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From: Maia Cheli-Colando <maia>
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 09:33:09 -0800
One of our family favorites is /Seven Brave Women/ by Betsy Hearne. Hearne's young woman narrator tells the stories of her great-and-grandmothers, mother and herself, measured not in wars but in terms of the strides they take as individuals, their relationships, and their passions. It is a flowing, lyrical story -- not focused on plot, but more like the stories we tell at home.
In science, we enjoy /Girls Who Looked Under Rocks/ by Jeanne Atkins, an exploration of the lives of six women naturalists, including three we talk about in our family: Anna Comstock, Rachel Carson, and (my daughter's favorite) Jane Goodall. Another interesting picture book is
"/The Fossil Girl/" -- the art is cartoon style; Mary Anning is the subject.
We have found /The Art Room/ (Emily Carr) and /My Name is Georgia/
(Georgia O'Keeffe) to be excellent starting points for discussing creative expression in womens' lives, and the freedom to create.
/Grandparents Song/ is not history, per se... but there is a lot of history in it. The back caption of the book reads "The American Family Tree is beautiful and strong" and the story is dedicated to "Our American Ancestors in Whose Dreams We Walk." In this, a young girl talks about her family roots, and the language and illustrations together tell a story of a diverse America.
I know that this is the end of the discussion and not the beginning (!), but I think that any consideration of women's history asks the question, what is history? What is meaningful enough to be history? If the books we write only tell the "great things" done by women that are like the
"great things" that our society has admired in men, are we really telling women's history? How do we balance the need to show girls, boys and ourselves that women can be adventurous, exciting leaders while showing the equally (or more) important nurturing, affectionate,
"over-the?nce" her-stories and family stories as well?
Final thought - like /The Art Room/, /My Name is Georgia/ and /The Fossil Girl/, most of the "history" books we use wouldn't be filed under history. I've often found that the introductions to history I like best come through a sideline of interest -- reading about Georgia O'Keefe and Emily Carr has spawned conversations about art in culture, history of interpretation, the Salon, women's roles, horse and buggies, the desert, the Pacific Northwest, etc... We often use music as a history tool in our home. An example from this week (sorry, but 'tis about a boy): we picked up Mordicai Gerstein's /What Charlie Heard/ last week. Last night I found the cd /Songs of America/ with several compositions by Charles Ives at the university library. Ciara is eager to hear the world that Charlie heard -- a history lesson in itself?
Maia
Received on Wed 17 Nov 2004 11:33:09 AM CST
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 09:33:09 -0800
One of our family favorites is /Seven Brave Women/ by Betsy Hearne. Hearne's young woman narrator tells the stories of her great-and-grandmothers, mother and herself, measured not in wars but in terms of the strides they take as individuals, their relationships, and their passions. It is a flowing, lyrical story -- not focused on plot, but more like the stories we tell at home.
In science, we enjoy /Girls Who Looked Under Rocks/ by Jeanne Atkins, an exploration of the lives of six women naturalists, including three we talk about in our family: Anna Comstock, Rachel Carson, and (my daughter's favorite) Jane Goodall. Another interesting picture book is
"/The Fossil Girl/" -- the art is cartoon style; Mary Anning is the subject.
We have found /The Art Room/ (Emily Carr) and /My Name is Georgia/
(Georgia O'Keeffe) to be excellent starting points for discussing creative expression in womens' lives, and the freedom to create.
/Grandparents Song/ is not history, per se... but there is a lot of history in it. The back caption of the book reads "The American Family Tree is beautiful and strong" and the story is dedicated to "Our American Ancestors in Whose Dreams We Walk." In this, a young girl talks about her family roots, and the language and illustrations together tell a story of a diverse America.
I know that this is the end of the discussion and not the beginning (!), but I think that any consideration of women's history asks the question, what is history? What is meaningful enough to be history? If the books we write only tell the "great things" done by women that are like the
"great things" that our society has admired in men, are we really telling women's history? How do we balance the need to show girls, boys and ourselves that women can be adventurous, exciting leaders while showing the equally (or more) important nurturing, affectionate,
"over-the?nce" her-stories and family stories as well?
Final thought - like /The Art Room/, /My Name is Georgia/ and /The Fossil Girl/, most of the "history" books we use wouldn't be filed under history. I've often found that the introductions to history I like best come through a sideline of interest -- reading about Georgia O'Keefe and Emily Carr has spawned conversations about art in culture, history of interpretation, the Salon, women's roles, horse and buggies, the desert, the Pacific Northwest, etc... We often use music as a history tool in our home. An example from this week (sorry, but 'tis about a boy): we picked up Mordicai Gerstein's /What Charlie Heard/ last week. Last night I found the cd /Songs of America/ with several compositions by Charles Ives at the university library. Ciara is eager to hear the world that Charlie heard -- a history lesson in itself?
Maia
Received on Wed 17 Nov 2004 11:33:09 AM CST
