SOUNDTRACK: HAM AND BURGER-“Don’t Put Your Finger in Your Nose” (2010).
A very serious and sad book needs a very silly song to accompany it.
I heard this on Kids Corner last night and it led me to this tribute album to Barry Louis Polishar, an artist whom I’ve never heard of (and am not sure why he has a tribute album to him, but whatever).
The title of the song tells you all you need to know. But I enjoyed the way it went beyond the nose, into other body parts where you shouldn’t put your finger–eyes, ears, throat. As with most kid’s songs, this one is short. And when it starts to fade out at around a minute fifty seconds, you think it’s over.
But they add an extra chorus and then a final punchline which is really funny. Check it out at this link to the Tribute to Barry Louis Polisar record.
[READ: September 8, 2014] The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
The students entering fourth grade in our town were supposed to read this book over the summer. Clark’s teacher actually read the book to them last year, and he was disinclined to read it again. So I offered to read the book to everyone in the family. I figured if it was important enough for all the kids to read, maybe I should read it, too. He said he really didn’t like it, but I persisted and read it to everyone anyway.
And I totally understand why he didn’t like it.
Although the cover looks kind of haunting (the illustrations by Bagram Ibatoulline are awesome), I didn’t realize just how dark this book could get–all in the name of love.
I’ve never read anything else by Kate DiCamillo so I don’t know if this is typical of her work. But man, is it a tear-jerker.
The book itself is rather short. It’s 200 pages, but there’s a lot of pictures and the type was very large. And it read fairly quickly, perhaps because it was so episodic. Before I get on to the story, I want to say how beautiful the illustrations are. The chapter headings are wonderful grayscale drawings, and the occasional full color plates are stunning. Very dark and foreboding and at times a little creepy, but very evocative of an older time.
The strange thing is that the book is summarized pretty well on the jacket, as well as in the book’s coda. So, if you prepare yourself in any way, you might expect just how low Edward has to go before the miracle happens. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 