Module 2: The Wind in the Willows

Citation
Grahame, K.  (1908).  The Wind in the Willows.  Abridged and illustrated by I. Moore, 2003.  Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

Summary
 Wind in the Willows chronicles the story of Mole, who befriends River Rat, Badger, and pompous Toad.  A series of adventures, including getting lost in the Wild Woods, exploring a town at Christmas, and a journey in a gypsy wagon, culminates with a clueless, car-thieving Toad escaping from prison disguised as a washerwoman and conducting a full-scale assault on the stoat and weasel squatters at Toad Manor with his friends.

 

Impressions
Wind in the Willows had been a book that I had wanted to read for a long time, but I had never gotten around to it.  How sorry I am that I had put it off for so long!  Grahame's often-humorous dialogue captures various dialects of the British Isles well.  The sensitivities which Rat, Mole, and Badger especially demonstrate model kindness and consideration in friendship.  While a friend to the other three, Toad remains somewhat set apart by relatively selfish, reckless behavior; his friends behave lovingly to him still.

The detailed pen-and-watercolor illustrations in Inga Moore's abridged version capture the spirit of the text and invite further imagination rather than stifle it.  I could easily imagine myself in Rat and Mole's houses or cuddled up by Badger's fire.  I read that Grahame began the stories for his own children, and the flow of his words charmed and intrigued me through this rainy day.  Over 100 years from its first publication in 1908, I can easily see why it is considered to be a classic: themes of friendship, loyalty, and kindness, combined with adventure and humor, set it apart for the ages.


Review
Phelan, C.  (2003).  The wind in the willows [book review].  Booklist, 100(5), 496.  Retrieved from EBSCOhost

"Gr. 3–5, younger for reading aloud. Previously published in two volumes, The River Bank (1996) and The Adventures of Mr. Toad (1998), Moore’s intelligently abridged edition of Grahame’s classic is now available in a single large-format volume. The relatively large print, the wide margins, and the beautiful ink-and-pastel artwork on nearly every page make this version a good choice for middle-grade independent readers put off by the original or for parents in search of a pleasing edition to read aloud to younger children."

Suggestions for Use
 Excerpts from Wind in the Willows would undoubtedly be an excellent read-aloud for a storytime.  However, I could also see older grades putting this on as a play for younger grades.  They could even adapt the setting to a North American forest or desert...how could the story change?  What animals could be analogous to Mole, Toad, Rat, and Badger but imprint the story with a distinctly American feel?  How could we use dialect in such a production?

Module 2: Millions of Cats

Citation
Gág, W.  (1928).  Millions of Cats.  New York: Coward-McCann, Inc.

Summary
Millions of Cats tells the story of a lonely old man and woman who seek feline companionship.  The man sets off on a trip to procure a lovely cat, but he quickly amasses an entourage of "Hundreds of cats,/ Thousands of cats,/ Millions and billions and trillions of cats" who follow him home, much to the surprise and horror of his wife.  After the other cats begin to squabble, only one puny, homely cat remains.  With much care and nursing, the cat contentedly keeps his elderly friends company happily ever after.

Impression

I know I read Millions of Cats when I was a child; as soon as I saw the jacket, I had an "aha!" moment.  However, I could not tell you when I last beheld the book itself: I'm sure it was over 35 years ago.  Gág's simple black-and-white illustrations lend an artistically primitive, folksy feel to the story.  Her text contains repetitive phrases which lend themselves well to read-alouds with younger children, and I could see it being a fun way of communicating smaller numbers (hundreds), bigger numbers (thousands), and even BIGGER numbers (millions, billions, and trillions).

When I examine such a book, I am struck by how much less text most books designed for preschoolers these days have; much of the assumption, sometimes rightly, is that younger children simply do not have the attention spans of previous generations.  However, not to acquaint younger children with qualitative longer stories, I believe, does them a disservice.  Children are often much more capable than adults think they are.

My one quibble with this book is that the old man and woman at first wanted "the prettiest" cat.  In the end, I suppose, the story demonstrated that kindness cultivates beauty, but it pricked my own sensitivity to the fact that only the handsome or pretty merit attention in the eyes of some.  In any case, as I came to the last illustration, most of my discomfort evaporated as I observed that the homely little kitty, regardless of his initial appearance, was beloved.

Review
Harayda, J.  (2009).  Wanda Gág's Millions of Cats: An American classic for children [blog entry]. One-minute Book Reviews.  Retrieved from http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2009/07/25/wanda-gags-millions-of-cats-an-american-classic-for-children/

"Gág (rhymes with blog) was to picture books what Julia Child was to French cooking – the first American star in a field that has exploded in her wake. And just as Mastering the Art of French Cooking remains a standard-bearer for a generation, so does Gág’s Millions of Cats, first published in 1928." --excerpt

Suggestions for Use
I can sincerely see Millions of Cats as being a part of a collaborative lesson taught as part of a math unit with younger grades.  Not only would the story captivate the children, but its repetition would lend itself well to communicating mathematical concepts.  Students could then have fun developing their own pictures of hundreds of [something of their choice], thousands of ......, millions...., billions..., and trillions of ....................!