General Resources
- Teaching Books has author interviews
- A Literary Feast has a review and an author interview
Setting
Author Karina Yan Glaser was inspired by books about large families such as Sydney Taylor's "All of a Kind Family" and envisioned the life of such a family living in Harlem, New York. She lovingly described and illustrated the book, peppering it with cozy descriptions of brownstone homes and chatty, friendly neighbors.
This setting is sufficiently different from our California suburbs that we started by learning about Harlem. Street Easy describes Harlem as having “busy thoroughfares adjacent to quiet tree-lined blocks lined with brownstones and pre-war apartment buildings.. Harlem has beautiful brownstones and prewar buildings, but many apartments can be bare bones and in need of repair.”
And brownstones? Million Acres defined brownstone as a type of sandstone that was a popular building material from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, and a brownstone home as a townhouse usually built with brick and having brownstone layered as a veneer to the front brick wall. Brownstoner explains that brownstone was affordable compared to other building materials, and soft enough to carve for architectural detail (which you can see in the building above).
Another fun visual was City College, which the youngest character thinks is a castle where princesses live. A Wikimedia picture shows why.
Characters
I had thought that the students would have difficulty keeping the characters straight, but the author had given each family member a distinct personality, and students were able to narrate who did what.
VanderBeeker Family
- Dad (computer technician, building repair) and Mom (pastry chef)
- Jessie and Isa (12 years old)
- Jessie : Science geek
- Isa: Musical, plays the violin well
- Oliver (9 years old): Only boy. Sporty and likes to read.
- Hyacinth (6 years old): Craft enthusiast, makes dozens of hand-made Christmas presents.
- Laney (4 3/4 years old): Hugs and welcomes everyone
- Pets: Franz (dog), Paganini (bunny), George Washington (cat)
Story Arc
At the outset of the book, Mr. Beiderman is introduced as an antagonist character - the grumpy landlord who unreasonably terminates their lease. The children try to win him over, and their efforts are titled "Operation Beiderman". Using Microsoft Word's built-in charts, I asked the children to rate how successfully each attempt was on a scale of 1 (fail) to 10 (success), and we charted their efforts.
Your own students' evaluation may differ; furthermore, some attempts only appeared to fail initially, which made for lively discussion in our group. We drew out these ideas:
- The children's efforts were initially rejected - it takes time to win someone over.
- When the children made gifts, they used their strengths (e.g. drawing, CD).
- The petition was a dismal failure - shaming and group pressure do not bring about a genuine change in heart.
- Isa's confrontation was a surprising key. We don't agree it was the best idea to storm at him, but sometimes loving someone means (kindly) telling them when they are on the wrong path.
We also talked about why Mr. Beiderman harbored such animosity to the family. It wasn't just the list of incidents in the first chapter (breaking a window, bursting a pipe) but the deeper hurt of losing his family and being reminded of his loss. Sometimes, we just don't know why a person is hurting - it's part of this fallen world.
That brought us to ponder how hard it was for the children to be rejected repeatedly. The most natural reaction would be to avoid a person who dislikes us. In the book, the children were motivated by the prospect of losing their home. Yet we have a greater motivation, as our club name reminds us.
Matthew 22:36-38
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
We cannot keep this commandment perfectly, or perhaps at all. It is only through the Holy Spirit that we can respond lovingly when rejected, and love the unloveable.
Quotes to Discuss
- “It takes a super-brave person to be as generous as you are, Hyacinth. Not many people are brave enough to be so loving.”
- Aunt Harrigan sighed, “I think those nice things you did for Mr. Beiderman were meanginful to him, even if it doesn’t seem like it.”
Follow up Activities
- Listen to these renditions of "Les Furies" and "The Swan", pieces that Isa played during the confrontation.
- Bake Christmas cookies to give away.
- Make a Quarantine Box -this is a brilliant idea by Redeemed Reader. Make a box of books, treats or other items that would bring cheer to family or friends who will will missing their usual get-togethers for Christmas.
No comments:
Post a Comment