We just completed watching the Olympics and the celebration of the best of what our bodies are capable of doing. Well, I just found a book that celebrates the best that's inside each of us. "Miracle's Boys", by Jacqueline Woodson, is a story that looks inside the human soul and discovers that there's always more that what people think. As I began reading this book, it seemed that it was going to be another story about poor, inner city kids who are struggling with drugs and violence. It is a story about an inner city family of boys who are very poor, but I discovered as I read, that this book has what it takes to make heroes.
It's told from Lafayette's, point of view and you begin to see, through his 12 year old's eyes, the incredible journey that this family has already taken during the first few chapters. He has two older brothers. Ty'ree, the oldest, is nineteen or so, and has given up scholarships to MIT in order to stay home and support his two younger brothers. He'd given up his future, but he didn't seem to mind as he was keeping his family together, even though times were tough, very, very tough. Lafayette's other older brother, Charlie, had just come home after spending three years in a detention home for boys after trying to rob a store. He hadn't been home long, when their mother suddenly died after going into a coma. She was diabetic. Charlie had some deep feelings of anger and guilt towards Lafayette and blames his little brother for his mother's recent death. But, as the story unfolds, you begin to understand Charlie, as Lafayette does, along with the struggles of mourning their mama's death.
I know that I will look at what I have and own in a different light and with more appreciation after reading this incredible story of the human spirit. These three kids were just trying to survive, day by day. Each week, Ty'ree would try to balance their small budget, but it seemed that each week something new came up and money would go where it wasn't planned to go. (Like the time when Lafayette lost two of his school books and had to pay for them.) Then Ty'ree would figure out how to make corn meal stretch and powdered vegetable soup with hot dogs sliced into it. But, they were managing. If Charlie would just get his life straight, so that Ty'ree wouldn't have to keep worrying about him. These are incredible boys with strong character and example taught by their parents. (Their father had died several years before while saving a woman and her dog as they fell through an icy lake.)
The book is relatively short, only 133 pages and has won several awards, including the Coretta Scott King Award. It is most suitable for any and all children who could use character building in their lives!
"To Every Thing There is a Season", by Leo and Diane Dillon, is probably one of the most fascinating looks into the past cultures of our world. Both Leo and Diane set out to draw and illustrate ancient cultures by studying these culture's architecture, sculptures, paintings and artifacts. They decided to use the famous verses from Ecclesiastes because these words portrayed the human element that binds us together as a race. We all go through mourning, weeping, happiness, battles, abundance, depletion at one time or another. So, the illustrators felt this would tie their majestic pictures together helping to demonstrate how different our cultures are and yet how alike we still are.
There are two pictures demonstrating a culture along with the verses that are opposing each other. For instance, the verse reads, "a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted." The depiction of this is of a Japanese rendering of planting and another of harvest. The illustrators have conveyed the pure art form of Japan so that you immediately have the impression of their culture through their dress, art form, colors and foliage.
The Dillons have detailed their information about the dates of when their depictions are based, along with the location and / or country. There is also a summary of the verse and even the kinds of paint and background used.
There is so much to learn in this fascinating picture book, that I can see both young and old enjoying and learning from it.