The Front Porch

by Rebecca Hyde Rowan Public Library

             The front porch, the lawn and the beach are part of our cultural landscape, consuming a lot of time, energy, and money.  As cultural icons, they are synonymous with status and good citizenship (lawn), well-being and pleasure (beach), or civil society (porch). 

            In “The Lawn:  A History of an American Obsession,” Virginia Scott Jenkins asks why Americans have front lawns while people in other countries have front gardens or interior courtyard gardens.  She explores what gardens tell us about American culture and how residential landscape has evolved.

            Apparently, before the Civil War, few Americans had lawns.  Up to the 1850’s, houses in American towns were built close to the street with perhaps a small fenced front garden.  Farmhouses were surrounded by packed dirt, pastures, or gardens.

            When did our notion of residential landscape change and why?  After the Civil War, the single-family house, surrounded by grass, developed and spread throughout the nation.  According to Jenkins, this change was due partially to suburban movements:  expansion of transit lines, models of public parks, adoption of the automobile by the middle-class, the popularity of golf, low-cost mortgages, and funding for highways.  Jenkins adds that the real impetus to the lawn craze was dependent on our ability to grow lawn grasses and on our aesthetic desire to have a lawn:  affordability of tools and grasses plus the adoption by the middle-class of what had been a luxury of the wealthy.

            What is the future of the lawn?  Jenkins examines present ecological problems and possible alternatives in the twenty-first century.   And what is the amount of lawn in the United States?  According to Dean Bill Chameides of Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, we have more than forty million acres of lawns.

            “The Beach:  The History of Paradise on Earth,” by Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker, looks back to antiquity, when the beach was anything but paradisiacal.  The shore was the limit of the known, and the sea was “the mother of all mysteries.”  The English word “shore” was derived from the Old English “scieran,” meaning to cut or shear:  the shore was “shorn off” by a sea that could rise up and wreck havoc against ships and coastal inhabitants.  In the Middle Ages, Europeans avoided the ocean partially because of the belief that water was connected to plagues.  By the seventeenth century, the beach’s medicinal attractions were rediscovered, and it became a center for upper class social pursuits.  Then with rail travel and the passage of legal holidays, a trip to the coast was available to all classes of people.  We now create artificial beaches, and sometimes find that “the real thing” has become a health hazard, tainted with pollution.  Still, the beach represents for most of us a site of regeneration, relaxation, and recreation. 

            For some relaxation and good conversation, your destination may be the front porch.  “Out on the Porch:  An Evocation in Words and Pictures” is introduced by Reynolds Price, who tells us about a particular porch in Warren County, describing an ordinary day in 1942 when he was nine.  His account gives us “some sense of the role and meaning of a porch in the life of a middle-class Southern family of no more than average complexity, rage or need.”  The book continues with photographs of porches populated by people and furniture along with excerpts from the works of Southern writers.

           

Giving Away “Free”

by April Everett Rowan Public Library

                “No thank you” was the most common response I got my first year of participating in World Book Night.  Who knew it would be so hard to give a free book away? I thought to myself.  For those who are unfamiliar, World Book Night (WBN) is an annual celebration dedicated to spreading the love of reading, person to person.  Each year on April 23^rd, thousands of people hit the streets to give away a box of 20 free WBN paperback books to light and non-readers World Book Night.

                 The premise of “spreading the love of reading” appealed to me, but the “person to person” bit is what made me apprehensive.  I am overall a painfully shy and socially awkward person, despite my choice of a public service career.  Nevertheless, in 2012 I signed up and was chosen to be a “giver” (the term used to describe those who distribute WBN books).  A coworker and I hit the streets to share the joys of reading and were met with people scurrying to the other side of the street, car windows quickly being rolled up, and a number of thinly veiled “whatever you’re selling, we don’t want it” attitudes.  And honestly, could I blame them?  We’ve all been approached by someone in the parking lot asking for money, charities soliciting donations at the door, or groups sharing pamphlets.  None of those acts are inherently bad, but sometimes you just want to buy your milk and bread and go home.

                Discouraged by the response in 2012, I decided to take a year off from WBN and cheer on from the sidelines.  When giver registration opened for WBN 2014, I reluctantly signed up.  In February, I received confirmation that I had been selected as a giver, and that my top choice of Wild by Cheryl Strayed was the book I would be giving away.  This time around, I wore a large “I am a Giver” sticker and my library name badge in hopes that people would not run the other way when they saw me coming.  I also chose the public transportation as my venue, since I am rider myself.  Nervously, I offered free books to my fellow riders, many with whom I have shared a ride on a daily basis for the past two years.  I offered the book to one passenger, who said he did not like to read but that his girlfriend might like it.  He went on to say that after he gets off from a long day at work, he doesn’t have time to read--it’s just dinner, a shower, and off to bed.  I nodded in understanding, thinking about the free time each one of us has on our commute, silently willing him to open up the book.  About ten minutes into the ride, I glanced back and noticed he was reading the book.  I looked at the two passengers in front of me and they were reading their copies too.  Come to think of it, this was the quietest commute I’d ever had.  Almost all of the passengers were reading their WBN books!

                I don’t mean to over-dramatize the experience, but it brought me unspeakable joy to see others taking advantage of what may be their only free time during the day to read, and to know that I played a small role in making that possible.  If you are interested in being a giver for WBN 2015, visit www.us.worldbooknight.org and sign up for the newsletter.  Rowan Public Library supports the mission of WBN and has been a site for givers to pick up books since 2012, so we will also be posting information about how to sign up as it becomes available.  Registration for givers usually begins in the fall, so stay tuned!

Picture Books are Not just for Babies

by Erika Kosin Rowan Public Library

            What constitutes a “Picture Book”?  A picture book is a medium that uses illustrations that help embellish or enhance a story or narrative. When most adults think of a picture book, they envision toddlers and preschoolers being read to.  While many of the books in the picture book section of the library are meant for smaller children, there are some within the stacks that are definitely not “baby books” and are written with the older child in mind. 

              Historically, many books that are now categorized as a chapter book, such as Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, are considered the beginnings of picture books.  These are stories were heavily illustrated when they were originally published.  Today, many children’s chapter books include illustrations to help enhance the story, but do not compare to the richness of text and imagery that can be found in the larger formatted, full color picture book.  Most picture books for older children contain rich vocabulary and the accompanying illustrations help provide a historical or cultural context.

            Some authors are well versed in picture books, but do not expect their stories to be shared with the young child.  Allen Say writes and illustrates children’s books rich in text and historical accounts that explore the world and culture of Japanese-Americans.  Grandfathers Journey, a former Caldecott winner, follows generations within his family as they move back and forth between Japan and the Americas, while Tea with Milk follows a young girl who returns with her family to Japan only to feel out of place with the Japanese culture.  Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine brings the historical story of the slave Henry Brown and how he mailed himself to freedom after seeing his family sold off.   This book is a small window into the effects of slavery and the strength and ingenuity some slaves evoked to bring themselves to freedom. 

            Other picture books for older readers are fun, but cautionary tales that may upset the younger child.  One such book is A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon which follows Camilla, a young girl who tries so hard to fit in that she begins to change color.  This book is geared towards elementary school kids who understand the concept of hiding things they like because they are afraid it will make them look un-cool.  For the younger child, the idea of changing colors and developing stripes may be upsetting.    Silent Movie by Avi tells the tale of an immigrant family through black and white images, invoking the feel of a silent movie, a feat that might not have been possible as a chapter book.    

            Over the years fairytales and folktales in their original text have been repackaged and published in Picture book form.  From Anansi the Spider’s trickster ways to the Grimm Fairytales, these cautionary tales are woven and explained in both text and illustration.  Rapunzel illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky includes rich imagery where each illustration is a textured oil painting, giving life to the characters and a unique setting to the popular tale.  These original texts are often seen as too scary for the younger child.

            If your child is a strong reader, do not discourage them from checking out a heavily illustrated picture book from the library.  Take a look at the book to make sure it is appropriate for your child and allow them to immerse themselves in the rich history, culture and vocabulary that can be found within the text and images of a picture book.