From: Peggy Rader <rader004>
Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 12:24:38 -0500

I have to agree with Linnea that I have always found Hughes' books to be universal in the situations and characters they depict. As an adult I'm obviously aware that they're "English," but my son certainly never had any difficulty in "identifying" with Alfie or the Trotter Street gang even though his immediate world didn't look exactly like those places illustrated in the books.

With the Trotter Street books, for example, my son immediately connected with the boy who longed for a bike but whose mother couldn't afford one, although my son has always been fortunate enough to have a bike. The first time we read the story about the mean old lady next door and the "snow woman" my son was on the edge of his seat for fear the kids would be discovered. In both of those books themes universal to all children's experiences are explored, and values such as empathy and simple pleasures are celebrated without a single didactic moment.

As a rabid Hughes fan, I've recommended her books to many other parents and given her books to many friends. Every single one--from Chicago city dweller to rural Ohio town dweller-- loved them and they and their children took them to their hearts. I feel sad to think of these "affluent, suburban" kids missing out on such rewarding books.


"Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another."
-- G.K. Chesterton

Peggy J. Rader Communications/Media Relations College of Education and Human Development 117 Burton Hall, 178 Pillsbury Dr. SE University of Minnesota Minneapolis MN 55455 612b6?82 rader004 at tc.umn.edu
Received on Fri 28 May 1999 12:24:38 PM CDT