CCBC-Net Archives
Anthony Browne
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Susan Stan <susan.stan>
Date: Fri, 09 Jun 2000 11:51:05 -0400
I was also thrilled to learn that Anthony Browne had won. For those of us who had been at IBBY Regional in Madison, it was even more sweet. He was so personable and generous with his time, and his slide presentation was fascinating.
Like KT, I'm a fan of Changes. This subject came up, and he mentioned that for the American edition, the editors added a line at the end. The British edition (and the Spanish translation from Mexico, which I have), ends with "This is your sister." The American editor added the lines "Joseph smiled. This is what his father had meant." I think this is a great example of how expectations of child readers differ from country to country. The British child is asked to make sense of the pieces of information by him/herself. The line of text that says "That morning, his father had gone to fetch Joseph's mother. Before leaving, he'd said that things were going to change" and Joseph's subsequent surrealistic imaginings all make sense when getting the third piece of info, that there's a new baby. The American child is told how they fit.
One other element of this book that I love are the visual allusions to Van Gogh. The bedroom is just like VG's painting "The Bedroom," and on the wall is a picture of VG's "Starry Night." I'm sure there's more I haven't yet noticed. I could go on and on but I won't! Susan Stan
Kathleen Horning wrote:
-Susan Stan Assistant Professor of English Central Michigan University Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 susan.stan at cmich.edu http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/Susan_Stan 517w4109; (h) 517w2?87
Received on Fri 09 Jun 2000 10:51:05 AM CDT
Date: Fri, 09 Jun 2000 11:51:05 -0400
I was also thrilled to learn that Anthony Browne had won. For those of us who had been at IBBY Regional in Madison, it was even more sweet. He was so personable and generous with his time, and his slide presentation was fascinating.
Like KT, I'm a fan of Changes. This subject came up, and he mentioned that for the American edition, the editors added a line at the end. The British edition (and the Spanish translation from Mexico, which I have), ends with "This is your sister." The American editor added the lines "Joseph smiled. This is what his father had meant." I think this is a great example of how expectations of child readers differ from country to country. The British child is asked to make sense of the pieces of information by him/herself. The line of text that says "That morning, his father had gone to fetch Joseph's mother. Before leaving, he'd said that things were going to change" and Joseph's subsequent surrealistic imaginings all make sense when getting the third piece of info, that there's a new baby. The American child is told how they fit.
One other element of this book that I love are the visual allusions to Van Gogh. The bedroom is just like VG's painting "The Bedroom," and on the wall is a picture of VG's "Starry Night." I'm sure there's more I haven't yet noticed. I could go on and on but I won't! Susan Stan
Kathleen Horning wrote:
-Susan Stan Assistant Professor of English Central Michigan University Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 susan.stan at cmich.edu http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/Susan_Stan 517w4109; (h) 517w2?87
Received on Fri 09 Jun 2000 10:51:05 AM CDT
