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Another View from Saturday
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From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Fri, 02 May 1997 14:49:11 -0500
One of the CCBC-Net subscribers wrote to us, asking if it'd be okay to post a question regarding a subject we discussed a few months ago.
Our answer is: Of course!
So before we begin our discussion of Paul Fleischman's books, please feel free to join the reprise if you have any responses to the provocative question JoAnn raises about "A View from Saturday." I am forwarding the full text of her question:
I've recently had a query from a student in my children's literature class that has me stumped. I had referred to "The View From Saturday" as a work of contemporary realistic fiction. When this student read it she had trouble placing it there. She saw the book as having elements of fantasy -particularly in reference to Julian's father -and so she wondered if it didn't fit more aptly into fantasy. This led to an interesting discussion about the mystical elements of the book. Certainly Julian and his father are foreign, they have the feel of coming from elsewhere. I attributed their view of the world to a more Eastern perspective -- not a supernatural one. And while my student isn't suggesting they are from another world, we do agree that Konigsburg has shrouded Mr. Singe in mystery in the way one might find in a particular kind of fantasy book. I know categories of genre are not hard and fast, but I wonder how others would define this book. Realistic fiction, fantasy, or something else?
JoAnn Portalupi UAB School of Education Department of Curriculum & Instruction 901 South 13th St. Birmngham, AL 35294 - 1250
phone (205) 934T19
fax (205) 934G92
Received on Fri 02 May 1997 02:49:11 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 02 May 1997 14:49:11 -0500
One of the CCBC-Net subscribers wrote to us, asking if it'd be okay to post a question regarding a subject we discussed a few months ago.
Our answer is: Of course!
So before we begin our discussion of Paul Fleischman's books, please feel free to join the reprise if you have any responses to the provocative question JoAnn raises about "A View from Saturday." I am forwarding the full text of her question:
I've recently had a query from a student in my children's literature class that has me stumped. I had referred to "The View From Saturday" as a work of contemporary realistic fiction. When this student read it she had trouble placing it there. She saw the book as having elements of fantasy -particularly in reference to Julian's father -and so she wondered if it didn't fit more aptly into fantasy. This led to an interesting discussion about the mystical elements of the book. Certainly Julian and his father are foreign, they have the feel of coming from elsewhere. I attributed their view of the world to a more Eastern perspective -- not a supernatural one. And while my student isn't suggesting they are from another world, we do agree that Konigsburg has shrouded Mr. Singe in mystery in the way one might find in a particular kind of fantasy book. I know categories of genre are not hard and fast, but I wonder how others would define this book. Realistic fiction, fantasy, or something else?
JoAnn Portalupi UAB School of Education Department of Curriculum & Instruction 901 South 13th St. Birmngham, AL 35294 - 1250
phone (205) 934T19
fax (205) 934G92
Received on Fri 02 May 1997 02:49:11 PM CDT
