Since narrative has potency in forging bonds of association and setting norms, the books I take home from the library are ones that help draw us closer to people and contexts outside our own experience. People study children’s literature for good reason: it is a highly effective force of socialization and indoctrination. The stories and illustrations that accompany our childhood become part of our mental landscape.
#Power geez 2016 movie
They often star television and movie characters, and tend toward stilted prose and weak art. In our family, they’re known as “dumb books”, and are set aside. Not all children’s books are this stellar. “‘No thank you,’ said Annabelle, who was knitting a sweater for a pickup truck.” Possibly the best line of the story follows the archduke’s offer of $1 million for her box of yarn.
#Power geez 2016 mac
“how things are done”, stimulate imaginative living, exude a connectedness with the earth, and conjure up visions of peace and community – and they are fun.Ī current family favourite is Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, in which an unobtrusive knitting girl transforms her community and takes down a powerful archduke. Great picture books assume and embrace diversity, question standard dynamics of power, plant seeds of both celebration and discontent, challenge notions of Kids’ books nonchalantly weave together whimsy and social critique. We internalize new landscapes, learn that injustice can be changed, see that peace is possible and that beauty is essential. The protagonist might be a child, a turtle, or a seed, and she might find a lost sock, dig a hole to Antarctica, or overthrow an evil regime. We are drawn in by visual and narrative delights – and doors to imaginative and critical thinking are pushed open. And I love the way they wield a gentle, cheeky power. I love the beauty and quirkiness of the illustrations, the whimsy and wisdom of the stories, the audacity and ingenuity of the characters, and the inherent assumption of reading as a communal act.