Home » 2011 » September

I wish I lived in New York City…

… because the Center for Fiction, located there, is devoting an entire month to celebrating Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea. This is part of an initiative called The Big Read, which is aimed at encouraging literary reading, especially children and teens. Not only are they celebrating a fantastic book by a great author, but there will be events throughout the month with an amazing variety of authors, including Kelly Link, Samuel Delany, Ellen Kushner, Margaret Atwood, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Justine Larbalestier… and you can hear them mostly for free. I had never heard of the Center for Fiction before, but thanks to Rose Fox at Genreville, I have now, and I’m really glad she pointed it out… just sad that I don’t live close enough to attend any of these events.

Getting Graphic: What Kids See

I’ve been musing over a couple of experiences I’ve had in the past week, and I’d like to share them with you. First, I am sure at least some of you have followed the controversy over the, er, “sexy” portrayals of Catwoman and Starfire in the DC Comics “reboot” that has just premiered (and, according to a press release we received today, completely sold out). I won’t go into it here since other people have already done it better and more passionately, but I would like to say that even though these comic books aren’t targeted at little kids, little kids are familiar with them. My son had Iron Man sneakers in size 3T. Last year a friend gave him a Spiderman action figure for his birthday. You can’t say that superheroes are adult territory only once marketers have targeted the kids.

So it doesn’t surprise me that in the wake of all this, Michele Lee, reviewer and zombie editor for MonsterLibrarian.com, interviewed her seven year old daughter about her reaction to Starfire’s new look. And it saddens me so much that a character like Starfire, who is obviously a role model to at least one superhero loving girl, is cheapened not just for adults but also for children. What we see matters.

I want to go past this particular controversy, though, to write about something that nearly broke my heart this week. To backtrack, I am in the midst of taking a class in youth materials in libraries (yes, I have already worked as a children’s librarian and a school library media specialist, but I’ve gotta keep my certification current, and you can always learn something new). This week we’re discussing graphic novels, and I had to pick one from a list of “children’s” graphic novels to discuss. I chose and ordered the book a while back, it came, and immediately my five year old son absconded with it. The book is Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel.

I will freely admit that my knowledge of graphic novels is limited. Someone tells me a graphic novel is for children, I think along the lines of Ook and Gluk: Kung Fu Cavemen from the Future or Dragonbreath (which are smart-alecky, occasionally gross, and imaginative).  We made it through Dragonbreath: Curse of the Were-Wiener here with no problem. My Godzilla-loving, monster-loving child couldn’t put Ghostopolis down. He couldn’t really understand it, but the images grabbed him and he asked so many questions that eventually we sat down and read it.

This is a far cry from Ook and Gluk. It’s about a terminally ill child who is accidentally transported to the afterlife before he dies and has to find a way home.  The themes in this book are not themes most elementary aged children are going to be able to understand or fully process. The artwork is phenomenal, but TenNapel’s vision of the afterlife? Not pretty. Nothing my son hasn’t seen before… after all, he’s the son of the Monster Librarian… but maybe not quite pulled together in this way.

I can tell stories about Hades to my son. He is obsessed with demons(an obsession that could end anytime, and I would be okay with it) and wants to be a mummy for Halloween. But his birthday is around the corner, and suddenly, he didn’t want to turn six, because he was afraid he would die, and he didn’t want to go to the afterlife like the boy in the story, Garth Hale (it took a long time to pry this out of him).

The impact of these images on children is tremendous. It is a huge responsibility, even more so, I think, than in books that have no images or illustrations at all. DC failed so many people by choosing to exploit Catwoman and Starfire… As parents and librarians, it’s clear we cannot just trust someone else’s interpretation as to what’s appropriate. Kirkus suggested that Dragonbreath was appropriate for ages 8-11  and that Ghostopolis was appropriate for ages 9-12. The two books aren’t even on the same planet.

I don’t know exactly what I’m trying to say here except that little pitchers don’t just have big ears. They have big eyes. They don’t necessarily respect boundaries. And what they take away from what they see is different than what we do. So the images we present them with really matter.

Help a Reader Out: Musical Monsters

I tripped over this request today… it’s been a while since we received it, but I remember doing all kinds of searches trying to find this one and, sadly, my superlibrarian powers failed me at the time. Maybe one of you know this mystery musical monster story?

John says:

I’m a librarian trying to solve a mystery. I am trying to locate a book that was read to me as a child. I do not know the author or title. It told the story of a little boy who entered a building and was scared by a monster named “Do”. He then ran up to the next level and then the next only to encounter monsters that were all named after musical notes. He finally reached the top only to discover Do waiting for him a second time. I would very much like to find a copy of this book or at least know the title or author. None of my co-workers have been able to track it down. It was a primary level book and I checked it out in the early 80s with my first library card.

Well? Can you help our reader out?