Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

Young, Ed. Seven Blind Mice. New York: Philomel Books, 1992.

This children’s book is a Caldecott winner that tells the story of seven unique mice who take turns examining a “strange object” in their pond. These mice are blind, so they are not able to identify the object by sight; they must investigate using other senses. The book is divided into days, on each day a different mouse, characterized by a color, approaches the object and comments on what it might be. The first day they are all too scared to go near it, and decide to go home. The book also introduces the days of the week to younger children, beginning with Monday. They also are exposed to numbers, for example words like first, second, third, and forth are used to specify the order in which the mice take turns examining the object.

The Red Mouse went first to find out what was in their pond. The reader can clearly see this object, but to the Red Mouse, it appears as a pillar. He returns to the group to share his findings, but no one believed him. The Green Mouse had the chance to explore on Tuesday, and again, readers are able to see a portion of the object even though the mice can not. His consensus is that the object is a snake. The next day, on Wednesday, the Yellow Mouse disagrees that the object is in fact a spear. On Thursday it is the Purple Mouse’s turn – he believes the object to be a cliff. According to The Orange Mouse who was the fifth to go (Friday) the object resembled a fan. Blue Mouse ventured out on Saturday to discover that the object seemed like a rope. Again, the mice don’t agree with this analysis and begin to bicker. Sunday came, and the White Mouse got the chance to see for her self (the only female) what the object was. The White Mouse “ran across the top and from end to end” (Young) to find that this object is “as sturdy as a pillar, supple as a snake, wide as a cliff, sharp as a spear, breezy as a fan, stringy as a rope, but altogether the Something is…an elephant!” (Young) Then all the mice ran across the elephant to get a better image, and they also agreed with White Mouse. Children are given a “Mouse Moral” at the end of this book: “Knowing in part may make a fine tale, but wisdom comes from seeing the whole” (Young).

I felt as though this book accomplished a lot of things and would be a good way to introduce young children to the idea of being blind and what the implications are. It also incorporated teaching children colors, numbers, days of the week, and gave an important moral at the end of the story. I think that most children would enjoy the contrast in colors, the black background with the colorful mice on it as well as the creative portrayal of the elephant. I question the author’s choice to include a picture of the elephant for the reader. It may be more impacting if readers are also curious about this “Something” in the pond, but most children would catch on that it is an elephant. I also question the choice of having only one female mouse, and that she was the one to make the largest discovery about the elephant. Whether or not this was a conscious choice is debatable, but there are certain implications of this decision. As a whole, I would include this book in my collection because of the unique presentation of how someone with visual impairments may “view” life. That is, children are receiving an alternative perspective on how to experience their world. Ed Young does a remarkable job with his illustrations; children would be captivated by the texture of the elephant and the bright colors of the mice.

Final Project

For the final project I have chosen to focus on literature that represents people who are visually impaired or blind. I am especially interested in this topic because it occurred to me that I don't know of many books with characters who experience visual impairments. I am a special education major who hopes to have a vast amount of diversity in my collection someday, this would be a great dynamic to add to any classroom.

Prior to taking this children's diversity literature course I have never considered a visual impairment a disability. Now that I give it some thought, without the tools to help me see better I would be at a major disadvantage. I can't even imagine not being able to see clearly all the time, I would definitely be hindered by that reality. But since I've been blessed with the money to buy instruments that can fix my visual impairments for me, such as my glasses and my contacts, I am no longer at a disadvantage.

I plan to have lasik eye surgery eventually which will completely fix my visual impairment, or my "disability" so to speak. It's amazing how much technology has influenced our society that I can have an eye surgery that will repair my vision and allow me to see perfectly again.

QTT: Confessions of a Closet Catholic

Here is a portion of my questioning the text paper...

Part 1:

Although Littman presents both Catholicism as well as Judaic religious environments, there is room for discussion as to whether each was presented equally and free of biases. Does Littman provide an accurate depiction of both Catholicism and Judaism – is it possible that she may be favoring one over the other? This concern stems from numerous in class debates centered around this notion of authentic authors verses those who may not have first hand experiences. This on-going insider outsider debate is indisputably controversial and should be approached respectfully and open-mindedly to avoid assumptions as well as oversimplifications.

Part 2:

In the face of adversary from her family, Justine decides to investigate a different faith. On page 3 Justine explains that she wants to be like her best friend, Mac, who is Catholic. Again on pages 20 and 21 Justine presents rationale for desiring to become Catholic, “Weekly confession was just one of the reasons I decided to become Catholic. Here are some of the others: 1) I get to celebrate Christmas […] 2) I like the music […] 3) Catholic families are more normal than Jewish ones.” Pages 11 through 14 depict Justine’s first closet confession experience. She investigates Catholic practices on her own in her closet with her own representations of symbolic items from this religion. While wearing a cross necklace, Justine pretends to “look like a nun” with a white napkin on her head, participates in communion with grape juice and matzos, confesses her sins to “Father Ted,” her teddy bear, and recites Hail Mary on her rosemary. While this practice may be valid, I question where Justine learned these activities – what source is this information coming from? Justine attends mass with Mac which serves as the first factual representation of the Catholic faith. Due to her lack of knowledge concerning the events of mass, Justine walks away with a possibly skewed image of this faith.

In terms of Jewish culture and religion, Justine is influenced mainly by the lifestyles of her grandmother Bubbe, and the Weinstein’s. As mentioned previously, Justine is exploring the idea of being more committed to her faith; becoming more connected with her Jewish roots. It is clear that Justine receives information about Judaism from her Jewish family, which makes these ideas more authentic as a reader. The text is packed full of references, information, and even Yiddish and Hebrew terms that further influence readers view of this culture. As Justine compares and contrasts Catholic customs with that of her Jewish ones, it is debatable that readers are generally exposed to more authentic representations of Judaism in light of the family’s rich surplus of information and experiences.

Part 3

The issue of accurate representations, in this case in reference to religion, is not an easy matter, nor does it have a simple solution. Jacqueline Woodson’s article “Who Can Tell My Story?” emphasizes the importance writers experiencing events they write about. In reference to her partner’s religion she explains, “It is not my house, nor will it ever be, but there are elements we share” (44). No matter what stand you take on the insider/ outsider debate, as teachers it is unavoidable that we will face the task of discerning quality writing from poor writing. We should concentrate on universal ties that we share instead of the differences that pull us a part.