Books and Movies

Carla Beard seems to have a knack for finding some of the best in literature for young people--and the movies or other sites to make it "live" for those who want more than just a good read.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
posted by carla at The English Teacher Blog - 14 hours ago
From Susan Zingraf, Director of Finding Inspiration in Literature and Movies: Heartland Truly Moving Pictures and Miramax Films invite you to a FREE special advance screening of the highly anticipated film...

One of these days maybe I will find a book store like The Book Rack that carries some of the newer books for teens and pre-teens. With three voracious readers coming up in the male section of the family, we will need a bigger bookcase too. Little girl is still in the readers and those jump start things, but she can almost read the words of her favorite books. She will be a few years behind the boys and may not want to read about the Civil War however...imagine that.

Our oldest son wants us to go see Fireproof--and take hankies...for some reason. And now we are going to have to wait and see The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Oh, and then there is something called Madagascar II?

It is amazing how we entertain and educate ourselves today. A child can dial 911 because he has seen it done on TV; a teacher creates a medical terminology game based on Wheel of Fortune; and a zoo caretaker straps a teenager's skateboard to a turtle to allow it to be mobile again. We definitely are an innovative people in this nation. Characters from a book can become more real to some people by incorporating the story into a movie--one of our better innovations.

We all learn in different ways, but I honestly do believe that Americans have more ingenuity and more--I guess the word would have to be fearlessness. We aren't afraid to make a mistake; and we aren't afraid--usually--of what others think of us. We have the "can do" attitude. We also have a most compassionate response to others. Not many books nor movies today that are made for young people will leave out those elements. Maybe we are better teachers than we ever thought!

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