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Brian's Winter
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From: Richard Gappa <gappa>
Date: Tue, 08 Oct 1996 10:23:53 -0500
Last year I read Brian's Winter to a group of third grade students. They had all read Hatchet earlier in the year, and were enthralled with the idea of Brian not being rescued during the summer. They were taken with the sequel from page one. I never heard such complaints at the end of a chapter
(when I had to leave) as I did with that book. While Paulsen may be faulted by sophisticated readers, he certainly captures the imagination of most children. Anthony Braxton commented on Paulsen's use of the theme of growing up. Related to this is his ability to create a setting in both Hatchet and Brian's Winter (as well as Haymeadow and others) where the protaganist is in a world without adults. Why wouldn't children like this type of a story? In their biological world the are told when to get up, what to eat, what to wear, what friends they may have- in short almost everything in their lives is controlled and directed by adults. It is no different when they arrive at school- another controlled environment. Then here comes Brian who is suddenly thrust into a wilderness sans meddling adults. What a wonderful world it is! Here he can do exactly as he chooses, though he soon realizes that with freedom comes the responsibilty of survival. This desire to be responsible for one's own well being is deep within each child- to become an adult ( the growing up that Braxton talked about). Children have always responded favorably to stories that touch on these themes. As an interesting aside, I noted with pleasure that one day some of the children in my neighborhood who were in the class to which I had read, called me over and showed me the spears and bows and arrows they had made in the fashion of Brian. Throughout the summer the favorite game of this group of boys and girls was playing "Brian". They obviously had been deeply touched by the magic of literature. This magic of the reader is what Paulsen so poetically talks about in the preface to Winter Room- the most poetic description of books and readers that I have ever encountered.
Richard Gappa UW-La Crosse gappa at mail.uwlax.edu
Received on Tue 08 Oct 1996 10:23:53 AM CDT
Date: Tue, 08 Oct 1996 10:23:53 -0500
Last year I read Brian's Winter to a group of third grade students. They had all read Hatchet earlier in the year, and were enthralled with the idea of Brian not being rescued during the summer. They were taken with the sequel from page one. I never heard such complaints at the end of a chapter
(when I had to leave) as I did with that book. While Paulsen may be faulted by sophisticated readers, he certainly captures the imagination of most children. Anthony Braxton commented on Paulsen's use of the theme of growing up. Related to this is his ability to create a setting in both Hatchet and Brian's Winter (as well as Haymeadow and others) where the protaganist is in a world without adults. Why wouldn't children like this type of a story? In their biological world the are told when to get up, what to eat, what to wear, what friends they may have- in short almost everything in their lives is controlled and directed by adults. It is no different when they arrive at school- another controlled environment. Then here comes Brian who is suddenly thrust into a wilderness sans meddling adults. What a wonderful world it is! Here he can do exactly as he chooses, though he soon realizes that with freedom comes the responsibilty of survival. This desire to be responsible for one's own well being is deep within each child- to become an adult ( the growing up that Braxton talked about). Children have always responded favorably to stories that touch on these themes. As an interesting aside, I noted with pleasure that one day some of the children in my neighborhood who were in the class to which I had read, called me over and showed me the spears and bows and arrows they had made in the fashion of Brian. Throughout the summer the favorite game of this group of boys and girls was playing "Brian". They obviously had been deeply touched by the magic of literature. This magic of the reader is what Paulsen so poetically talks about in the preface to Winter Room- the most poetic description of books and readers that I have ever encountered.
Richard Gappa UW-La Crosse gappa at mail.uwlax.edu
Received on Tue 08 Oct 1996 10:23:53 AM CDT
