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osprey_archerToday in picture book Monday, we have an animal theme, starting with Caroline Castle's Gorgeous!, which is about a little baby zebra. The book actually starts with the zebra being born behind a bush, that's how little this baby zebra is, and the first thing his mother says when she sees him is - take a wild guess - "Gorgeous!"
This is the only word the baby zebra knows when he gets separated from the herd (because he stopped to look at himself in a puddle and chirrup "Gorgeous!", naturally). A lion happens upon him, intent on a meal, and the little zebra takes one look at the lion and says, "Gorgeous!"
The lion is so confuddled that he doesn't eat the zebra right away, which gives the mama zebra time to collect her baby and rejoin the herd. The little zebra learns a few other words along the way, and what really makes the book fun is seeing him try to figure the world out using his itty bitty vocabulary: "gorgeous," "danger," "vamoose!" and "tip top."
I also read David Shannon's Duck on a Bike, in which a young duck borrows a bike and rides it around the farm, saying hello to all the animals as he passes. The animals say hello back, but in fact, they are actually commenting internally on Duck's bike-riding ability: "That's the silliest thing I've ever seen," muses the cow, while the sheep thinks, "He's going to hurt himself if he's not careful."
I feel that there is some sort of moral lesson here, but I'm not sure what it is. Maybe Shannon is trying to illustrate theory of mind? Or he wants his young readers to steel themselves to the possibility that most of their friends are secretly thinking "That's the silliest thing I've ever seen" when they say hello? Why on earth would you want to teach that to picture book listeners, that seems like a terrible idea.
A few of the animals - the dog, naturally - think that Duck's bike-riding is super cool rather than ridiculous, dangerous, and all-around silly. And maybe the rest of them are just being judgmental because they're totally jealous. At the end of the books, a bunch of kids ride up on their bikes and dash inside the farmhouse for cookies, and all the animals stampede to ride bikes too.
***
In other news, I've ordered a new phone! It's only been *mumblecough* seven months since the old one stopped actually working for calls unless it was on speakerphone.
This is the only word the baby zebra knows when he gets separated from the herd (because he stopped to look at himself in a puddle and chirrup "Gorgeous!", naturally). A lion happens upon him, intent on a meal, and the little zebra takes one look at the lion and says, "Gorgeous!"
The lion is so confuddled that he doesn't eat the zebra right away, which gives the mama zebra time to collect her baby and rejoin the herd. The little zebra learns a few other words along the way, and what really makes the book fun is seeing him try to figure the world out using his itty bitty vocabulary: "gorgeous," "danger," "vamoose!" and "tip top."
I also read David Shannon's Duck on a Bike, in which a young duck borrows a bike and rides it around the farm, saying hello to all the animals as he passes. The animals say hello back, but in fact, they are actually commenting internally on Duck's bike-riding ability: "That's the silliest thing I've ever seen," muses the cow, while the sheep thinks, "He's going to hurt himself if he's not careful."
I feel that there is some sort of moral lesson here, but I'm not sure what it is. Maybe Shannon is trying to illustrate theory of mind? Or he wants his young readers to steel themselves to the possibility that most of their friends are secretly thinking "That's the silliest thing I've ever seen" when they say hello? Why on earth would you want to teach that to picture book listeners, that seems like a terrible idea.
A few of the animals - the dog, naturally - think that Duck's bike-riding is super cool rather than ridiculous, dangerous, and all-around silly. And maybe the rest of them are just being judgmental because they're totally jealous. At the end of the books, a bunch of kids ride up on their bikes and dash inside the farmhouse for cookies, and all the animals stampede to ride bikes too.
***
In other news, I've ordered a new phone! It's only been *mumblecough* seven months since the old one stopped actually working for calls unless it was on speakerphone.
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Date: 2016-02-16 03:40 am (UTC)Maybe that other book really is to allow parents and kids to talk about how some people can see the fun in stuff and other people are judgmental and unimaginative :-P
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Date: 2016-02-16 01:40 pm (UTC)And I like your explanation of Duck on a Bike.