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Harris and Me
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From: Jonathan Hunt <jhunt24>
Date: Thu, 09 May 2002 00:43:18 +0000
I read HARRIS AND ME aloud to my fifth grade students at the beginning of every year, and it remains one of our favorite books of the year, often beating out books such as HOLES, HARRY POTTER, and the like.
This book works well on so many different levels. We love the physical slapstick, the naughty/gross humor, the droll exaggeration of the unnamed narrator, and the juxtaposition of tragedy and comedy which poignantly heightens both.
Chapter 10 (Peeing on electric fence) is just about the funniest thing I have ever read, a comic masterpiece. Of course, we *always* have to read it twice because someone was absent; and it's even funnier the second time around. There is something to be said for the shared laughter someone spoke to earlier--and the value of re-reading (and re-reading aloud).
A couple of years ago, the Horn Book did a special issue where many prominent authors were asked to write to the children's book from the past century they would most like to see widely read after the next century. What a great idea! Well, my choice would be HARRIS AND ME. On one level it's a very funny story of all the mischief and trouble two cousins can dream up in one summer, and on another level it's a wonderful story about the very powerful human need to belong and to be accepted.
It's precisely the book I want to set the tone for our school year: Look, how much fun reading can be! And yet, too, look at how great literature has the power to move us.
Jonathan
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Received on Wed 08 May 2002 07:43:18 PM CDT
Date: Thu, 09 May 2002 00:43:18 +0000
I read HARRIS AND ME aloud to my fifth grade students at the beginning of every year, and it remains one of our favorite books of the year, often beating out books such as HOLES, HARRY POTTER, and the like.
This book works well on so many different levels. We love the physical slapstick, the naughty/gross humor, the droll exaggeration of the unnamed narrator, and the juxtaposition of tragedy and comedy which poignantly heightens both.
Chapter 10 (Peeing on electric fence) is just about the funniest thing I have ever read, a comic masterpiece. Of course, we *always* have to read it twice because someone was absent; and it's even funnier the second time around. There is something to be said for the shared laughter someone spoke to earlier--and the value of re-reading (and re-reading aloud).
A couple of years ago, the Horn Book did a special issue where many prominent authors were asked to write to the children's book from the past century they would most like to see widely read after the next century. What a great idea! Well, my choice would be HARRIS AND ME. On one level it's a very funny story of all the mischief and trouble two cousins can dream up in one summer, and on another level it's a wonderful story about the very powerful human need to belong and to be accepted.
It's precisely the book I want to set the tone for our school year: Look, how much fun reading can be! And yet, too, look at how great literature has the power to move us.
Jonathan
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Received on Wed 08 May 2002 07:43:18 PM CDT
