the little prince. antoine de saint-expuéry. (165)

i decided to finally buckle down and read the little prince after debating on whether or not to purchase a the little prince sweatshirt from out of print clothing. the sweatshirt was cute but i couldn't buy it because i had never read it (though i know people absolutely love it.) in order to get the sweatshirt, i had to cross it off my to-read list.

since this is a beloved children's classic and on flavorpill's 50 books every parent should read to their child, i decided to read it with brother bear, well more like to him.  so we read a little at night and in the morning.

so i hate to admit this especially since people love the little prince, but i did not fall in love with this book.  i felt the author was trying too hard to be profound.  it lacked the simplicity of a children's book.  what makes a great children's book (and also pixar movies) is its ability to work on two levels; it is an interesting story for kids while being entertaining to an adult in a completely different way.  for example, the reason i love where the wild things are or the giving tree has changed with my age, the former i loved initially because of its illustrations but now because of its lesson on the idea of home.

for me, the little prince lacked an interesting story for kids.  i was bored by the men the little prince encountered on other planets so their lessons did not have a deep impact on me.  they were just men on a planet doing a boring adult activity literally while conversing with the prince metaphorically.  plus their metaphors though important seemed too deep for your average kid to get, and gave such a bleak view of adulthood.  i get that we are supposed to understand the important of living life in this book but it metaphors just weren't interesting enough to keep the reader listening.

i also had issues with the flower and the fox.  first, as a woman, i was offended by the flower.  was this vain creature supposed to represent wives?!?! i mean was the little prince's relationship with the flower a metaphor for making marriages work?  if so, was the fox a marriage counselor?  as an adult it was awkward to read about the little prince loving flower even though her personality wad repulsive then leaving her only to return to her, because a fox taught him the importance of belonging to something. i can't imagine how kids intrepeted that story plot.  furthermore, do we want kids learning that you have to tame someone to be with you?!?! i mean my favorite carrie bradshaw quote is:  

maybe some women aren't meant to be tamed. maybe they need to run free until they find someone just as wild to run with.

love is about finding someone to settling down for you, love is about being with the person who makes you the best version of yourself.   

i was worried the little prince did not truly love the flower but since he was away from her, the idea of the flower.

before you think i am completely heartless for not loving the book, i will add that i was sadden by the ending.  i was sad that the little prince decided to return home via he snake bite.  i also saw how his explanation that the laughter of the stars can be comfort when we have lost someone we love.  it did find the ending to he sweet, though it did drag on a bit.

and there were others things i enjoyed.

i did appreciate the little prince's lesson that "the most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart."  i was charmed by the introduction with the drawing of an elephant swallowed by a boa constrictor.  (i really wish the whimsy of the beginning lasted throughout the whole book.) and of course the illustrations were lovely and sweet.  but all of this could not counterbalance the fact that the story was too symbolic and as a result lacked any true value to me.  i am sorry little

prince, i really wanted to love your story but looks like i won't be purchasing your sweatshirt.  

tales of a fourth grade nothing. superfudge. judy blume (157-158)

i recently purchased a superfudge tee from out of print, which inspired me to revisit judy blume's beloved classics.

since superfudge is a sequel to tales of a fourth grade nothing, my revisit had to start there.

in tales of a fourth grade nothing, we are introduce to peter hatcher and his family, which includes his mom, dad and of course his little brother, two-year-old terror, fudge.  before i go on i have to share that as a kid, fudge's antics were a little annoying, you felt bad for peter (his poor poster board for school!), but fudge was so crazy you couldn't help but like him.  however, as an adult, all i could think of was how did the hatchers end up with such a horrible child!  peter is well-mannered and caring kid.  fudge, on the other hand, is the type of kid i give dirty looks to when i see them misbehaving.  i also silently judge the parent for being a horrible and ignorant person for raising a indecent little monster that will contribute to the world's ultimate demise because only stupid people are breeding (harvey danger reference).  if i was in that movie theater with fudge, would have definitely demanded my money back!  but i mean fudge did have his moments, i thought it was adorable how he wanted to be a bird when he grew up and it was kind of funny how he would only eat if served like a dog.

here are some of my favorite parts. i loved when father poured fudge's dinner on his head, i viewed it bad parenting but didn't stop it from being hilarious.  the story of the birthday party was too much, all i can say is that kids are a mess.  also peter was right about the fat kid not needing a second helping of cake!  the story of the commercial totally reminded me of the full house episode when stephanie steals the commercial from dj.

the one thing that i couldn't believe was the ending!  how did fudge swallow a turtle?!?!? i mean i didn't believe until the x-ray showed it!  i kept on thinking, why are they getting an ambulance there is no way he could have swallowed a turtle, but fudge did.  but i mean it was the perfect ending to the book, peter gets a new dog that he names turtle and fudge lives!  btw kudos to judy blume for starting and ending the book with pet turtles!

*tales of a fourth grade nothing was part of flavorpill's 50 books every parent should read to their kids.

i learned via the dedication, a lot fans asked judy blume for a sequel so she made one, superfudge.

she also did a great job of referring tales of a fourth grade nothing in this one!  

in this book, the hatchers have a new edition to the family, baby tootsie (i loved how peter pointed how his siblings candy inspired names).  when peter found about the baby being on the way, he freaked out! but i mean if you had fudge as a sibling you would too!  aside from the baby, some new changes are that father decided to quit work and write a book and mom decided to go back to work (way to go mom!  she also wanted to study art history, double way to go mom!) and the whole family moves to jersey!

of course fudge is fudge, craziness follows them to jersey.  again i was outraged by some of things fudge did like playing hide-n-seek with tooties.  it freaked me out to imagine him carrying an infant and hiding her in closets!  and of course him kicking his first kinder teacher and calling her rat face though she was totally uptight but still

he should respect his elders!

but fudge did have some great moments.  i could not get over how cute he was about the santa letter writing and then of course telling peter he only pretended for their parents.  also the story of the visiting author and the picture was hilarious.  and fudge's use of big vocabulary words was great too!

i also loved the new people they met in jersey, well except that annoying kid daniel.  i really liked alex but primarily because of his halloween painting!! loved that he was jimmy's dad's painting anita's anger.  how clever! i might have to steal that costume idea from him!  i also liked mrs. muldour and her worm cookies!

and i have to add there were so many things in the book that adult me appreciated.  i got the charm of their jersey home esp the bathtub thought peter hated it.  also their use of the garden and growing organic!  i also liked how the parents were honest with fudge about where babies come from.  

all in all, two wonderful books that have stood the test of time.  i loved them just as much as fourth/fifth grade me loved them!!  can't wait to pick up fudge-a-mania on my next library trip!

the hundred dresses. eleanor estes. (134)

"the hundred dresses" has been on my to-read list ever since i saw it as book clutch on etsy.  i didn't buy the book clutch but thought it was super cute.  

(adorbs, right? but i couldn't afford or justify paying $175 for it.)

grandma bea bought me "the hundred dresses" a kid.  i owned a copy just like the library book.  i wouldn't call it one of my all time favorites but i do remember loving the fact that the little girl in the story drew a hundred dresses.

"the hundred dresses" is told from the perspective of maddie.  the story is about a girl, wanda, maddie's classmate, who was teased by the other girls for being different.  wanda was poor and polish.  as the book explained, she had a "funny" polish last name.  maddie's best friend, peggy was the one that started the teasing.  the teasing began one day when another girl had a new dress which everyone admired.  wanda then shared how she had one hundred dresses.  since she was obviously poor, peggy turned it into a sort of game, asking wanda every day about her hundred dresses and having a laugh at her expense.  maddie knew that it was wrong and felt guilty but sadly didn't stop it.  maddie was also worried that peggy would make fun of her for being poor and having a different last name.   

one day, wanda doesn't show up at school and maddie begins to feel guilty.  also, there was a drawing contest at school and the winner's drawings would be posted in the class, all the kids were excited to see who won.  when they went to their classroom, they saw one hundred dresses all drawn by wanda.  peggy and maddie realized she did have one hundred dresses!  however, wanda was not there to see that she won.  their teacher than read a note from wanda's father explaining that they had moved to get away from the racial discrimination and prejudices they had experienced.

maddie and peggy realized what they had done wrong and wrote a letter to wanda letting her know she had won.  wanda than wrote back and said all the girls could keep her drawings.  she gave two special ones to maddie and peggy which they then realized were drawings of themselves! 

rereading "the hundred dresses" as an adult, i realized there were some things that went over my head as a kid.  for example, as a kid, i didn't realize how racist and classist the girls were when they picked on wanda.  this was something that i never noticed as a kid probably because a) i wasn't sure what it meant to be polish and b) as a kid you never really notice race or class (i for one didn't).

being a mutt (my maternal family is mixed), i was raised without a strong racial identity.  i look filipino but grew up eating mexican and singaporean food, and only speaking english.  as a result, i never have felt loyalty to a specific race or ethnicity nor did i ever feel i had to stick to my race.  and i do want to clarify that i do  have racial prejudices and make horrible racial comments and jokes but unlike the girls of "the hundred dresses", i never allowed race be a factor when choosing friends.

random digression there is a story that my mom used to share about me when i was a kid.  we were at a family party and a kid that was not related to us came up to my cousin nalin (who is part black) and told us that we couldn't be cousins because we weren't the same race.  according to my mom, i then told the kid that we were cousins and that in some way everyone in the whole world was related and it didn't matter.  i have always been accepting of other cultures, if i like you it doesn't matter your race.  in high school our clique was diverse, we used to say we were the real international friendship club (there was an actual one on campus).

now the issue of class is different.  i never considered our family rich but other kids thought we were because i had nikes and wore guess.  i actually had someone tell me that in 6th grade.  what this girl didnt realize is that my family wasn't rich, but my aunt and my grandparents helped my mom out.  if it was just our mom, i would not have sported those clothes.  and maybe it's because we never really went without that i never noticed a thing like class.  but i don't remember judging other kids based on wealth.  looking back if anything all of my friends' families had more money than mine, so i am glad they weren't prejudice against me.

due to this, the reasons for the girls' teasing wanda went over my elementary school head.  however, as an adult, i fully understood.  and without sounding like a product of 90's politicial correctness, i am not accusing the kids of maliciously being racist and classist but noting the racist and classist undertones of their teasing.  at the end of the day, kids are kids and when they tease it is due to the unknown versus actually founded class/racial prejudices.

though i did enjoy the book and believe that it is important for kids to read it, so they can realize how their teasing harms others.   especially with anti-bullying movement in schools right now, "the hundred dresses" should be require reading.  however, i did not love this book because of the ending.  it seemed to be too soft on maddie and peggy, i understand that they recognized the error of their ways and decided to right the wrong they had made but it broke my heart when they realized that wanda had drawn the dresses for them.  the reason it broke my heart was because even though peggy and maddie teased her, wanda still wanted to be their friend.  it is so sad how wanda just wanted to be liked by her bullies, which i realize is how it is in real life. it's a sad fact of life. furthermore, it also seems unfair that the victim has to be the bigger person and forgive their bully when the bully doesnt have that type of compassion (they wouldn't be a bully if they did).  as i write this, i have realized, the ending is realistic, it was the best solution for the situation.  if it ended with wanda getting revenge, she would then be the bully.  so i guess it is a great book!

the hundred dresses is also listed as part of flavorpill's 50 books every parent should read post.  and yes i am on a mission to read those too!

the giving tree. shel silverstein.

as i mentioned in my previous blog from today, brother bear has started a summer reading program.  the first book on his read list was "the giving tree" by shel silverstein.  

i love love love love love love "the giving tree".  it is my favorite book of all time.  ok, so it might be tied with "where the wild things are" but i do get more emotional when i read "the giving tree". it makes me cry every time i read it. it's a wonderful story of the greatest love of all (even greater than whitney's).  the tree gives all she has to the boy simply because she loves him.  i also admired the trees innovative thinking because she might not have what the boy needs but finds a way to help him.

"the giving tree" is beautiful metaphor for parental love.  the tree loves the boy and helps him through all stages of his life.   furthermore, the tree expects nothing in return for her help.  due to this, one may think the boy is selfish but he is a child and as children, we are so focused on our own needs that we tend to neglect our parents and may not always express gratitude.  however, this lack does not mean a lack of love.  we just we get caught up in our lives but will always love our parents in return just like the boy returned to the tree.

this interpretation of "the giving tree" is why i get emotional because it reminds me of my grandma.  grandma bea is my giving tree.  her love is selfless and all she wants is for her kids and grandchildren to be happy.  she may not always have the means to aid her family but she will make do with what she has and provide what she can.  and in the end, regardless just knowing that she loves you is enough to get you through your low points in life.  my grandma has given me so much, just like the tree does for the boy  that i will never be able to repay her but i know she knows how much i love her and that is payment enough.  also as selfish as it may sound, i know the happiness of her kids and grandkids is enough payment for her as well.  and that is why she is so amazing.

the story of ferdinand. munro leaf. (105)

for international children's books day, flavorpill ran an article about celebrities' favorite children's books and "the story of ferdinand" was on the list. ed asner, of "mary tyler moore" fame (though i know him more from "up"), chose ferdinand as his favorite. asner admired ferdinand for his peaceful ways.

(i have to add, i also wanted to read "ferdinand" because it was featured in "the blind side", sandra bullock read it to her kids.)

"the story of ferdinand" is simple and sweet. ferdinand is a bull. growing up he never wanted to play fight with the other bulls and instead sat under a tree admiring flowers. thankfully he had an understanding mother who let me be as he pleased and didn't force him to play with the others.

then one day, men came to look for bulls for a bullfight. ferdinand wasn't interested but a bee stung him which caused him to go crazy. as a result, the men thought he was wild and the perfect bull for the fight.

ferdinand goes to the bullfight but since he is who he is, he enjoys the flowers of the ladies in the crowd instead of fighting. as a result, there is no bullfight and he is sent home to enjoy his tree and flowers.

what i enjoyed best about the book is that it demonstrates the importance of being you; especially for boys that might not be your "typical" boy or girls that may not be your "typical" girl. hopefully, kids will read "the story of ferdinand" and know its okay to be an individual. they can do and act as they want regardless of what society tells them their interest or activities should be. and hopefully parents learn a lesson from the mama cow in the book that one should accept his/her children as they are and not what he/she want them to be. though ferdinad was a peaceful bull, i think the ultimate lesson is one of individualism in which everyone should walk to the beat of their own drum.