Reflecting on my Childhood Literature Experience
A favorite book from my childhood is Kenju's Forest.
Kenju is a young boy who wishes to plant a forest of trees in the empty field behind his family house. Against many odds, and the whole community discouraging him, he mamages to plant the forest and despite the many troubles and opposition he faces to keeping the forest alive, it grows and flourishes. One cold winter Kenju dies. Years after his death, the community find such joy in sound of children playing happily in Kenju forest brings.
I remember this book so clearly because of the emotional it conveyed through the simple yet beautiful pictures. I felt the deep sadness when Kenju died and the joy at the end of the story. When I need to make desicisions now, particularly ones that involve long-term foresight, I always think back to Kenju and his amazing foresight.
Told Stories
As I child I remember falling asleep to my mother telling me Grimm's Fairy Tales and Aesops Fables. The Grimm's stories were filled with such fantastical and magical things that really drew me in and stimulated my imagination. I was not allowed to watch TV as a child, so rich stories like these were wonderful starters to get me imagining. Aesops Fables carry a strong moral lesson, which I think were very important and influential to me as a child. Had these story been presented to me in a picture book rather then read to me with no pictures my imagination would have been influence by the artist's idea of how the characters and settings looked. The benefit of having a story with no pictures told, is that your images and visualizations come completely from your own imagination.
Kenju is a young boy who wishes to plant a forest of trees in the empty field behind his family house. Against many odds, and the whole community discouraging him, he mamages to plant the forest and despite the many troubles and opposition he faces to keeping the forest alive, it grows and flourishes. One cold winter Kenju dies. Years after his death, the community find such joy in sound of children playing happily in Kenju forest brings.
I remember this book so clearly because of the emotional it conveyed through the simple yet beautiful pictures. I felt the deep sadness when Kenju died and the joy at the end of the story. When I need to make desicisions now, particularly ones that involve long-term foresight, I always think back to Kenju and his amazing foresight.
Told Stories
As I child I remember falling asleep to my mother telling me Grimm's Fairy Tales and Aesops Fables. The Grimm's stories were filled with such fantastical and magical things that really drew me in and stimulated my imagination. I was not allowed to watch TV as a child, so rich stories like these were wonderful starters to get me imagining. Aesops Fables carry a strong moral lesson, which I think were very important and influential to me as a child. Had these story been presented to me in a picture book rather then read to me with no pictures my imagination would have been influence by the artist's idea of how the characters and settings looked. The benefit of having a story with no pictures told, is that your images and visualizations come completely from your own imagination.