Allicatter gatorpillars and allibutter gatorflies
gettin’ what’s due to ’em . . .
September 18th, 2006 by jules
Hi there, devoted blog reader. Eisha and I try to stick to book reviews for this, our beloved blog, but we did initially agree to occasionally post about the relevant and/or momentous library and/or children’s literature-related news. And, well, this is exciting news. I’d put it in the form of a haiku in honor of the news and its literary form, but we’ll leave that to Little Willow, since she’s so good at writing hoe-downs, too (tee hee — no pressure, Little Willow).
Anyway, the news that will get you children’s lit geeks (and we say that lovingly) as excited as we are is that on September 27th, The Poetry Foundation will inaugurate the nation’s first Children’s Poet Laureate. This is big and wondermous news, folks.
And, to give credit where credit is due, I got this rip-roarin’, spine-tingling, eye-poppin’ news from Fuse #8’s blog, without which Eisha and I could not live (I swear the blog author must think I stalk her, as I check it as often as my schedule allows). She really knows her stuff, you guys (wait . . . I’m in Tennessee. I’m supposed to say “ya’ll”)*. Anyway, she — in turn — got the news from Big A little a’s blog, which also rocks hard and which we also link to here on our blog. Confused yet? Isn’t the blog world exhilarating and a bit loopy (in the truest sense of the word)? Woo hoo (I mean, “yee haw!”) . . .
And this post’s title and book cover is in honor of a recently-published collection of children’s poetry reviewed here several days ago. So, to get all meta on ya, click on the above photo of the book to read about it — in case you missed it earlier.
So, go spread the happy news. I say this is long overdue! O happy day! (Just had to include that link with my barbaric yawp, ’cause, shoot, that’s one of the best picture books ever).
*{And I enthusiastically direct any of my former colleagues in interpreting and deaf education who may or may not be reading this post to read Fuse #8’s book review for today, Hurt Go Happy, a new book about a young deaf girl and American Sign Language. Tell me what you think. I’ve always wondered if the deaf community gets tired of having their language associated with chimps who sign or if it’s something that doesn’t bug them in the slightest, and — through all my years of hand-flappin’ (and I say that respectfully) — I’ve never bothered to ask. Nonetheless, the book itself has received a good review from someone who knows her children’s lit} . . .
Nice post, Jules.
Re: ASL and chimps. I teach Intro to General Linguistics from time to time and I think, yes, it must really bug speakers of ASL to always be associated with the chimps. Because, as great as the chimps can be with ASL, they can never match fluent adult speaker of ASL (or even a six year old)
Now I’m singing: “Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy…”
Yeah, Kelly, what makes me wonder is that it’s the hardest dang language to learn, ’cause you have to change the way you THINK altogether (drop all form, get to the meaning, think visually), and it’s so beautiful and eloquent, too as well as having a different syntax than spoken English, though the common misconception is that interpreters, for instance, are just signing word-for-word what they hear (I myself am a sign language interpreter and formerly worked as librarian at a school for the deaf — I’m fluent in ASL and promise I’m not pullin’ this out of the air). Anyway, so given all those things — the complexity and the beauty and etc. — and given that the language still, in some sectors, so to speak, fights for the respect it deserves as a full-fledged language . . . well, I just wonder if the deaf community gets tired of it being simplified by the images of some chimps who can sign a word here and a word there. I dunno. I’ve never bothered to ask friends of mine who are deaf.
Thanks for the post compliment. Love your informative blog. — jules
I wondered the same thing after I read “Hurt Go Happy”. To the book’s credit, it does make it perfectly clear that the chimp who knows ASL only has a limited vocabulary. But for a great non-chimp ASL book, turn to “Singing Hands” by Delia Ray instead.
And thanks for the shout-out! Stalk away. I’ve an obsessive compulsive attitude towards the user stats on my blog. The more you check (even though I don’t update during the day much) the happier I be.