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Jacob and Morris
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From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Tue, 20 May 2014 09:13:52 -0500
It was such a wonderful surprise to see "Jacob's New Dress" and "Morris Micklewhite" come into the CCBC within a week of each other.
We received "Jacob's New Dress" first, and the thing that struck me, beyond the obvious of how wonderful it was to see a book on this topic, was how child-centered it remained, even as it acknowledges that Jacbo's desire to wear a dress is something his parents struggle with initially:
"That afternoon, Jacob asks his mom if she?ll help him make a real dress. 'Mom didn?t answer. The longer she didn?t answer, the less Jacob could breathe.' "
I remember thinking, "Wow. " That line was so poignant and powerful to me. It doesn't spell out what Jacob is thinking in that moment, but his physical response speaks to the fact that he is aware of the tension, as children so often are around any number of things, and also of how important the answer she gives is to him.
And then in comes Morris Micklewhite, which brings lyricism and whimsy to the writing of a story of a boy who likes to wear a dress, beginning like this: ?Morris Micklewhite has a mother named Moira and a cat named Moo.?
It goes on to describe how he likes Sundays because Sundays mean pancakes, and he likes Mondays because Mondays mean school, where the list of likable things is a long one, but at the top is the tangerine dress in the dress-up center. ?He likes the noise the dress makes?swish, swish, swish when he walks and crinkle, crinkle, crinkle when he sits down.?
In both of these books, I admire how these characters express their own understanding of themselves rather than what others expect them to be. They are both teased, and in each story the resolution is arrived at differently: Jacob directly confronts the kids and asserts his pleasure in wearing the dress, which fits a book that is more direct and pointed; Morris needs time and space away, and draws on the power of his imagination before returning. ?When he had the chance, he put on the dress that reminded him of tigers and the sun and his mother?s hair.?
They are very different books, but I'm so glad to see each of them published.
Megan
Date: Tue, 20 May 2014 09:13:52 -0500
It was such a wonderful surprise to see "Jacob's New Dress" and "Morris Micklewhite" come into the CCBC within a week of each other.
We received "Jacob's New Dress" first, and the thing that struck me, beyond the obvious of how wonderful it was to see a book on this topic, was how child-centered it remained, even as it acknowledges that Jacbo's desire to wear a dress is something his parents struggle with initially:
"That afternoon, Jacob asks his mom if she?ll help him make a real dress. 'Mom didn?t answer. The longer she didn?t answer, the less Jacob could breathe.' "
I remember thinking, "Wow. " That line was so poignant and powerful to me. It doesn't spell out what Jacob is thinking in that moment, but his physical response speaks to the fact that he is aware of the tension, as children so often are around any number of things, and also of how important the answer she gives is to him.
And then in comes Morris Micklewhite, which brings lyricism and whimsy to the writing of a story of a boy who likes to wear a dress, beginning like this: ?Morris Micklewhite has a mother named Moira and a cat named Moo.?
It goes on to describe how he likes Sundays because Sundays mean pancakes, and he likes Mondays because Mondays mean school, where the list of likable things is a long one, but at the top is the tangerine dress in the dress-up center. ?He likes the noise the dress makes?swish, swish, swish when he walks and crinkle, crinkle, crinkle when he sits down.?
In both of these books, I admire how these characters express their own understanding of themselves rather than what others expect them to be. They are both teased, and in each story the resolution is arrived at differently: Jacob directly confronts the kids and asserts his pleasure in wearing the dress, which fits a book that is more direct and pointed; Morris needs time and space away, and draws on the power of his imagination before returning. ?When he had the chance, he put on the dress that reminded him of tigers and the sun and his mother?s hair.?
They are very different books, but I'm so glad to see each of them published.
Megan
--
Megan Schliesman, Librarian
Cooperative Children's Book Center
School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison
600 N. Park Street, Room 4290
Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503
schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
My regular hours are T-F, 8-4:30.
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Received on Tue 20 May 2014 09:14:16 AM CDT
