Although I can't remember exactly what I thought as a kid, I'm pretty sure I liked the book because of the food and the pictures, not for any meanings that I took from it. But even if I wasn't aware of it, the phrase "too much of a good thing" was getting instilled into me from the book, because although pancakes are delicious, having one on top of my house isn't quite as pleasant. Although its an idea I take for granted now, who knows how much I knew about it when I was five? And if I didn't really know much about it, I'm curious as to whether it actually helped me to formulate my set of ideas that I have now. Do hidden messages in children's books help get kids to conform to an idea, or are they more like Baby Einsteins?
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
During class, we have been studying the role of children in America. Today, we talked about children's books, and the messages or morals that they contain, beyond just the story itself. One of my favorite books growing up was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, by Judi Barrett. The story is about a town named Chewandswallow, whose only food comes in the form of weather. Whether it rained milk in the morning, or snowed mash potatoes in the evening, there was always something to eat. Although the town was happy for a long time, eventually the portions started getting bigger. Weather such as pancakes the size of buildings and bagels the size of people started to destroy the city of Chewandswallow. Soon, people were unable to live in the town anymore, and they moved to other parts of the world, where although they had to shop for food at grocery stores, they adapted and lived normal lives.
Although I can't remember exactly what I thought as a kid, I'm pretty sure I liked the book because of the food and the pictures, not for any meanings that I took from it. But even if I wasn't aware of it, the phrase "too much of a good thing" was getting instilled into me from the book, because although pancakes are delicious, having one on top of my house isn't quite as pleasant. Although its an idea I take for granted now, who knows how much I knew about it when I was five? And if I didn't really know much about it, I'm curious as to whether it actually helped me to formulate my set of ideas that I have now. Do hidden messages in children's books help get kids to conform to an idea, or are they more like Baby Einsteins?
Although I can't remember exactly what I thought as a kid, I'm pretty sure I liked the book because of the food and the pictures, not for any meanings that I took from it. But even if I wasn't aware of it, the phrase "too much of a good thing" was getting instilled into me from the book, because although pancakes are delicious, having one on top of my house isn't quite as pleasant. Although its an idea I take for granted now, who knows how much I knew about it when I was five? And if I didn't really know much about it, I'm curious as to whether it actually helped me to formulate my set of ideas that I have now. Do hidden messages in children's books help get kids to conform to an idea, or are they more like Baby Einsteins?
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I absolutely loved this book when I was younger, although I'm pretty sure it was more for the pictures than anything else, like Drew said. And now you have me wondering whether this really helped formulate the way I think now.
ReplyDeleteI think, at least right now, that these books do subconsciously mold the way kids think about things and their outlook on life. However, it has me wondering if anything about us mentally is predetermined or whether everything about us is based on our surroundings and how we are raised. I guess it would go back to the whole nature vs. nurture discussion that people often have, but I really don't know. To what extent does a child's environment mold them into who they are?