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If you have small children you may be familiar with this concept.
This month has been all about non-fiction.
This week she didn't bring home a book. Normally I'd overlook that and give her another book to read instead, but I'm running out of non-fiction options that are remotely near her reading level. (I think it's safe to say she's not reading on a 5th grade level.)
So when I scribbled a note in her homework book that she'd never received her reading worksheet for yesterday, I mentioned that she also hadn't brought home a book. And today she brought home Betsy Ross and the Silver Thimble.
It's to be expected that a book from a series on the "Childhood of Famous Americans", written on a first grade level, might be bland and heavily preachy. But what a message this book sends!
I have the space, I'm just going to type it up.
( Read more... )
I'm not sure if my bigger beef is with the frankly backwards message that the book actually sends (whatever the author thought the message was supposed to be) or with the fact that this book is actually fiction.
Let's recap:
The story involves a six year old Betsy having a serious conversation with a brother eleven years younger than she is. It definitely didn't ever happen. Then we're given a footnote that repeats that story of Betsy Ross designing the first flag, even though there's significant evidence that the story has, at best, been greatly exaggerated. Why this book is getting passed around as "non-fiction" is completely beyond my imagination.
Now, Betsy DID do something important with her sewing in real life. She repaired uniforms and made tents and blankets for the Continental Army. But you're not likely to see that in this sort of story. Too informative, not trite enough.
This month has been all about non-fiction.
This week she didn't bring home a book. Normally I'd overlook that and give her another book to read instead, but I'm running out of non-fiction options that are remotely near her reading level. (I think it's safe to say she's not reading on a 5th grade level.)
So when I scribbled a note in her homework book that she'd never received her reading worksheet for yesterday, I mentioned that she also hadn't brought home a book. And today she brought home Betsy Ross and the Silver Thimble.
It's to be expected that a book from a series on the "Childhood of Famous Americans", written on a first grade level, might be bland and heavily preachy. But what a message this book sends!
I have the space, I'm just going to type it up.
( Read more... )
I'm not sure if my bigger beef is with the frankly backwards message that the book actually sends (whatever the author thought the message was supposed to be) or with the fact that this book is actually fiction.
Let's recap:
The story involves a six year old Betsy having a serious conversation with a brother eleven years younger than she is. It definitely didn't ever happen. Then we're given a footnote that repeats that story of Betsy Ross designing the first flag, even though there's significant evidence that the story has, at best, been greatly exaggerated. Why this book is getting passed around as "non-fiction" is completely beyond my imagination.
Now, Betsy DID do something important with her sewing in real life. She repaired uniforms and made tents and blankets for the Continental Army. But you're not likely to see that in this sort of story. Too informative, not trite enough.
