Author Archives: iford1@gsu.edu

David Levithan Article

Posted on by

What I found most interesting about this article is when Levithan discusses how he is upfront with his titles and covers of his books. On the cover of Two Boys Kissing, it openly depicts two boys kissing. I think that this needs to happen more often. For one, the title of the book is going against the norm of what you usually see in LGBT literature. It tells you who and what the book is mainly focusing on.

 

I also notice how most of his books include a LGBT character. In Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, the main characters bandmates were gay. More and more books are appearing like this. It does seem like books that focus on these type of characters have a more sad tone. Levithans other book Boy Meets Boy is quite the opposite. The story is more joyful and uplifting.

 

Where The Wild Things Are

Posted on by

The banned or challenged children’s book I chose is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. This book was banned because people considered aspects of the book witchcraft and supernatural. The story is about a young boy named Max. After dressing in his wolf costume, he causes problems around his household. He is sent to bed without his supper. Max’s bedroom turns into a jungle environment. He ends up sailing to an island inhabited by malicious beasts known as the “Wild Things.” After intimidating the creatures, Max is hailed as the king of the Wild Things. This book has been challenged since it became published in 1963 up until now. I figured that it was a great choice for my censorship paper since it’s extremely influential in children’s literature.

Rainbow Fish

Posted on by

I feel like the book that had a huge influence on me during my childhood is Rainbow Fish. My mom was an avid reader, so she always made sure me and my sister read a lot as children. Every night, she would ask me what book I would like to read. My mom said every night I would choose Rainbow Fish. The cover was my favorite thing to look at. His scales were so shiny. Even the textures of his shiny scales were smooth.

The story is about a fish that has very unique shiny scales. Every day he would swim by and all the fish would gawk at his beauty. One day a small blue fish asked him for one of his shiny scales. Rainbow fish told the little blue fish to leave him alone. The small fish swam away. He told all the other fish what Rainbow fish said. The next day when he swam pass them, they ignored him. He realized no one wanted to deal with him. He wandered what he could do to get his friends back. A starfish tells him he should go see the wise octopus in his cave.

Rainbow fish went to the octopus and told him the dilemma. The octopus told him to give away his scales so he could get his friends back. The small blue fish came back and asked for a tiny scale, so he gave him one. Next thing you know, every other fish wanted one too. Rainbow fish gave away his shiny scales and received friendship. As a child, I sort of realized the moral of the story but I mainly paid attention to the images. I think the lesson from the book comes across clearly. When I reread it again, it was still as enjoyable, especially the images.