Children's Books discussion

Come join us to discuss the Medal Winner,
A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by Nancy Willard
and/or the Honor books:
Ramona Quimby Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
Upon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939-1944 by Aranka Siegal.

A Ramona book! Remember to bring your best comments from the Beverly Cleary thread to this one! I'm going to read it for the umpteenth time real soon.

The William Blake was also a Caldecott nominee. It's a 44 p. picture book and I look forward to it. (I probably read it before but I don't remember it.)

The WWII memoir I'll probably skip. I'm sorry, but I just am not interested.

I really did not enjoy A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers

(view spoiler)[Although I do have to admit that Nancy Willard's A Visit to William Blake's Inn is fantastical, imaginative and yes, at times even rather entertaining and fun, personally, because I have NEVER really all that much been able to either enjoy or even appreciate William Blake as a poet (finding his lyric output for the most part frustratingly contrived and artificial, especially if I dare to compare Blake's verses to my two favourite British poets, namely to John Keats and A. E. Houseman), I was and remain absolutely and totally less than impressed with and by Willard's verses, which do indeed read very similarly to William Blake (but because, as already alluded to above, I really cannot stomach the latter's lyricism, the verses, the poetry of A Visit to William Blake's Inn, well, they have left me majorly cold and blah, a personal choice and a personal opinion, of course, but indeed, the same issues I have always had and experienced reading William Blake both at school and later at university with regard to words and images that feel fake, emotionless and without much beauty have been transferred to Nancy Willard, leaving a reading experience that has been at best unsatisfying and at worst majorly and sadly disappointing, albeit I do well understand that for readers and yes, also for listeners who do enjoy William Blake or who can at least appreciate him and his poetry, their reaction to A Visit to William Blake's Inn might be considerably more positive than my own has been).

And therefore, only two stars for A Visit to William Blake's Inn, as even Alice and Martin Provensen's accompanying illustrations have not really been all that much to my own, to my personal aesthetic tastes (for while I do consider them adept and brightly descriptive, the depicted images have a one-dimensional and stagnant quality to them that I for one tend to find more than somewhat visually off-putting). (hide spoiler)]

RAMONA! Ramona is the best. William Blake never appealed to me. I think my grandparents bought that book somewhere.

QNPoohBear wrote: "RAMONA! Ramona is the best. William Blake never appealed to me. I think my grandparents bought that book somewhere."

Not a fan of William Blake either, and which is the main reason A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers was not a fit for me.

Well, I like what I've read of Blake's own work, but I'm not sure of Willard's homage, even after reading other reviews. I said:

(view spoiler)[I want to like this; I like Blake's most famous own works... but I don't know if this is deep Literature, or nonsense a la' Edward Lear, or what... I have no handle on it. I can't even get a perspective on the art. Tried when it came up in the Caldecott Club years ago, and now in the Newbery Club (both in Children's Books group).

I did enjoy speaking out loud The Man in the Marmalade Hat which reads like pure nonsense, and The Wise Cow Enjoys a Cloud would be fun to memorize. (hide spoiler)]

I really needed another dose of Ramona Quimby, Age 8. And she and her family do not disappoint. Their ability to find moments of joy and small ways to express love to one another, despite all the stresses, really speaks to me. And I bet to a lot of people, including the Newbery committee members!

I was 8 when I first read . This may have been my introduction to Ramona and I just loved it. I remember many of the incidents in this book, many long forgotten.

Ramona struggles to be an individual now she's older. She's still creative and trying to find her place in the world. It's so funny to watch her with Willa Jean. I tried so hard to play the quiet game with my siblings and they never fell for it. Ramona has similar results with Willa Jean. Again, history repeats itself when all Ramona wants to do is read and Willa Jean wants to PLAY PLAY PLAY!

The cooking experiment reminded me of Little Women with better results. Cleary did say she loved Little Women growing up so that may have been on her mind. My parents never would have let us cook back then.

Ramona's book report stands out the most in my mind from my childhood memories. I remember this from the TV show as well. (The show was only 10 episodes but I'm guessing I watched them a LOT).

Danny, a new boy in Ramona's class, is the type she dubs a "Yard Ape" because he teases her and is kind of mean. He turns out to be a bit of a surprise. I think Ramona relates better to the boys. Her nickname for him isn't mean or really an insult, it's more teasing and they seem to get along OK in spite of his teasing.

Mr. Quimby is nicer now he's less stressed. I would think school and a PT job would be more stressful than working full-time but drawing relaxes him. Ramona seems more artistically inclined than her sister, more like her father. She's learning he's not perfect and maybe-just maybe- he's not the very best artist in the whole world! Ramona is more of a Daddy's girl whereas Beezus is closer to her mother.

Only one tiny dated reference to a cigarette machine. I vaguely remember seeing one in a restaurant when I was a kid in the 80s and them more recently at a vintage cinema. The machine now sells candy and gum.

My library's e-zone Ramona Quimby audio books are all checked out and some have wait lists. I have no way of knowing if parents are requesting these for children or if adults are revisiting their childhood favorite books in the wake of Beverly Cleary's death.

I found the TV show in YouTube and now I have to watch it again!
https://www.youtube.com/user/Knuckles...

QNPoohBear wrote: "I was 8 when I first read . This may have been my introduction to Ramona and I just loved it. I remember many of the incidents in this book, many long forgotte..."

In Germany, the UK, in much of Europe, cigarette machines are even today really common and smoking in public is still and frustratingly quite accepted and condoned. I hate visiting my relatives in Germany and Switzerland, as when I return to Canada, my clothing stinks of stale cigarettes for weeks.

Manybooks wrote: "In Germany, the UK, in much of Europe, cigarette machines are even today really common and smoking in public is still and frustratingly quite accepted and condoned. ."

I didn't see any in the UK when I was last there in 2013. They didn't really have any vending machines at all not even my beloved Cadbury machines were still around in the tube. I haven't seen a cigarette machine in the U.S. in a million years. I don't even think the one that sold candy in the historic theater is still there. I haven't been there recently though.

QNPoohBear wrote: "Manybooks wrote: "In Germany, the UK, in much of Europe, cigarette machines are even today really common and smoking in public is still and frustratingly quite accepted and condoned. ."

I didn't s..."

They still have them in Scotland and they are still very common in Italy, Germany and France. I often got in trouble for refusing to go to the corner cigarette machine to buy cigarettes for my uncles and aunts.

Cheryl struggles to catch up wrote: "A Ramona book! Remember to bring your best comments from the Beverly Cleary thread to this one! I'm going to read it for the umpteenth time real soon.

The William Blake was also a Caldecott nomin..."

I know what you mean regarding WWII memoirs and not being all that interested but because Upon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939-1944 is often favourably compared to When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit I might decide to still read it.