The Writer's Corner: Summer Treasure: READING | Culture | Summerville Journal Scene

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The Writer's Corner: Summer Treasure: READING

Published Thursday, July 29, 2010 1:42 PM

By Ellen E. Hyatt
Summerville Journal Scene ®

ÒCourtesy is contagious. It begins with you.” Anyone who’s been in New York City this summer will recognize these words from subway announcers who have also just told us, “Stand clear of the doors, please.” The remarks remind us that our behavior influences others.

Courtesy isn’t the only contagion. Bizarre actions also influence. Remember recently reading about Barbican Art Gallery in London selling jam made from late Princes Diana’s hair? Well, do we really need THAT exhibit? We do, however, need people reading.

With South Carolina’s Kids Count report emphasizing the importance of reading literacy by the end of third grade and us knowing children must be able to read or else “get on a glide path to poverty” (Post and Courier, May 18, 2010, p. 1A), it behooves us to help children learn to read. Intellectual success necessitates a love of reading.

Since summer’s for lighter fare, a book of that ilk perfect for children is “The Llama Who Had No Pajama” by Mary Ann Hoberman. Poet Laureate for Children (2008-2010), Hoberman uses words parents will favor and children will enjoy. The book is recipient of awards from the National Council of Teachers of English (Excellence in Poetry for Children) and National Parenting Publications (Gold Award Winner).

Hoberman’s poems are complemented by Betty Fraser’s illustrations. While whimsical, Fraser’s work freshly presents animals, bugs, and children. The children represent a spectrum of ethnicity, so important for our times. The 8-1/2 x 11-inch book nicely blends text, pictures, and space—i.e., not overly busy for young eyes and minds.

If we wait in line anywhere this summer with young children, we notice how often they entertain themselves with rhythmic movement and sound. Hoberman’s cadences, line breaks, and word groupings are conducive to the seemingly innate rhythms children respond to and repeat. Consider “I’d like to be / A kangaroo / And have a pocket / Made of me.” Though children need not know it, that tiny poem collects 6 iambic feet. Or look at page 47; “Fireflies” is a perfect haiku of 17 syllables.

There are longer poems, too, aiding children’s focus and sustaining attention. “Shrew,” for instance, goes on for nearly 24 lines and ends with 4 lines “slowing down” or “taming,” if you will, “of the shrew.”

Reinforcing the message in the poem “Mouse” is a circle of 19 mice—thus, depicting energy a mouse needs and fears a mouse has.

Any concern over the title “The Llama Who Had No Pajama”? Yes. Much better to put that “s” on “pajama” because dropped word endings are substandard, and individuals speaking thusly are regarded as uneducated. There is no sense in starting children off with incorrect grammar. It’s contagious.

Title notwithstanding, the book is a delight, a treasure. It’s organized: appropriately opening with “Hello and Good-by,” a partnering that connotes the yin-yang of life through swinging on swings. The book concludes with “Good Morning When It’s Morning.” That poem ends with “Good-by.” Yet the “good-by” paradoxically feels like an invitation. And how apt that is, for any child reading this book (or having it read to them) will be anticipating more. And isn’t anticipation a joyful thing for all of us?

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