The Daring Nellie Bly

           

Were this not a children’s book, I think a more appropriate title for The Daring Nellie Bly:  America’s Star Reporter by Bonnie Christensen might be The Kick A** Nellie Bly.  I knew vaguely of Nellie Bly, but this picture book has turned me into a Nellie Bly admirer.

            This book does one of my favorite things a book can do—teach me without preaching to me.  There was no overt message of “You can do it” or “Just persevere.”  No one likes to be preached to, well, unless they are at church.  In the opening pages, Christensen states that, “During the miserable years of her mother’s second marriage, Nellie began realizing that she never wanted to depend on anyone but herself.  So when it came time for her to consider marriage, Nellie decided upon a career instead.”  Talk about a role model, right?  The entire book is seriously a testament to how kick a** women can be.

            Let’s start with how Nellie Bly got herself admitted into an Insane Asylum just to do an undercover story about the conditions there.  That was honestly the only thing I had ever heard about her, and was initially disappointed that it only covered a couple pages.  Turns out, she did even cooler stuff.  Like insisting that she could make it around the world in less than 80 days.

            We need to think this through, guys.  This was 1889, when women were accompanied by chaperones and rarely led independent lives.  There was no internet or cell phone service.  This 26 year old woman wanted to go across the world, on her own, to prove it could be done.  I don’t even like to cross the street alone.  Nellie Bly’s trip helped increase her newspaper’s circulation by 24,000 readers!  Christensen did an amazing job retelling this amazing woman’s life.  Every girl needs to read this story, and get to experience her adventure through the masterful writing of Bonnie Christensen.

Bottom Line:  I think kids will love this book.  I can imagine this book being a read-aloud in any classroom, third grade and up.  I originally thought second grade, but I think the phrase that, “in China… they kill baby girls or sell them as slaves, because they can make no good use of them,” might be a little mature for that age group.  I feel that older girls will be able to better understand her difficulties trying to become successful in a male-dominated society and career.  That being said, however, I think even younger children will admire all of the things she was able to accomplish.

 

Title:  The Daring Nellie Bly: America’s Star Reporter

Author/Illustrator:  Bonnie Christensen

Publisher/Publishing Date:  Alfred A. Knopf, 2003

Lost Boy: The Story of the Man Who Created Peter Pan

Lost boy:  The Story of the Man Who Created Peter Pan, by Jane Yolen, is a story I wish I had read as a child.  As an adult, it pulls at some nostalgic heartstrings.  I can’t help but wonder, though, would I have felt the same way as a child?  I mean, it is a picture book aimed towards children, so I wanted to read this book with the questioning mindset of who exactly would enjoy it?  I admit I’ve never read Peter Pan, but remember loving the movie as a child.  I also enjoyed the movie “Finding Neverland” with Johnny Depp, and some of the story is familiar to me because of that movie.

                This story takes the trajectory of a typical biography.  Birth, early childhood, early childhood trauma, growing up, struggles, success, legacy.  I found the events of his life leading up to the creation of Peter Pan relatively boring.  I kept wanting to see how it came about. JUST TELL ME HOW THE MAN INVENTED NEVERLAND ALREADY!!! Throughout the story, Jane Yolen used J.M. Barrie’s own words from his books and plays.  I have to say it was my favorite aspect.  I like reading about how J.M Barrie was only 5 foot tall as an adult, just to be met with the words from The Little Minister, “’It’s a pity I’m so little, Mother.’” He said with a sigh.”  Each quote fits perfectly with whatever was happening on the page.  It made me feel like I was seeing Barrie write himself into his work like I had never understood before.

                The genesis of Peter Pan doesn’t start until over halfway through the book.  It tells of how Jamie came to be friends with the Llewelyn Davis family, as well as a sort of playmate and mentor to the 5 boys, and based the story off his friendship with them.  This section gives my favorite line from the entire book, a quote by Jamie Barrie himself:  “’I always knew that I made Peter by rubbing the five of you violently together, as savages with two sticks produce a flame.’”  The “five of you” of course refers to the 5 young Llewelyn Davis boys.  There are also some facts I had never known, like how the agent insisted the role of Peter be played by an actress, and that the play was kept such a secret that many of the actors only knew the scenes in which they had lines.    

                One thing that really surprised me about the story is the lack of end notes or author notes at the end.  One of my favorite things about nonfiction books is when the author gives me all the information that didn’t make it into the book, and more importantly, why they chose to write this book.  I can’t help but wonder what made Jane Yolen, of Owl Moon and The Devil’s Arithmetic fame, choose to write this book?  I’m sure I could scour the internet and find it, but I always love to get to the end of the book and find out about some chance encounter or lifelong passion that made a writer choose their topic.  And additional information about the person is always appreciated.  Sometimes, it’s actually the best part of the whole story.  I really missed that in this book.

                Bottom Line:   Did I like it?  Yes, I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars.  Do I think children will like it?  Yes, but there’s a specific audience for this book.  To start, it is definitely a story aimed towards older children.  I don’t think I would read this to a child before 3^rd grade unless that child had an obsession of some sort with Peter Pan.  I do think that children who have seen the movie or read the book will find it fascinating to know where it began.  If a teacher read Peter Pan to her students, this would be a fantastic end-of-unit story to show how writers get their ideas.    Come to think of it, I think it’s appropriate, actually, that I like this story so much as an adult.  I mean, Peter Pan is all about never really growing up, after all.

 The Basics:

Title:  Lost Boy:  The Story of the Man Who Created Peter Pan

Author:  Jane Yolen

Illustrator:  Steve Adams

Publisher/Publishing Date: Dutton Children's Books, 2010

 

                Full disclosure:  I have blogged about books before, mainly for a children’s literature course.  In the midst of teaching, tutoring, volunteering, and all the other hoopla associated with adulthood, I fell out of it.  Over the past several months, I’ve made writing my priority again.  I recently finished writing a picture book that is a biography aimed towards older students (4^th grade and above).  I wanted to read more books like what I had written, and to think critically about them, so that I could think critically about my own work.