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Eeew gross!
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From: Lindsay <linds_na>
Date: Fri, 1 May 1998 14:00:59 -0700 (PDT)
My favorite kind of humor to use in storyhours with kids (of any age) is "Eew gross!" toilet or underwear humor. It's completely disarming -- kids can't believe you're reading it to them. And it's usually not anything that you or I would pick up on as being too risque. Some examples: In just about every "Iktomi" story by Paul Goble (Plains Indian trickster tales), Iktomi, at some point, loses his fancy trade-cloth leggings, and is exposed in his boxers/jogging shorts. Everyone falls apart at this point in the story (which is exactly what they're supposed to do). A wonderful preschool book "Our Granny" (by Margaret Wild, illustrated by Julie Vivas) shows all different kinds of Grannys, and proclaims on one page "Some grannies wear... pantsuits, silky dresses, big bras [stick out your chest here if you're daring], baggy underwear, lots of jewelry .... Our granny wears a funny bathing suit." This book is particularly nice because it associates underwear and big bottoms with the good, cozy feelings kids have about their parents and grandparents. At first, kids
(and their adults) are horrified that I've said the word "bra" in the library, but again, it disarms them, and so lets them enjoy the story on a whole other, more personal level.
I don't know exactly what it is about pictures of toilets or underwear that does this for kids, but they do enjoy these books differently than any others. They're very human, and I think the kids know and appreciate that.
One five year old in the library last week wouldn't take anything I suggested to him, and so I let him poke around on his own. Twenty minutes later, he came tripping up to me with a copy of Rachel Isadora's
"Max," in which a baseball-playing boy joins his sister's dance class. On the final page, the whole class is lined up, touching their toes, and presenting their backsides prominently to the reader. The boy held the book open to me on this page, eyes aglow, grinning like it was Christmas, and declared, "This is .... nasty!"
He checked it out, of course.
Nina Lindsay, Children's Librarian Melrose Branch, Oakland Pulbic Library 4805 Foothill Boulevard Oakland, CA 94601
(510)535V23 linds_na at oak2.ci.oakland.ca.us
"Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now?"
--William Stafford
Received on Fri 01 May 1998 04:00:59 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 1 May 1998 14:00:59 -0700 (PDT)
My favorite kind of humor to use in storyhours with kids (of any age) is "Eew gross!" toilet or underwear humor. It's completely disarming -- kids can't believe you're reading it to them. And it's usually not anything that you or I would pick up on as being too risque. Some examples: In just about every "Iktomi" story by Paul Goble (Plains Indian trickster tales), Iktomi, at some point, loses his fancy trade-cloth leggings, and is exposed in his boxers/jogging shorts. Everyone falls apart at this point in the story (which is exactly what they're supposed to do). A wonderful preschool book "Our Granny" (by Margaret Wild, illustrated by Julie Vivas) shows all different kinds of Grannys, and proclaims on one page "Some grannies wear... pantsuits, silky dresses, big bras [stick out your chest here if you're daring], baggy underwear, lots of jewelry .... Our granny wears a funny bathing suit." This book is particularly nice because it associates underwear and big bottoms with the good, cozy feelings kids have about their parents and grandparents. At first, kids
(and their adults) are horrified that I've said the word "bra" in the library, but again, it disarms them, and so lets them enjoy the story on a whole other, more personal level.
I don't know exactly what it is about pictures of toilets or underwear that does this for kids, but they do enjoy these books differently than any others. They're very human, and I think the kids know and appreciate that.
One five year old in the library last week wouldn't take anything I suggested to him, and so I let him poke around on his own. Twenty minutes later, he came tripping up to me with a copy of Rachel Isadora's
"Max," in which a baseball-playing boy joins his sister's dance class. On the final page, the whole class is lined up, touching their toes, and presenting their backsides prominently to the reader. The boy held the book open to me on this page, eyes aglow, grinning like it was Christmas, and declared, "This is .... nasty!"
He checked it out, of course.
Nina Lindsay, Children's Librarian Melrose Branch, Oakland Pulbic Library 4805 Foothill Boulevard Oakland, CA 94601
(510)535V23 linds_na at oak2.ci.oakland.ca.us
"Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now?"
--William Stafford
Received on Fri 01 May 1998 04:00:59 PM CDT
