The famous children’s stories Charlotte’s Web and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon both have one major similarity. The character of Wilbur in Charlotte’s Web and the character of Minli from Where the Mountain Meets the Moon both have special guides who help them in life. Charlotte, a spider, is clearly Wilbur’s life guide. Minli’s guide is harder to pinpoint, as many people help her on her journey. Despite the many who help Minli, her main guide is the Dragon. For each character, their guide is important in helping them to mature and grow.
When Wilbur first meets Charlotte he is fascinated by her, but does not fully understand her. He is in many ways carefree and immature, He had been raised special by a young girl names Fern, and had no concept of the life of a pig. He was also bored with being in a pen, feeling like there was nothing new he would ever experience. The thought of being butchered as other animals were never crossed his mind. When the threat of being butchered comes, Charlotte rescues Wilbur by writing the words “Some Pig” in her web. After this, she continues writing new messages in her web and encouraging Wilbur to learn new tricks on order to keep Wilbur alive. As this relationship continues, she teaches him much more about life. She teaches him patience, love, respect, and much more.
Minli comes from much different circumstances than Wilbur. She comes from a very poor home. She sets out on a mission to change her family’s fortune. While on this mission, she meets a Dragon who cannot fly and he joins her. Much like Charlotte was a part of helping grow Wilbur into a kind and compassionate adult, Dragon filled that same role in Minli’s life. Dragon helps Minli grow to the point she is willing to give up her question to help her family, and instead asks how the Dragon can fly.
References
Lin, Grace. Where The Mountain Meets The Moon. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2009. Print.
White, E. B. Charlotte's Web. New York, N.Y.: Listening Library, 1970. Print.
Ideology and the Children’s Book Argument
The book One Crazy Summer is an excellent children’s novel. It manages to deal with delicate historical and current issues in a manner that is both truthful and can be understood by young people. Hollindale asserts that “The distinguished children’s book is one which the ‘kids’ will like and which will aid their social growth.” (pg. 4). Since this book addresses race, poverty, familial issues and cultural differences it definitely aids in the social growth of kids as they come to better understandings of this country’s history and the reality for African Americans.
One of the forms in which ideology is presented in children’s books is through “explicit social, political or moral beliefs of the individual writer, and his wish to recommend them to children through the story.” (pg. 5). In One Crazy Summer the author writes about revolutionaries such as The Black Panther Party and Che Guevara in a positive light, versus the negative one which history and the media has foisted on us. This is also a reflection of the social and political beliefs which are held by the author.
Another point which Hollindale asserts is “that we may live in a period when our common ideology has many local fractures, so that children in different parts of the same national society are caught between bonding and difference” (pg 8). The book addresses this difference. While the children in the book had heard of Martin Luther King Jr. they had never heard of Malcolm X. This is because of the differences between the Northern culture and Western culture in the United States.
References
Hollindale, Peter. Ideology And The Children's Book. Stroud, Glos.: Thimble Pr. in association with Westminster College, Oxford, 1988. Print.
Williams-Garcia, Rita. One Crazy Summer. Print.
