Author: The Lois Lowry
Lexile Score: not yet available, probably in the 900s due to length of words but - alas! - there is a glossary
Genre: fairy tale of the dark and irreverent variety, parody
Maturity level: 3rd grade, although the kindly old man does consider "patting the nanny's behind affectionately as she bends over." (gasp!) At what maturity level can children safely discuss offing their parents?
Pages: 174 if you include all postscripts, which you should. Chapters: 20 Average Chapter Length: 6-7 pages
Theme: parody, fairy tale, love and hate, child-parent relationships
Project ideas: write a subversive fairy tale
First Line: Once upon a time there was a family named Willoughby: an old-fashioned type of family, with four children.
Main Character: No real main character, the story is quite evenly divided between the cast
Review in 25 words or less: Not sure about this one. Fun to read, but not Lowry at her best.
Grade: B
The Willoughbys was really fun and fast to read. Lois Lowry has stuffed it full of wonderful words and a fast-paced plot. (The part where the parents die is literally an aside within a sentence it moves so quickly.) The darkness of the story about children who want to be orphans and parents who wish to be free of their children certainly held my attention, much in the style of A Series of Unfortunate Events.
I don't know if there is a literary term for this genre - meta-literature? It is a story that is about stories; in that it pokes fun at fairy tales, refers to classic literature, and constantly calls itself old-fashioned. For some reason, while reading this, I just felt like these ideas were somewhat tired. It's almost like the book is too pleased with itself for me to join in on the pleasure. I certainly think it is clever, and I still think Lois Lowry is the master of middle-grade fiction. Obviously she wrote this book for the sheer enjoyment of writing - even putting it right on the cover "nefariously written by..." I have come to expect her work to be so tight, and this book is wildy scattered and full of gaping holes. She is too good to leave unanswered questions, so there is an epilogue, but it just quickly patches everything up so it can be over. Thank god she didn't have the candy-inventing old man name his new candy bar "Baby Ruth" as she set up the reader to believe would happen. That would have ruined it.
As a book club book, I am just not sure what to do with it. I can definitely say that it has given me a lot to think about, as has every Lowry book, but it isn't because of the themes. This book has left me considering how I feel about its style. Would it give students that same discussion fodder? Will they catch the allusions (well, actually, direct references) to classic literary characters? Will discussing how to get rid of their parents lead to high level talk?
While reading the story, my mind kept wandering to one question. Are all children's books tools for teaching reading? I mean, at some level, all books help us all become better readers. But, specifically, are children's books - when read by students who are still increasing vocabulary and understanding of literary styles and flexing their comprehension strategies - always tools for improving reading? I really am having trouble finding what a student would gain from this. It certainly is a great exercise in vocabulary building, what with its Very Own Glossary. But beyond that, I think other Lowry books fit the book club shelf better.
Nice but put the character names in
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Posted by: jordan 11 space jam | December 23, 2010 at 12:48 AM
omg i love this book and u did really good. but and i have this book right now for a book report and i would recommend this book to all of by best friends.and i am 11 thanks for making this book it is like the first book that was ever good to me. thanks again. :)
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