Ramona's Show

Ramona Quimby would make a good television series.  The Quimbys are a family of ordinary people that an audience could relate to and like.  Quimbys are a family of four with two young daughters.  The main character would be Ramona because she is funny, energetic, and has a lot of spunk.  The setting for the show could be in any town in the US, but with some seasonal differences so the family would have to react to different weather, seasons, and holidays.

          The show would focus on the everyday ups and downs of a second grader and her relationship with her family and friends.  It would show Ramona’s struggle with the tension in her family caused by her father’s loss of a job and her mother having to be the soul breadwinner for the family.  The TV series would not focus on a lot of the negative things with the parents but would focus more on Ramona’s ability to help her parents through these times by providing some humor, and love towards her parents. The television series could show a typical relationship between Ramona and her older sister Beezus, and how different they are.  A funny part of the TV series would be Ramona’s many attempts to get her father to stop smoking.  It is not unreal for kids to try to get their parents to quit smoking.  Ramona’s attempts in this story would work well in a TV series.  A highlight for the TV series would be the adventures of Ramona.  In the book, Ramona and her friend made tin can stilts and had a very fun time walking on them and singing at the top of their lungs. That would be a great show.  Another funny scene would be the night the cat ate the carved pumpkin around Halloween, which scared Ramona in the middle of the night.  An additional funny scene would be her part in the Christmas pageant.  This would be a very fun television series for younger kids on Saturday mornings.

Jazzy Reader's Journal

Etienne’s Journal

          What an amazing experience this has all been. Who knew my new job at the Film Academy library would have to lead to such excitement.  A famous filmmaker was found.

          It all started when I met my friend Isabelle. I first met her at the train station. She worked at this old guy’s toy booth in the train station.  He was her godfather.  I found out Isabelle loved going to movies but her godfather, Papa Georges, would not allow her to go to movies.  I happened to be working at the movie theater.  I told her I would sneak her into the movies for free. Isabelle went to a lot of movies.  I let a lot of my friends into the movies for free. Unfortunately I got caught, and was fired from my job.

          I recently met Isabelle’s friend Hugo at the bookstore. He was sort of rough looking.  His clothes were torn and dirty.  His hair was long and shaggy.  He seemed like a nice enough guy, but Hugo was quiet and shy.  Another time when I was in the bookstore I saw Hugo and I was sure he was going to steal a book he had under his arm.  It was about magic. To stop him from getting in trouble I did a magic trick for Hugo and gave him the coin to buy the book.  I do not think that Hugo has much money.

          The next time I saw Hugo he was in the Film Institute library.  After I lost my job at the movie theater I started to take classes at the library, and I got a job there.  Hugo was at the library to look up information about a movie.  He found it in a book I helped him find.  I told him, "You know, one of my teachers wrote that book" (p. 346).  It had been written by Rene Tabard.  The next thing I knew, he said, "'Died?  He's not dead'" (360).  He was talking about a movie director who was still alive, and not dead, as the book said.   He was talking about Georges Melies, the famous filmmaker.  It turns out that he is Isabelle’s godfather.

          Hugo arranged for me and my teacher to meet Georges Melies.  My teacher was stunned by the turn of events.  Shortly after that, "The French Film Academy, through the intervention of Rene Tabard, arranged for money to be given to the Melies family" (p. 492).  Now we are all invited to attend a black tie party in Mr. Melies’s honor being put on by the Film Institute.  It has been a fantastic experience getting to know one of the greatest filmmakers ever.   

Changes in Children's Literature

Children’s literature has changed in many ways over the ages. It has changed in substance, in presentation, and in variety.   In the ancient world oral tales were composed to be heard and not read. There were not many stories composed for children.  Aesop’s Fables, animal tales with morals, were told during this time.

          During the Middle Ages few children could read and very little was written for children.  Childhood was a very short period of time. Children listened to adult stories such as the stories about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Fables were a favorite of children during this time. Stories contained magic, the impossible, excitement and serious topics.  Children were considered small adults.

          During the European Renaissance the invention of the printing press made it possible to print books in quantity. This helped increase literacy and education, and advanced knowledge. Children became more literate. The earliest children’s illustrated book, a Latin vocabulary book, was published in 1658.  By the end of the 17^th century social changes allowed for the focus on the needs of the child. Horn books containing early language lessons were developed.

          During the 18^th and early 19^th centuries there was little to distinguish children’s literature. John Newberry published between 1745 and 1769 a large number of children’s books on reading, philosophy and science.  His A Little Pretty Pocket Book was the first significant publication written specifically for children.  During this period books taught children how to be good and proper human beings. Folk tales appeared during this time. They contained adult themes, violence, and a lack of moral messages. They were not written for children, but they read them.

          Children’s literature came into its own during the Victorian age.  Authors and illustrates began to turn their efforts to children and their books. The books included fantasies (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), adventures stories (The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn), domestic stories (Little Women), and books illustrated by great illustrators which became available at reasonable prices.

          In the 20^th  century children’s literature saw a greater diversity in children’s books, including picture books, fantasy, realistic fiction, and informational books. Children’s literature includes age appropriate books. In addition, numerous book awards have been established, including the Newberry Medal for most distinguished book written for children, and the Caldecott Medal for most distinguished illustration in a children’s book.

          I chose to write about chapbooks.  I had not heard of these before this week’s assignment.  Chapbooks were small, inexpensive publications that contained a variety of information.  They were called chapbooks because they were sold by peddlers, called chapmen, on street corners, or traveling through the countryside.  Chapbooks were timeless and were the comic books of their day.  They were popular between 1500 and 1700.

          Chapbooks were designed for poorer literate classes, and working class readers.  A chapbook was printed on a single sheet of low quality paper that was folded to make multiple pages.  There were crude wood-cut illustrations.  Chapbooks were usually not well-written and were poorly published.  There were no covers on the chapbooks, and the print was small.  Most were written for adults, but by the 1800s chapbooks for children were being produced.