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Judging a book by its cover, documentation
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From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2001 11:41:31 -0600
Jonathan wrote: "As much as I liked WE WERE THERE, TOO! by Phillip Hoose (and I liked it a lot) I do think the documentation will be its Achilles heel as a Sibert contender. And one might say the same of SHIPWRECKED by Rhoda Blumberg (which my students and I enjoyed enormously)."
The very well written and organized book "Shipwrecked" concerns Manjiro Nakahama, a man who was a survivor in many ways. "Shipwrecked" is an extremely memorable book about a courageous man with an indomitable will to survive and overcome incredible dangers and obstacles. Throughout the book one reads about the effects on Japanese citizens of the policy of isolation from other nations, and one realizes that Manjiro's fate hinged upon the real danger of being geographically away from his country.
Manjiro was an extremely intelligent man who - among many other accomplishments - was the first Japanese person to set foot in U.S.
(New Bedford, Mass., 1843). I chuckled over Manjiro's observations about the "strange customs of Americans." He wrote, for example, that
"eggs, oil and salt mixed with flour is good food. They call it bread." and "Ordinary men carry watches" [that, among other observations about the lack of visual clues concerning social class/authority] and "American women have quaint customs. For instance, some of them make a hole through the lobes of their ears and run a gold or silver ring through this hole as an ornament." (pages 44E)
During the recent CCBC Sibert Award Discussion it dawned on us that there are two things about the book "Shipwrecked: The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy" that might be misleading to potential readers in terms of its contents. The phrase about judging a book by its cover applies here. The jacket art and title don't represent what the book actually contains, and what it's about should not be missed!
"Shipwrecked" is not about a boy. Readers are not going to read about a child while reading "Shipwreck." On the first page Manjiro is described as a child laborer supporting his family. At the bottom of that page he's become a 14-year-old setting forth on the fishing boat
(1841), the fate of which begins the compelling saga of the shipwreck. During most of the book Manjiro's an adolescent who becomes an adult as he longs for home, tries so hard to return to Japan, and finally does return (1851) at which point he and others are detained, put on trial 18 times, and finally released (1852).
The book jacket artwork detail from "Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagowa," a famous 19th century wood-block print by Katsushika Hokusai. The dynamic artwork provides a picture book "look," reinforcing the "boy" notion.
Will the jacket art and the subtitle keep older kids from opening the pages of this amazing account of a true "survivor" ? Well, I certainly hope not, and I also hope that my comments will not keep anyone from searching for this fine book, reading it, and buying it for young devotees of survivor stories. This is a genuine survivor adventure.
There are many kinds of documentation. Chapter notes, bibliographies, etc., are one type of documentation. Seriously created informational books offer a wide range of examples of documentation. Jonathan, I don't understand why you claim that "Shipwrecked" is inadequately documented. Want to elaborate?
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu Cooperative Children's Book Center www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ A Library of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin Madison
Received on Wed 05 Dec 2001 11:41:31 AM CST
Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2001 11:41:31 -0600
Jonathan wrote: "As much as I liked WE WERE THERE, TOO! by Phillip Hoose (and I liked it a lot) I do think the documentation will be its Achilles heel as a Sibert contender. And one might say the same of SHIPWRECKED by Rhoda Blumberg (which my students and I enjoyed enormously)."
The very well written and organized book "Shipwrecked" concerns Manjiro Nakahama, a man who was a survivor in many ways. "Shipwrecked" is an extremely memorable book about a courageous man with an indomitable will to survive and overcome incredible dangers and obstacles. Throughout the book one reads about the effects on Japanese citizens of the policy of isolation from other nations, and one realizes that Manjiro's fate hinged upon the real danger of being geographically away from his country.
Manjiro was an extremely intelligent man who - among many other accomplishments - was the first Japanese person to set foot in U.S.
(New Bedford, Mass., 1843). I chuckled over Manjiro's observations about the "strange customs of Americans." He wrote, for example, that
"eggs, oil and salt mixed with flour is good food. They call it bread." and "Ordinary men carry watches" [that, among other observations about the lack of visual clues concerning social class/authority] and "American women have quaint customs. For instance, some of them make a hole through the lobes of their ears and run a gold or silver ring through this hole as an ornament." (pages 44E)
During the recent CCBC Sibert Award Discussion it dawned on us that there are two things about the book "Shipwrecked: The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy" that might be misleading to potential readers in terms of its contents. The phrase about judging a book by its cover applies here. The jacket art and title don't represent what the book actually contains, and what it's about should not be missed!
"Shipwrecked" is not about a boy. Readers are not going to read about a child while reading "Shipwreck." On the first page Manjiro is described as a child laborer supporting his family. At the bottom of that page he's become a 14-year-old setting forth on the fishing boat
(1841), the fate of which begins the compelling saga of the shipwreck. During most of the book Manjiro's an adolescent who becomes an adult as he longs for home, tries so hard to return to Japan, and finally does return (1851) at which point he and others are detained, put on trial 18 times, and finally released (1852).
The book jacket artwork detail from "Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagowa," a famous 19th century wood-block print by Katsushika Hokusai. The dynamic artwork provides a picture book "look," reinforcing the "boy" notion.
Will the jacket art and the subtitle keep older kids from opening the pages of this amazing account of a true "survivor" ? Well, I certainly hope not, and I also hope that my comments will not keep anyone from searching for this fine book, reading it, and buying it for young devotees of survivor stories. This is a genuine survivor adventure.
There are many kinds of documentation. Chapter notes, bibliographies, etc., are one type of documentation. Seriously created informational books offer a wide range of examples of documentation. Jonathan, I don't understand why you claim that "Shipwrecked" is inadequately documented. Want to elaborate?
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu Cooperative Children's Book Center www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ A Library of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin Madison
Received on Wed 05 Dec 2001 11:41:31 AM CST
