CCBC-Net Archives
[CCBC-Net] Children on Their Own
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Caroline Parr <CParr>
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 17:41:37 -0400
I, too, was a happy child who loved orphan stories. My favorites in this genre were A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett and My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.
The first story has not only the orphan theme but the closely related theme of injustice: Sara's real nature, stripped of the trappings of money and status, is recognized by those who are truly good, even if she must suffer misfortune in the short term. (There are other issues here of class prejudice, but that's another post for another time.)
The second is not technically an orphan story, of course, but it includes the related theme of resourcefulness. Orphans and runaways must solve problems, make do, invent it for themselves. I could almost taste Sam's acorn pancakes, just as I marveled at the way the Boxcar children scoured their dishes with sand.
As a child, I remember reading several Horatio Alger books (what can I say, they were on our family bookshelves along with everything else). The way the young street urchin, usually an orphan as I remember, gradually accumulated enough money to reach his goals gave me a sense of accomplishment myself (not that this behavior has persisted in my own life, alas!).
There is something deeply satisfying about this kind of story. I'm sure it's part of the appeal of everything from Harry Potter to how I live now
(Rosoff).
Caroline
Caroline S. Parr Youth Services Coordinator Central Rappahannock Regional Library 1201 Caroline St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401 voice: 540-372-1160 / fax: 540-373-9411 www.LibraryPoint.org
Received on Fri 19 Aug 2005 04:41:37 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 17:41:37 -0400
I, too, was a happy child who loved orphan stories. My favorites in this genre were A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett and My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.
The first story has not only the orphan theme but the closely related theme of injustice: Sara's real nature, stripped of the trappings of money and status, is recognized by those who are truly good, even if she must suffer misfortune in the short term. (There are other issues here of class prejudice, but that's another post for another time.)
The second is not technically an orphan story, of course, but it includes the related theme of resourcefulness. Orphans and runaways must solve problems, make do, invent it for themselves. I could almost taste Sam's acorn pancakes, just as I marveled at the way the Boxcar children scoured their dishes with sand.
As a child, I remember reading several Horatio Alger books (what can I say, they were on our family bookshelves along with everything else). The way the young street urchin, usually an orphan as I remember, gradually accumulated enough money to reach his goals gave me a sense of accomplishment myself (not that this behavior has persisted in my own life, alas!).
There is something deeply satisfying about this kind of story. I'm sure it's part of the appeal of everything from Harry Potter to how I live now
(Rosoff).
Caroline
Caroline S. Parr Youth Services Coordinator Central Rappahannock Regional Library 1201 Caroline St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401 voice: 540-372-1160 / fax: 540-373-9411 www.LibraryPoint.org
Received on Fri 19 Aug 2005 04:41:37 PM CDT
