[CALIBK12] Richie's Picks: PREVIOUSLY (Recommended Picture Books for Older Readers)

[BudNotBuddy at aol.com]

Richie's Picks: PREVIOUSLY by Allan Ahlberg,  illustrated by Bruce Ingman, 
Candlewick, August 2007, ISBN: 978-0-7636-3542-8  (Recommended Picture Books for 
Older Readers)
 
"Goldilocks arrived home all bothered and hot.  
Previously she had been running like mad in the dark  woods.
Previously she had been climbing out of somebody else's  window.
Previously she had been sleeping in somebody else's bed,  eating somebody 
else's porridge, and breaking somebody else's  chair!
Previously she had been humming a tune and having a little  skip by herself 
in the dark woods.
Previously she had bumped into a hurtling and older boy  named..."
 
Just the other day, the humanities teacher asked the wide-eyed  sixth graders 
experiencing their first day of middle school, "What is history?"  and "When 
you look at the word 'history,' what other word do you  see?"
 
In PREVIOUSLY, Allan Ahlberg interweaves the tales  of Goldilocks, Jack and 
the Beanstalk, Jack and Jill, The Frog Prince,  Cinderella, and The Gingerbread 
Boy to illustrate how there was something  going on previously (before each 
story began) and  how the people and places that make up history -- whether  
silly/make-believe or serious/real -- are all related and dependent upon one  
another.  This is a vital and profound concept for middle school history  
scholars to synthesize in order to make sense of the waves of information in  which 
they will be surrounded as they spend three years traveling from  ancient 
civilizations to contemporary American history. 
 
The tale of PREVIOUSLY, illustrated with  Bruce Ingman's colorful acrylics, 
is made even more fun for older  readers through inclusion in the antecedent 
portions of the  traditional tales of such modern day twists as "the free gift 
in  the cornflakes box," and the prince having previously been "traveling  his 
kingdom in a milk-white Mercedes."
 
"And all the bears were cubs.
And all the frogs were tadpoles.
And all the buckets and chairs and ballroom floors were planks  of wood.
And all the wood was trees in the dark woods."
 
And before I wrote this review I made myself a  smoothie.
And before that, the UPS dude dropped off a padded mailer from  Candlewick 
Press... 
 
Richie  Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
Moderator,  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_school_lit/
BudNotBuddy at aol.com
http://www.myspace.com/richiespicks





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