The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

I had heard of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas before, though I had never read it. As the matter of fact, a student I help to make her level of English improve had to read it, which was why it was very convenient for me having to read it too. However, I had no idea it was about WWII until I started reading, so it was rather heavy and unexpected. The language used was very readable and easy to understand, I think students would also not have any problems reading The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

The friendship of Bruno and Shmuel was sort of a light in the darkness of the story. It was very beautiful to see that they didn’t really live with the knowledge that it was war and awful things were happening around them; this shows that ignorance can actually be bliss.

During class we talked about how believable the book is, I must admit that I hadn’t even thought about it that way. The subject was the likelihood of being able to crawl under the fence without being seen, which is next to nothing. Of course books have to be read with some sort of imagination, which is probably why I didn’t think about that before. Most of the other people did think it was too unrealistic to be in the story, even though I hadn’t thought of it before, it is quite unrealistic. If it was possible for Bruno to go back and forth, everyone in the camp would’ve been able to cross the fence and nobody would stay in the camp.

We also had to discuss which perspective young readers would have, opposed to adult readers. The conclusion of the group I was in was that the book can be appealing to both categories, but probably for different reasons. If we take the friendship of Bruno and Shmuel for example; young readers can relate to this because they’ll compare it to their own friendships whereas adult readers find the innocence is endearing to read about.

To my own surprise I really liked the book; I am not really a history / war fan. I would therefore recommend it to readers of the ages 14 to 16; they can really learn something about WWII whilst broadening their vocabulary. Teenagers will be able to relate to the book because of the struggles they are going through themselves and might learn that their life isn’t all that bad. Another reason they could relate to the book is pushing boundaries, in this case done quite literally. They can also learn that it might be for their own good to listen to their parents instead of trying to break the rules set for them.

I would use this book in class, and to make the pupils think about the story, I would let them have a class discussion about what would’ve happened if Bruno’s parents found out that he had a friend on the other side of the fence.

The Hobbit

Just like almost any other person, I have seen the two movies based on The Hobbit, therefore once again I had an easy pick which book I was going to read. I have to say I was a bit disappointed while and after reading The Hobbit, because in my opinion the book takes way too long starting the story which makes it a bit of a drag. Comparing a book to the movie is something I really like doing, because I don’t get annoyed by the differences but I do like spotting them. One big difference was the death of Smaug; this is made a very big deal in the movie, but in the book it is written as if it was an accident that Smaug had been slain by the humans. I think this could have been written in a much more exciting way. Another main difference was, obviously, that the book has a closed ending and one movie still has to be made before that will be coming to an end.

What I really liked was the fact that Bilbo did not want to go on a journey, but Gandalf tricks him by putting a sign on his door. This also happens in the movie, but in the book it is also explained that Gandalf chose to send the dwarves separately to stop Bilbo from freaking out. In the book, as well as in the movie, this is very funny when it happens.

I do think The Hobbit has a few big life lessons which make it worth reading, especially for youth aged 16 to 18. One of these lessons is once Thorin is wounded and tells Bilbo he is sorry for being so greedy. Even after he tells Bilbo that he can take his entire share, Bilbo only takes what he can carry, because to him, that’s enough. Another lesson taught is the fact that the dwarves don’t appreciate Bilbo at first, but over time they learn how valuable he is. This can show students to look beneath the surface and not judge the book on its cover.

Because of the many characters and slow telling story, I would say it is appropriate for the ages of 16 to 18. Younger children would get distracted easily and most of them would probably find the storyline too complex. It would also be rather difficult to most young teenagers to identify themselves with the story because it’s mostly about other creatures. Humans are also in the book, but they only have a very small influence on the story; also because the slaying of Smaug has been made such a tiny impact. Older teenagers would look at the struggles the characters go through more than at the characters in and on themselves.

I would be very reluctant to make my students read The Hobbit, because I don’t think most high school students would see the value of this book. If I had to use this book whilst teaching, I would probably let my students make a mindmap or a timeline to highlight the important events.

The Story of Tracy Beaker

When I heard that The Story of Tracy Beaker was on the list of Youth Literature, the first thing I thought was “isn’t that a TV series?” I didn’t know that it was a book too. Being familiar with the TV series made me very excited about the book, so I ordered it in the book store. Once I got the book, I got very eager to read; the cover is very colourful and gets your attention. I think the cover shapes a rather accurate image of the book and the writing style; it is very playful and funny. The language used is not difficult and rather easy to read, which helps to read it quite fast.

I would recommend this book for children between the ages of 10 to 12 years old, because the vocabulary is not too difficult it might also be suitable for younger children. The book has been made more fun for younger children by way of a lot of illustrations. The story is also being told by a 10-year-old, which would help them relate to the situation if they are somewhat of the same age. I think older children would view it as being too childish, as they want to be seen as being very mature. This is also noticeable in music preferences; most children aged 14 to 18 dislike music such as Disney because they think they have outgrown it, whilst they start listening to it again later on because they see the deeper meaning and realise it isn’t just childish. As now I can see and understand why Tracy acts the way she does, but at the age of 16 I would’ve thought it was a kids’ book.

The book starts out with Tracy filling out answers about herself; this helps the reader to form an image of what the main character is like. The way the questions are being answered directly shows what kind of person Tracy is and the way she thinks.

I really liked the fact that the book actually helps you to understand Tracy and is being told from a children’s perspective. The book is very honest and the sometimes butch way of telling stories makes it very entertaining. On the other hand, the story being told also had its downsides; the reader only knows what Tracy knows. It frustrated me that I didn’t know what had happened to Tracy’s parents, however, in class discussion it was mentioned that this might make the reader understand more of what and how Tracy felt.
I also thought it was very sad that Peter left to a foster home, I really felt bad for Tracy. But with everything that happens in the book that might be sad, also makes it a realistic view of life.

During teaching, The Story of Tracy Beaker can be used in various ways, this has been made easier to use it for this purpose because in the back of the book is a list of the characters and it also has a quiz in the back of which I think could be used during class.

Twilight

I must admit, I was rather biased when I started to read Twilight. I had heard a lot about it and almost everything I’d heard was negative. In the beginning I felt like the book was dragging on, but once the action started I couldn’t get my eyes off it.

The language used is not fairly difficult and the topic can be understood from quite a young age, therefore I would recommend it to children from the ages of 12 to 14. I think children from around this age will feel connected with the main characters because they will also find or be searching for their first love. It also provides the insight that you don’t have to find your love early on, because Bella is 17 and Edward is almost a century old and hadn’t found his first love until now.

Another confession I have to make; I am actually enjoying having to read so much. At first I was a bit reluctant, for I thought I would never be able to keep reading that much and being convinced I wouldn’t like having to read obligatory. The outcome is the exact opposite and I think - without wanting to sound too cheesy - I have renewed my love for reading by reading books that are ‘easy to read’.

I liked the fact that it is about kind of a whirlwind romance, even though some of it sounds a little too romanticized, it is still fun to read. The book also made me curious; why is Edward able to read everyone’s thoughts but not Bella’s? Why is Bella not shocked when she finds out he is a vampire? And so on, this keeps the reader, or at least me, interested and willing to keep reading on. I think I will even read the rest of the series to find out what the innate attraction between the two of them is and whether Bella will eventually be turned or not. I think she will, but in the last book or so.

What I found less enjoyable, was the book not really finishing. I know it is one of a series, but I would have liked some sort of ending. And it leaves open what really happened to James as well as it jumps forward suddenly to the night of the prom. These jumps forward or gaps in explanation make me think too much about what happened in the ‘missing’ time, whereas I like to be drifting away in a book, not having to think about too many things.

In this book, I did not really identify with any of the characters except for the romance part; every girl likes it when she is taken care of.

After reading the book, I think a lot of the fuss is cultivated; it is nothing extreme, either good or bad. Even though I was pleasantly surprised once again, I still wouldn’t call it an amazing book, however, still fun to read. This might sound odd as I just said I was planning on reading the rest of the series, but honestly, that is just to satisfy my own feeling of curiosity and not being able to handle a book without a proper ending.

The Hunger Games

"May the odds be ever in your favour."

Before I started reading The Hunger Games, I had seen the film of the second book. This obviously influenced my perspective about the book; it made me more eager to read it because I wanted to find out how they got to the point where the second film started as I had not seen the first one. Even though I already knew the book would end with the both of them surviving the book still didn’t become dull, but I can say I was happy I hadn’t seen the first film before reading the book.

It wasn’t until we had made a mind map in class that I realized how many factors were connected to each other, and I think we could have found many more if we’d have had more time because we kept going once we started. I would say eventually everything comes back to hope, hope to survive, hope to return alive, hope to keep to going. You can see the connections we made in the mind map in the picture below. We chose to use symbols instead  of words, as symbols can contain multiple words whilst some words sometimes can’t cover the complete message.We used the phrase “may the odds be ever in your favour” as the centre of our mind map as we believe everything revolves around the odds and they are never in the favour of those who need it most.

I really liked the ending, especially the part of the berries. I did know that they’d both survive, but I was still surprised when the rule about two survivors was changed back suddenly. When I read that part I was shocked and I couldn’t help laughing when they took the berries and the Capitol was forced to recall their decision, as I think that made it all come together; they wanted to make a change, not to be puppets of the Capitol.

However, I thought the first part was taking a bit too long. I do realize that the reader has to know background information before understanding what ‘the games’ are about, but I think that part of the story could be reduced in extensiveness. I became rather bored during the first part whereas I couldn’t stop reading once I got to the starting of the actual games.

Seeing the theory we discussed in class, it’s not a suitable book for children under the age of 10 as the characters are not stated as completely good or bad. I would advise the book to children around the ages of 15-17, as it is rather a complicated set up and I think younger children would find that too difficult to understand.

I think the book is great and written very clever, because every part that is discussed in the beginning keeps coming back, keeping the reader active. As every book intends, also in this book I can identify myself with the main character, the struggles she goes through and wanting to do everything for your family but getting in trouble no matter what. However, I can also quite well connect to Peeta; wanting to help others to be the best they can be even though it might mean having to refrain from what would be best for yourself. I think Peeta does this multiple times throughout the whole book i.e. taking the careers on to help Katniss escape.

The Wizard of Oz

My first impression of The Wizard of Oz was that it looked like a childish book. What surprised me, was the language used, I came across quite a lot of words I had not heard or read before. This might be because the book is rather old, thus the language is also different. Even though I was able to understand the words due to the context, I think it could cause some difficulties with young children that are native Dutch speakers. A lot of imagination is being used in the book, which appeals to me; it keeps the book lively and the story doesn’t get boring.

Personally, for Dutch readers, I would say the book is suitable for the age of 13 to 14. This because of the high amount of difficult words, I think younger children would get demotivated if they don’t understand the used words. If the book was to be given to older pupils, I think they would say it is a childish book and that they think they’re too old to read it. Additionally, I would prefer to let the pupils read the book with much guidance, helping them to understand what the story is about instead of them blocking due to the language.

I liked the fact that the story kept surprising me, once I was halfway through I thought that it was going to become a dragging story, for I thought the road was almost done and they were going to keep on talking about other things to fill up the book. I was pleasantly surprised because there were enough new elements brought up to keep the story exciting so it remained interesting.

The ending was a bit anticlimactic to me; she gets home, the end. It would be more fun if it was to end off with something as that there suddenly was colour instead of all grey in Kansas, making everything happier than before. Now it is as if nothing has changed except that she has made an insane journey.

As in every book about an adventure, every time they start an adventure, it seems as if they won’t be able to bring it to a good ending and then something wonderful happens and everything ends up as you would want it to. What did appeal to me was the story being kind of divided into a few small adventures, making the reader curious how they were going to get to the ending of each separate adventure.

As I said before, I was pleasantly surprised about the diversity of the book and like it a lot more than I thought I was going to. When looking at the characters, everyone can connect to part of all of them. They all want something they think they do not have, when they actually do. And for Dorothy, even if the place she gets to seems much better than where she came from, she misses home and wants to get back to that which she knows and is used to.

I think, in the end, everyone agrees that there is no place like home.

Reading Biography

When I was young, I loved to read! I would always stay up late just to finish “the chapter”, which always resulted in finishing the whole book in one night. I would read with the light of my flashlight, because my mother turned off the lights at night to make sure we went to sleep. My father also read Harry Potter to us when the series just came out, this is why I liked books; it brought all of us together and was very exciting. In primary school, I had gotten to the fastest reading speed in third grade (groep 3) and read 5 books per week on average.

When I went to high school, I loved to read Harry Potter by myself. I have also partially read the series in English. Unfortunately, it was not allowed to do a book report as it was not written by a Dutch writer. A lot of books I was interested in were either not on the list because it wasn’t literature according to the teacher or they were written by a foreign writer. Having to read books I didn’t want to read and not being able to read the books I liked caused me to not like reading at all anymore.

The only things I read nowadays are books I have to study or posts on the internet. I think it is a shame that wanting me to read resulted to this. I have been thinking a lot about picking up reading again because I travel a lot with public transport, but every time I pick up a book I fall asleep whilst reading it. I think youth literature might be helpful to find the fun in reading once again, because we can also read children’s books, which are a lot of fun most of the time.