From: lschubert at doe.state.vt.us <lschubert>
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 13:23:50 CDT

One thing I think is noteworthy about Betsy Hearne's thoughtful review is that she raises many questions that go unanswered. Her response to the book is similar to (but much more articulate than) mine - and I think it's legitimate to just ask those questions about a book as challenging as this one. And yet I also want her to answer them, so I'll know more of what SHE thinks.
(Hearne asks: Has Raschka underestimated the emotional involvement of his audience, or have we who work with children overestimated it? Who is this book for? And does that question matter if children's literature has become a true art form whose validity depends not on popular appeal but on intrinsic aesthetic merit? Is this a book that's viable for that rarely used Bulletin category, the Special Reader? Is it Charlie the Tuna in a different can? Or is it simply a failure of marriage between form and content, a divorce of art from audience?

I also think the book is quite playful, both in language and art, and that might not come across here.

Leda Schubert Vermont Department of Education lschubert at doe.state.vt.us 802?8842
Received on Fri 11 Sep 1998 01:23:50 PM CDT