwear. Few would know that Queen Victoria made the wearing of underpants popular. We learn of Lizzy's mother and the events that lead to her final development of the underpants. P.S. - By the time Queen Victoria died most woman in Britain wore underpants.

'Love from Grandma' by Jane Tanner (Penguin/Viking, 2010)

Every Jane Tanner picture book is a joy, and this one is no exception.  This is the story of Emily and her relationship with her Grandma. When her Dad gets a new job, and her family moves to the country, her life changes.  Her Grandma gives her a strawberry plant as a reminder of the gardening they did together, and she promises her that by the time it has ripe strawberries she will be out to visit. Time drags on, but eventually her Grandma arrives with a special surprise.  This is a simple story with no dramatic twists, but it is beautifully told and illustrated, and offers an insight into the special relationship between grandparents and their grandchildren.  

2. Younger Readers (6-9 years)

'Chicken Stu' by Nathan Luff (Scholastic, 2010, 186pp)

This is Nathan Luff’s first book. Stuart is an 11-year-old boy, who likes books, is asthmatic and lives with his widowed Mum in Sydney. He is forced to spend the summer holidays on his aunt and uncle’s farm. He doesn't cope well at first and prefers to stay inside the farmhouse reading. But then two of his wild cousins introduce him to some of the fun of the Australian bush. They name him Chicken Stu and the fun-filled action begins. Amidst the fun, the 'Good facts about chickens you may not know' and the action, there are some serious sub-themes being developed. These include how Stu copes with his asthma attacks and the death of his father.  This book will be enjoyed by boys aged 7-11.

'Toppling' written by Sally Murphy and illustrated by Rhian Nest James (Walker, 2010, 127pp)

Sally Murphy's previous book 'Pearl Verses the World' was named as an Honour Book in the Children's Book Council awards for 2010 (see my post on the CBC awards here). This book continues in the same style, which is probably best described as a verse novel. Once again Sally Murphy tackles serious issues that centre on the stories of John and Dom. John is the narrator. He loves making long domino patterns and toppling them. This simple past-time helps him to cope with the illness of his best friend who has cancer. The deceptively simple book challenges children to think about deep issues that many encounter in their lives and the verse form seems to create the 'gaps' that facilitate this type of reflective thought. Here's a sample:

Okay, I say.
Dom threw up all over his desk-
…Is he OK asks Mum.
I tell her that he went home
looking white
and how we couldn’t use the classroom
because it was
all stinky
from the spew.
You should have smelt it!
It’s good to see Tess’s face
When I say that
But then I think of Dom...

The text is well supported by the excellent simple pen and wash illustrations of Rhian Nest James. This is a moving book that speaks of friendship, the strength of the human spirit and triumph in the midst of suffering and adversity. This book will be enjoyed by mature boys and girl aged 8-11 years.

3. Independent Readers (10-13 years)

'Jaguar Warrior' by Sandy Fussell (Walker Books, 2010, 212pp)

This is the story of Atl, a young Purepechan slave. It is set in the age of the Aztec empire and a place we know today as northern Mexico. Atl is imprisoned in a box and has been there seven days and awaits death as part of an Aztec ceremony of sacrifice to the Mexican gods. He is not afraid as the anger rises within him and significant twist occurs in his story. A war-party of conquistadors attacks the head temple and Atl’s reputation as the fastest runner in Technotitlan leads the High Priest to set him free to send a message to get help for the Purepechan people. He escapes through hidden tunnels of the temple and heads into the jungles of South America, encountering dangers and collecting companions on the way.

Sandy Fussell delivers a fast moving adventure story that 10-14 year old boys will enjoy.  It is a well-researched historical narrative (see my earlier post on this genre here and here) that is worthy of consideration.

'The Ruby Talisman' by Belinda Murrell (Random House, 2010, 241pp)

This is an historical timeslip fanstasy set in the period of the French Revolution. The main character of the story Tilly is told by her aunt of an ancestor who survived the French Revolution. She shows the 15 year-old a priceless heirloom, a ruby locket. She falls asleep wearing it, wishing she could escape to a more exciting life.  She travels back in time and finds herself in France, during the French Revolution.  It is 1789 and Amelie a French aristocrat living in the Palace of Versaille also falls asleep wearing the same locket wishing to be rescued from a marriage that she does not want. The girls wake to find each other and are immersed in the dangers and violence of the Revolution.  This well written and historically well researcher novel will be well received by children aged 12+ (especially girls).

Other Posts on Literature

For all my posts on Children's Literature use the site label (HERE)

Children as Authors - A Tribute to Don Graves

Professor Donald Graves passed away on Tuesday 28th September 2010 from pneumonia aged 80. I rarely publish posts of this kind, but Don Graves was a great man, and we owe him a great debt for teaching us much about children's writing.

I first met Professor Donald Graves on the 19th August 1980. He was plenary speaker at the 'Third International Conference on the Teaching of English' at Sydney University, Australia. I was a Curriculum Consultant at the time and was one of 500 people crammed in a room that knew little about this man before that day. I can still see this jovial softly spoken man in his checked jacket, quietly but dramatically telling us about his research with Susan Sowers and Lucy Calkins in a New Hampshire school. His address was mesmerising and his opening statement simple:

Children want to write. For years we have underestimated their urge to make marks on paper. We have underestimated that urge because of a lack of understanding of the writing process, and what children do in order to control it.  Then we say, "They don't want to write. What is a good way to motivate them?"

This talk was one of the major springboards for Don's work to become more widely known around the world. I was fortunate not only to be there that day but also to drive him to my hometown some two hours away and talk non-stop the whole way about children, writing and learning. In 1984 I was fortunate enough to spend time with Don in one of his schools in New Hampshire. What a great privilege it was to know this man and learn from him.

Don taught us many things and was arguably the Father of 'Process Writing'. He had spent time looking at what adult writers did, and was bold enough to apply the knowledge of process that he gleaned from such writers, to his work with and observations of children. His friend Donald Murray (a great writer and teacher of writing at the University of New Hampshire) was a key influence on him. But it was his close observation of children that brought forth some of his greatest insights:

• Like adult writers children must be given the chance to choose their own topics, to have an environment in which writing is encouraged and facilitated, to take greater control of their writing.
• They must have 'real' readers - people who read their writing to hear what they have to say, not just to correct their spelling and grammar.
• Children must be allowed to make mistakes, to use approximations in draft writing and to become risk-takers in writing.
• As teachers we need to shift our attention from simply product and the surface features, to an equal concern with process and meaning.
• To teach young writers is to teach them the craft of writing.
• Spelling and grammar are best taught in the context of meaningful writing not simply as decontextualised activities.
• Teachers (and parents) must become observers of young writers, asking them questions that teach and that focus their attention on meaning not just the surface features of writing and neatness.
• Writing is about revision and re-writing and that like adult writers, children often need to 'make it messy to make it clear'.
• He also shared his practical tools for encouraging writers - folders for first drafts, dates to track development, writing conferences, celebration of authors, 'publishing' children's work, blank books in the hands of preschool children with the instruction, 'Why don't you write' and so on.

Some who didn't understand the richness of what Don was saying criticized him. Don saw invented spelling as evidence of progress for young writers as they grappled for the words to give expression to their many ideas. He implored us to look for patterns in invented spelling that could help us to we can plot progress as well as glean areas for support and teaching. When freed to use approximations as they got their ideas down, children will use expanded vocabularies.  Just as for adults, first draft writing doesn't have to be perfect in spelling and grammar. Writing was to be experienced as a cycle of thinking, writing, sharing, revising, thinking, sharing, revising and so on.  And sometimes it would be published for other readers and would be polished until spelling and grammar were correct for other readers.

We will miss this great man who taught many of us many things.

Other reading

Don wrote many things but a couple that many of us know were:

Donald H. Graves 'Writing: Teachers & Children at Work', Exeter (NH): Heinemann, 1983

Donald H. Graves 'A Fresh Look at Writing', Exeter (NH): Heinemann, 1994.

That first famous talk in Australia can be found in:

R.D. Walshe (Ed), 'Donald Graves in Australia', Sydney: Primary English Teaching Association, 1981

Productive Frustration: A Key to Learning

In a recent article in the New York Times magazine (19th Sept 2010), 'Online Curiosity Killer', Ben Greenman pondered the different processes used by his 9 year-old son to research the 'Anaconda' (the world's largest snake) for a school assignment. His son was proud of the report and showed it to his father. His Dad read lots of the information then innocently asked a question for which his son did not have the answer, "what is the second largest snake?" His son went off to the next room to the computer and returned with the answer within a short space of time.

A month later Greenman picked up an old encyclopaedia and checked the entry for Anacondas. There was lots of information but not the answer to the question he asked his son a month before. He reflected on the differences in the accessibility of information in the age of the Internet and considered the good and the bad of this new age of lightening fast communication and accessible information.

By supplying answers to questions with such ruthless efficiency, the Internet cuts off the supply of an even more valuable commodity: productive frustration. Education, at least as I remember it, isn’t only, or even primarily, about creating children who are proficient with information. It’s about filling them with questions that ripen, via deferral, into genuine interests. Each of my sons passes through phases quickly: one month they’re obsessed with marine life, the next with world flags. This is not so different from how I was (the ’70s was all about robots), but what is different is how much information they can collect, and how quickly they come to feel that they have satisfied their hunger.

Until recently, I have been entirely complicit in the Second-Largest Snake Problem. (By the way, the answer is the reticulated python.) When either of my kids has asked me a question, I have tried to answer or, if I could not, just looked it up. Google and I, as it turns out, know everything. But in recent weeks, I have begun playing dumb, saying that I don’t know and not offering to find out. Sometimes they’ll drop the question immediately, but sometimes they’ll persist, and I’m learning not to give in to the persistence but rather to ensure that the questions stay with them until they arrive at a point when they know nothing for certain except that they have questions they cannot answer so easily.

Making Good Use of Productive Frustration

I liked his idea of 'Productive Frustration'. In fact, I think he put his finger on something that is vital if our children are to become people who hunger to learn. However, I don't think the Internet has any more potential to kill off curiosity than other modes of learning. It matters little if we gain our information from books, the Internet, firsthand experience, listening, viewing or tactile experience. What matters is that we create in our children a desire to learn and to know. A desire to ask why? What if? How come? Who said? How does that work? A sense of frustration that there is something for which they do not have an answer. This sense of 'productive frustration' is surely what has driven some of the great minds throughout history.

Once we have created a desire in our children to inquire of the things in their world we need to kindle their appetite for learning. It seems to me that the Internet is a good tool in the right hands, but it can also be as useless as an old encyclopaedia if used badly. Our children need guidance and support if they are to become committed learners.

Barbara Rogoff suggests in her book 'Apprenticeship in Thinking' that guided participation is critical to children’s learning. She describes this process as the guiding of children and others in the collaborative process of "building bridges" from children's present understanding and skills in order to reach new understandings and skills. This in turn requires "the arranging and structuring of children's participation in activities" in some way. I wrote about this in relation to a firsthand experience with one of my grandchildren a couple of years ago (here). Her thoughts are closely related to Bruner's notions of scaffolding and Vygostsky's work published in 'Mind in Society'.

At times 'guided participation' can be as simple as asking the young learner a question and simply getting out of their way (see my previous post on 'Questioning: A Key Part of Learning'). At other times it might require more.  In my book 'Pathways to Literacy' I use work by Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) to discuss the forms of support that we can provide for young learners and suggest that we need to use varied forms of support.

• We need to be good at recruiting children's interest in the task
• We should try to help them to simplify the task at times
• We need to do what is necessary to keep them pursuing the goal
• We need to point out gaps in knowledge and inconsistencies between what the child has done and what could be achieved
• We need to help them to control their frustration as they try to solve a problem, but we must never remove this (that's where productive frustration comes in)
• We need to demonstrate if necessary how they can pursue their goalby demonstrating how it can be done (without quite doing it for them).

If we do give our children these varied forms of support then we will see evidence that we are "filling them with questions that ripen, via deferral, into genuine interests".

Other Posts and Resources

Ben Greenman, 'Online Curiosity Killer', New York Times magazine, 19th Sept 2010).

'Guiding Children's Learning' (HERE)

Rogoff, B. (1990). 'Apprenticeship in Thinking: Cognitive Development in Social Context', New York: Oxford University Press.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Interaction between Learning and Development (pp. 79-91). In Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, (Trans. M. Cole). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Wood, D. J., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychiatry and Psychology, 17(2), 89-100.

The Power & Place of Historical Narrative

In my home state of New South Wales we've just celebrated 'History Week'. The week was run by the History Council of NSW to promote the recognition, pursuit, celebration, promotion, communication and practice of history.  As my contribution (even though a week late) I wanted to remind readers of the amazing power of historical narrative to teach, enrich and transform us (see previous posts on the 'Power of Literature' and 'Making History Come Alive').

Above: Settler's Arms Inn, St Albans NSW, (c1842). An early stagecoach stop between Sydney and Newcastle

What is historical narrative?

Historical narrative is essentially the story of an historical event or times. The people and the places are true, but it is written as a story. Biographies and autobiographies are usually historical narratives.  Much of what we introduce to children fits into the sub-category of historical fiction that sits within this broad genre.

Historical narrative often focuses on a specific event in a time period and presents some of the actual events at the time through the presumed voices of people (using diary, journal, illustrative and secondary resource material) and offering a particular point of view of people living in the period.

Many forms of artistic licence can be taken in this genre including inventing new characters, using new or altered names and places and creating new events. Depending on how far these accounts vary from historical accounts, they may be classified as alternate history or historical fantasy.

Why is it important?

a) Historical narrative can illuminate history

b) It can increase children's interest in history

c) It can highlight and make sense of the tiniest of details of history often missed in textbook reading

d) In presenting multiple perspectives it can present complex issues in multi-dimensional ways, helping us to see things for the first time

e) It can connect children's learning right across the curriculum

Picture Book Forms of Historical Narrative

The following picture books can be read to and by children 5-10 years.

'My Hiroshima' by Junko Morimoto - a picture book that offers a real life account of the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima through the eyes of a child who stayed home that day sick rather than going to school. The illustrations complement the authentic personal story of Morimoto's memory of the day the atomic bomb was dropped on her city.

Leon Garfield is one of the greatest exponents of historical fiction for children. As well as many wonderful novels for older children he has also written a number of picture books. Two of my favourites are 'The Wedding Ghost' (1985) illustrated by the great illustrator Charles Keeping and  'Fair's Fair' (1981) illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain and in a newer edition with Brian Hoskin as the illustrator (2001).


 'My Place' (Nadia Wheatley & Donna Rawlins) - was published in 1987 for distribution in Australia’s bicentennial year (1988) and makes a strong statement about the fact that Indigenous Australians were here for thousands of years before white settlement (there isn't space to unpack this). It is a very clever book that takes one suburban block (and the surrounding area) and tells the story of this place in reverse chronological sequence, decade by decade, from 1988 back to 1788 when the first British Fleet landed at Botany Bay. The overall meaning of the book is shaped by multiple narrative recounts of the families who have lived in this spot, 'my Place' and the changing nature of the physical landscape and built environment. See me previous post on visiting the 'real' My Place (here).

Jeannie Baker also offers some interesting examples of children's picture books that tell the story of specific places through brilliant collage illustrations.  Here themes include the impact of people on their world and the connection between people and place over time.  She rarely uses words except as explanatory words except as a foreword or afterword. The books enrich understanding of local history as well as environmental issues. Here are a few examples.

'Window' (1991) by Jeannie Baker - In this wordless book Jeannie Baker shows the changing physical and man-made landscape viewed through a single window.  A mother and her baby look through a window at wilderness. But with each turn of the page time marches on. As we look from the same window, the world changes under the impact of people. As the child grows and ages, so too the view changes from a country scene to dense settlement.  This wordless book won the Children's Book Council (Australia) picture book of the year in 1992.

'Belonging' (2004) by Jeannie Baker

In 'Belonging' Baker returns to the theme of 'Window', man changes the world. Once again, the story unfolds through a single window of a house in a typical urban neighbourhood and it has the same central characters Sam and Tracy. Each picture shows another year and new developments. This is in a sense 'Window' in reverse, as we go back through time and see the urban landscape slowly disappear to reveal the natural landscape that was once there. The images are stunning. This book is sold in the USA under the title of 'Home'.
 
'The Story of Rosy Dock' (1995) by Jeannie Baker

In this wonderful book Baker tells the story of how early settlers who move to a remote central Australia build a garden in the wilderness that is beautiful, but which ends up having an unexpected flowering. A single plant (that we now known as the weed 'Rosy Dock') can change the landscape and push many plants and animals to extinction. This simple book shows how a hundred years ago European settlers in the desert planted seeds from the other side of the world that changed the landscape.

The book has been produced as a 10-minute short animated film by Film Australia (here).

'Maralinga', was written and illustrated by the Yalata and Oak communities of South Australia with Christobel Mattingley. This is the story of the British atomic testing of the 1950s in Central Australia. It is told by Indigenous Australians who are the traditional owners of Maralinga (a region used for atomic testing in the 1950s?).  In words and pictures community members, describe what happened in the Maralinga Tjarutja lands of South Australia before the bombs and after. This is an important and tragic account of human folly and its consequence for a people who were there first, but whose needs counted for little.

'Sweethearts of Rhythm' by Marilyn Nelson - This is the story of significant piece of cultural history. It tells through poetry of the first integrated all women's band in the USA.  It played swing music and was formed in the late 1930s. The singers all attended the Piney Woods Country Life School in Mississippi, which was for poor and orphaned African Americans. It was formed to raise money for the school, but it was so good that it eventually toured the whole country and played to massive crowds.

The story is told through a set of rhythmic poems that are written in the varied voices of the instruments. Jerry Pinkney's illustrations add further richness with brilliant collages.

'A Certain Music' written by Celeste Walters and illustrated by Anne Spudvilas is a fairytale in the tradition of Hans Christian Andersen. The story offers an account of Beethoven's creation of two of his most famous works, 'Fur Elise' and 'Ode to Joy'. It is set in 1821 and is the story of a young girl who is drawn to the sound of music coming from a house in the woods near Vienna. She visits the composer regularly to hear him play. Eventually the girl and her mother are invited to a concert in Vienna to see Beethoven perform ‘Für Elise’. The author Celeste Walters has previously written playscripts for children and adults, as well as novels and picture storybooks for younger readers. 

Books for older readers

'Slave Girl: The Diary of Clotee, Virginia, USA 1859' by Patricia McKissack - This book was originally published as "A Picture of Freedom" tells the story of a young slave girl who longs for freedom just before the Civil War. The year is 1859 and Clotee and has only known life as a slave mostly as an orphan) on the Belmont Plantation in Virginia. But she has learnt how to read and write in secret. She keeps a diary and hides it in a hollowed tree.

When a tutor comes to the plantation to teach the son of her master she discovers that he is an abolitionist and he offers her the chance for her inner longing, freedom.

'The Thieves of Ostia' by Caroline Lawrence - I visited the ruins of Ostia about 15 years ago (it's incredible!) and wish that I'd read this mystery about Flavia and her friends in the ancient Roman port in the 1st century AD before or just after the trip. Flavia is fantastic at finding things, and becomes good at solving mysteries. She is the daughter of a ship's captain living in Ostia, which was the port of Rome, in AD79. With her three friends she sets out to solve the mystery of who severed the heads of the watchdogs that guard people's homes. This is an excellent mystery that offers an insight into the life of an ancient Roman city.  The story is brilliantly told.


‘Strange Objects’ by Gary Crew (1990) - The story commences in 1986 with a teenager Steven Messenger who lives with his family in a roadside truck stop in the middle of nowhere along the highway that weaves its way up the western coast of Australia. Messenger discovers some gruesome relics in a cave while on a school excursion. This begins a mysterious tale where his life is interwoven with the lives of two of the survivors of the 'Batavia' shipwrecked in 1629 off the coast of Western Australia. Like many works of historical fiction, Crew uses the metaphysical encounters of one of his characters to transport us back to another time.

Crew won the 1991 Children’s Book Council Australia award for Older Readers for the book. Suitable for readers aged 12+ years.

Somme Mud, by Private Edward Lynch, Editor Will Davies

This is a fascinating true story, which follows the war experience of a group of young men who set out from Sydney in 1916 to fight in the 'Great War' in France. The main character and the other enlisted troops at the centre of the narrative are fictionalised, but all other elements portray their real life experiences. Edward Lynch who returned from the War and became a teacher tried to publish the manuscript in the 1930s but was unsuccessful. After his death family members succeeded and it was published for adults in 2006. This new book is edited by Will Davies and is an abridged version for teenagers.  It offers a graphic insight into the horrors of the Western Front. It incorporates archival photographs as well as photographs of the sites today.  It will interest boys aged 11+.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice written by Phillip Hoose

This book is based on extensive interviews with Claudette Colvin and many others. It tells the story of a teenager who on March 2nd 1955 was sick of the daily injustices of Jim Crow segregation and refused to give her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The protest led to further injustice for the young women who is eventually brave and determined enough to challenge segregation as a key plaintiff in a legal case that became known as Browder v. Gayle.  Suitable for readers 12+.


Playing Beatie Bow (1982) by Ruth Park

When Abigail Kirk joins in a traditional chanting game of 'Beatie Bow' in modern day Sydney she sees a mysterious urchin girl in the background and follows her. Unwittingly she stumbles into the past as she follows her up stairs and down alleys in the Rocks area of Sydney. She encounters a strange and different Sydney and finds herself walking the streets of the colony of New South Wales in 1873. Abigail is taken in by the Bow Family who believes that she is a mysterious 'Stranger' who is said in tradition to arrive to save 'The Gift' for future generations of Bows. Abigail remains in this past world to fill her role and in the process falls in love for the first time.

This is a book faithful to its time and setting but is best classified as historical fantasy. It won the Children's Book Council Australia Award for Book of Year in 1981. Suitable for readers 12-16 year olds.

The book has been adapted for film (details here).

Number the Stars (1989) by Lois Lowry

Number the Stars is set in Denmark during World War II. Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen is the central character, who is living in Denmark under German occupation in 1943. Her family becomes a target for the German forces as they help a Jewish family to attempt a daring escape. Annemarie and her family risk their lives to help Annemarie's best friend, Ellen Rosen, by pretending that Ellen is Annemarie's older sister. The title is taken from Psalm 147 in the Bible that speaks of God's power as the one who knows and has numbered every star. It is also probably a reference to the fact that God had promised Abraham the father of the Jewish nation that he would have as many offspring as there are stars in the sky. The novel was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1990 as the "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children".

This is a moving and compelling book that engages the reader from the start and in the process offers an insight into the lives of many innocent Jewish families in World War II and the lengths that some went to in order to survive. Suitable for children 11+.

Island of the Blue Dolphins (1960) by Scott O'Dell

Off the coast of California is a rugged rock known as the Island of San Nicholas. The seas around it are filled with dolphins, otters, sea elephants, cormorants and marine life all kinds. It was here in the early 1800's that an Indian girl spent 18 years alone. Karana has to maintain her food supply and avoid Aleutian sea-otter hunters and the perils of a pack of wild dogs that killed the brother she jumped ship to save. The spirit of this young woman and her ability to survive against all the odds offers an interesting insight into the challenges of life in another age.

This wonderful novel was O'Dell's first book and won the Newbery Medal in 1961. It is an excellent book for 10-14 year olds.

The Machine-Gunners (1975) by Robert Westall

Living in World War II Britain, Chas McGill has the second best collection of war souvenirs in Garmouth and he wants to have the best. He is determined to outdo his rival Boddser Brown in obtaining the ultimate war souvenir. An opportunity comes when he finds a crashed German bomber in the woods complete with machine gun, he knows he can not only beat Boddser hands down, but can also play a role in the war. All he has to do is to remove the machine gun from the plane.

This has to be one of the best books for boys that I've read. Not surprisingly it won the highest British honour for children's literature, the Carnegie Medal in 1975. Any boy aged 10-16 will love this book.

And there are lots more....

Leon Garfield has written many fine examples mostly set in late 18th century England including 'Devil in the Fog' (1966), 'Black Jack' (1968) and 'Smith' (1967).

Allan Garner has also written a number of fine examples set in Cheshire and often stimulated by local history and legend, including 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen' (1960), 'The Owl Service' (1967) and 'The Stone Book Quartet' (1978).

There are many books that deal with World War II (like 'The Machine Gunners' and 'Number the Stars') but one of my favourites is 'Summer of My German Soldier' (1974) by Bette Green and 'When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit' (1971) by Judith Kerr (two great books for teenage girls).

'Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry' (1976) by Mildred Taylor, which won the 1977 Newbery Medal Award, tells the story of a poor African American family living in Mississippi during the Great Depression.