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Nonfiction: This Land Was Made for You and Me
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From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 15:04:47 -0500
As we wind down the wide-ranging discussion of Nonfiction during April, we want to thank everyone who participated actively by posting messages or asking questions. There's still time this month for a few more messages about Nonfiction.
Then we'll begin the monthly opportunity for anyone in the CCBC-Net community to post an announcement about something related to Children's or Young Adult Literature. Announcements are welcome on CCBC-Net during the first and last days of each month.
Perhaps one good way to wind down this discussion is to call attention to one of the outstanding nonfiction books published this spring.
Look for "This Land Was Made for You and Me: The Life and Songs of Woody Guthrie" written by Elizabeth Partridge (Viking, 2002). What a book!
This handsome volume is exemplary in every respect. The author made many incredibly wise decisions regarding what to include and how to write about countless complex aspects of Woody Guthrie's life. She kept readers eleven and older in mind in every way, but as Megan Schliesman writes below, she's been honest with them and with her subject at the same time.
Here are excerpts from Megan's April 15th "Book of the Week" review for the CCBC web site http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Megan wrote: Older children and teens who embark on this marvelous biography of Woody Guthrie will find at least one familiar reference point as they read. Most of them have probably joined in on a joyous rendition of "This Land Is Your Land" at school. Maybe they even delighted in "Take You Riding in the Car" as toddlers. They might be surprised, however, to learn that "This Land Is Your Land" was written in 1940 as a counterpoint to the romantic sentiments of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." ... Guthrie celebrated breathtaking vistas, and lamented the tragedy of a nation in which so many suffered." His song caught the bittersweet contrasts of America: the beauty ... and the desperate strength of people making do in impossibly difficult times," writes Elizabeth Partridge in her preface to this beautifully designed, dynamic volume. "All you can write is what you see," Guthrie wrote across the bottom of his hand-written lyrics for the song, and that is what Woody Guthrie did over and over again in his often difficult lifetime. Through his music, he voiced the struggles and the suffering he saw during the Great Depression, the spirit of and courage of workers fighting for unions, the tragic death of sailors during World War II. He combined his knowledge of the songs sung by everyday people with a genius for storytelling and words and a passion for social justice. But at the same time that Guthrie was creating an unparalleled legacy he was running from responsibility ..., and from fear. He couldn't escape, however, when Huntington's Disease, the same illness that made his mother so erratic and unpredictable when he was a child, began to affect his body and his mind. Elizabeth Partridge interviewed folksinger Pete Seeger and Woody's son, folksinger Arlo Guthrie, and drew on taped interviews of others who knew Woody, as part of her extensive research to create this honest and inspiring work. ?2002 Cooperative Children's Book Center
I personally sat down to begin reading the first chapters of "This Land Was Made for You and Me," and I didn't get up until I had finished the entire book! What a compelling biography! It sets a new standard, a very high one, at that. I trust that
you'll also enjoy it when you find it, and I hope it won't be long before you do.
- Ginny
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 Mon 29 Apr 2002 03:04:47 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 15:04:47 -0500
As we wind down the wide-ranging discussion of Nonfiction during April, we want to thank everyone who participated actively by posting messages or asking questions. There's still time this month for a few more messages about Nonfiction.
Then we'll begin the monthly opportunity for anyone in the CCBC-Net community to post an announcement about something related to Children's or Young Adult Literature. Announcements are welcome on CCBC-Net during the first and last days of each month.
Perhaps one good way to wind down this discussion is to call attention to one of the outstanding nonfiction books published this spring.
Look for "This Land Was Made for You and Me: The Life and Songs of Woody Guthrie" written by Elizabeth Partridge (Viking, 2002). What a book!
This handsome volume is exemplary in every respect. The author made many incredibly wise decisions regarding what to include and how to write about countless complex aspects of Woody Guthrie's life. She kept readers eleven and older in mind in every way, but as Megan Schliesman writes below, she's been honest with them and with her subject at the same time.
Here are excerpts from Megan's April 15th "Book of the Week" review for the CCBC web site http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Megan wrote: Older children and teens who embark on this marvelous biography of Woody Guthrie will find at least one familiar reference point as they read. Most of them have probably joined in on a joyous rendition of "This Land Is Your Land" at school. Maybe they even delighted in "Take You Riding in the Car" as toddlers. They might be surprised, however, to learn that "This Land Is Your Land" was written in 1940 as a counterpoint to the romantic sentiments of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." ... Guthrie celebrated breathtaking vistas, and lamented the tragedy of a nation in which so many suffered." His song caught the bittersweet contrasts of America: the beauty ... and the desperate strength of people making do in impossibly difficult times," writes Elizabeth Partridge in her preface to this beautifully designed, dynamic volume. "All you can write is what you see," Guthrie wrote across the bottom of his hand-written lyrics for the song, and that is what Woody Guthrie did over and over again in his often difficult lifetime. Through his music, he voiced the struggles and the suffering he saw during the Great Depression, the spirit of and courage of workers fighting for unions, the tragic death of sailors during World War II. He combined his knowledge of the songs sung by everyday people with a genius for storytelling and words and a passion for social justice. But at the same time that Guthrie was creating an unparalleled legacy he was running from responsibility ..., and from fear. He couldn't escape, however, when Huntington's Disease, the same illness that made his mother so erratic and unpredictable when he was a child, began to affect his body and his mind. Elizabeth Partridge interviewed folksinger Pete Seeger and Woody's son, folksinger Arlo Guthrie, and drew on taped interviews of others who knew Woody, as part of her extensive research to create this honest and inspiring work. ?2002 Cooperative Children's Book Center
I personally sat down to begin reading the first chapters of "This Land Was Made for You and Me," and I didn't get up until I had finished the entire book! What a compelling biography! It sets a new standard, a very high one, at that. I trust that
you'll also enjoy it when you find it, and I hope it won't be long before you do.
- Ginny
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 Mon 29 Apr 2002 03:04:47 PM CDT
