The first thing I liked about the book, “Reading in the Wild” was the title and the cover of the book. I personally love “reading in the wild” myself. Every time I go camping I always take a book with me and prop up next to a tree just like the little boy in the cover. Even when I am not camping and I want to a start a new book, I find myself putting a chair outside and reading. So I was drawn to the book just because of the title and the picture cover. When I was reading a passage that I really liked was where the author talks about, “Creating Book buzz” in her classroom. I real like what Miller says when she sates, “Readers develop confidence in self-selecting books when they recognize books and authors and experience a wide range of material that informs their future book choices.”

I think it is so true that readers develop a confidence when they recognize books and authors. I know that I get excited when I recognize an author and books by that author. When I see that an author that I like to read recommends another book I am always thinking, “Oh I have to read that book because if she likes it, Ill probably like it too”. There is a great feeling in being able to recognize an author and also recommending the author. It’s awesome to say, “Oh yeah Margaret Peterson Haddix wrote that series, I think you would really enjoy it.” I like that Miller really encourages her students to read by presenting them with different book choices and giving them the opportunity to check them out of her classroom. Her book drawings idea was also a good idea because it really entices students to want to check out a book even if they don’t necessarily want to read it. It’s the idea if my friends like the book maybe I will too.

I think one of my fears is that I won’t be able to entice my students to read but after reading some of Millers ideas on how to do that, I am not so worried. The one thing that I want to make sure I do is to stay connected with books and authors that kids read now a days. I think that’ll be a tool I can use when I become a teacher.

1) My favorite story out of the book was, “The tale of the Rose”. I thought the language was extremely beautiful.The way the author uses metaphors and similes is in its own right “enchanting”. An example of this is when the “Belle” of the story says, “The sound of the pages turning was the sound of magic. The dry liquid feel of paper under fingertips was what magic felt like.” When I read the story, however, I was a little startled by the beast being a girl, primarily because I was always used to the beast being a boy. The second time I read it, I became more “accepting” of the beast being a girl. I thought that it was actually rather sweet that the girl found another girl who chose the same path as her and that they could become friends. The message that a girl can choose her own destiny and actually loves to read was also really great. The story I felt empowered girls and that’s why I liked it so much.

2) There are probably several reasons that the author entitles the book, “Kissing the Witch”. I think one of the reasons may be that in her tales there are many ideas that are presented that aren’t necessarily what everyone is used to seeing in a fairytale or even in women. Kissing a witch is something that isn’t seen as an “acceptable” practice and the authors ideas can be seen as unacceptable as well. Kissing a witch could also symbolize kissing the other “side”. In a sense it’s kissing a side to a tale that has not been seen or talked about.

“Snow White” by Brothers Grimm had several similarities and differences to Walt Disney’s, “Snow White”. There were many aspects that were familiar and others that were not. The first aspect that was unfamiliar was Snow White’s age. In Brothers Grimms’s tale, Snow white was only seven years old when she became more beautiful than the queen, while in Walt Disney she was depicted as much older. The request that the queen made of the huntsman was also different in the two versions. In Walt Disney’s version the queen asks for Snow White’s heart where as in the Grimm Version the queen asks for Snow White’s heart and liver so she may eat them. There was also a great difference between the stories in regards to the dwarves.

The dwarves home in the Grimm tale was described as, “dainty and spotless” and  they were even depicted as clean freaks. Walt Disney’s dwarves were quite the opposite, for their home was a disaster and they were in need of a, “mother”. Another sharp contrast between the two tales was that the stepmother came to visit Snow White twice with a poisoned comb, in the Grimm’s version, and both times Snow White died and was then revived by the dwarves. In Walt Disney’s version Snow White is visited by her step-mother once and dies right away because she sate the poisoned apple. It was also interesting to note that in the Grimm version the step-mother was so conniving that she even ate a part of the apple with Snow White to trick her. They way that Snow White is finally revived is also different between the two tales. In the feature film Snow White is brought to life by the kiss of the prince where as in the Brothers Grimm version she is dropped by the prince’s servants and the apple stuck in her throat is spit out, causing her to come back to life. The last aspect that was different was how the evil stepmother dies. In Walt Disney she is smashed by rocks and in the Grimm tale she dances in hot iron shoes until she dies.

I was quite surprised by the differences that were in the two tales but I was most surprised by the way that Brothers Grimm depicted Snow White to be. In the tale it seemed that Snow White was extremely gullible and rather quite superficial herself. I was shocked that Snow White allowed the same little old lady, with the same little old comb to trick her twice. I mean, really? She let the old lady in because she liked the comb so much she had to have it. It really caused me to think of Snow White as just being a dumb girl who wants a hair product. I was surprised that sort of depicted her as a beautiful girl who knew how to clean and even if she wasn’t the smartest thing on the earth she still got the guy. It almost seems that the theme of the story was:

As long as you are beautiful, know how to clean, and have men to help you out: You’ll live happily ever after.