FEARSOME GIANT, FEARLESS CHILD by Paul Fleischman and THE TABLE WHERE RICH PEOPLE SIT by Byrd Baylor

We had a small but engaged group for our July (and third) Zoom meeting. It appears that we are all getting used to this way of meeting, and learning new things each time about how it all works.

One of our members read aloud: Fearsome Giant, Fearless Child: A Worldwide Jack and the Beanstalk Story by Paul Fleischman (2019). It is an interweaving of archetypic characters and motifs of JandtB from around the world. The book turned out to be a less-than-wonderful read-aloud because the beautifully colored illustrations are such an important part of the story, and must be viewed closely for best impact. Each page contains a small (usually 4"x6") box with a scene that illustrates the accompanying text, framed by wide 2-colored border art containing the name of the country depicted and motifs of that country as well as symbols related to that part of the story. Without being able to see these beautiful illustrations closely and clearly it was difficult for the listeners to really "get" the author's intent. We all loved the concept and the weaving together of different cultures showing the parallel developments of the story from each place. We also loved the end papers of the book which presented a flat map of the world, which pinpointed the locations from which the parts of this story originated. And we loved the idea of the illustrations when we were able to see close-ups of a few of them that were available online. However, as for the story itself, we unanimously agreed that it might not work well with young children if they were not completely aware of the original JandtB story and its variations. We felt that jumping around from place-to-place/story-to-story was somewhat confusing. However, those of us in education felt that it would be very helpful to use with kids after they had heard various iterations of the story, and they could then compare the various elements depicted from one place to another. We also thought the end paper maps would be very helpful in discussing how fairy tales changed from one location to another.

One member called our attention to a book The Table Where Rich People Sit by Byrd Baylor (1998). It's the story of a young girl who is unhappy about her family's lack of money as they sit around their old raggedy kitchen table. But as they all talk together, she discovers that actually they DO have many riches -- those provided by the natural world around them. We felt that this is a good book for these times, when there is a lot of "stuff" that we suddenly DON'T have, but there are still plenty of wonderful things all around us that can bring us joy and contentment.