The House Baba Built by Ed Young

 The House Baba Built by Ed Young


  1. Bibliography

Young, Ed. 2011. New York City, NY; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780316076289.


  1. Plot Summary

This story starts off taking place in Shanghai, China with a war approaching. The family of five; Mimi, Buddy, Hardy, Fifi, and Eddy move to a safe area of Shanghai, in a home that the father designs. This home included a swimming pool and a constant stream of friends and family cascading throughout the home. The children played together and the adults shielded them from the dangers of the war. This home provided this family protection and shelter from a world of war and danger. 


  1. Critical Analysis (Including Cultural Markers)

The point of view that this story is told from, comes from the eyes of an innocent child that is shielded from the cruelties of war, by his parents. Along with his brothers and sisters, the reader is able to see the lengths that his parents and family members go through to provide food, shelter, and entertainment for Eddy.

The cultural significance of this story can be found in the details of the house, the family’s reactions to the war, and the everyday activities that surround the children. For example, the meals served included fava beans and bamboo shoots. These are traditional items found in the Chinese culture and represent a customary meal for this family. 

Furthermore, the effects of the American culture can be seen several times in this story. When the children were playing Tarzan, this is a direct effect from the American movies, played by Johnny Weissmuller. There is also mention of playing cowboys, which again is an American concept. 


  1. Review Excerpts

Kirkus Review: “Flashes of multimedia brilliance illuminate this darkly colored, leisurely paced memoir of childhood in Shanghai.”


Publisher’s Weekly: “Young’s creation, shaped with help from author Libby Koponen, is as complex and labyrinthine as Baba’s house, with fold out pages that open to reveal drawings, photos, maps, and memories.”


  1. Connections

Blackburne, Livia. I DREAM OF POPO. ISBN 1250249317.


Ho, Joanna. EYES THAT KISS IN THE CORNERS. ISBN 0062915622.


Choi, Yangsook. THE NAME JAR. ISBN 9780440417996.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If I Ever Get Out Of Here by Eric Gainsworth

Image
If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth   A.            Bibliography Gansworth, Eric. 2005. New York, NY; Scholastic. ISBN 0545417317   Plot Summary Taking place in the 1970s, this story uses the songs of The Beatles to portray the story of Lewis, an American Indian teenager that is growing up in a time (and place) where his Native American heritage is underappreciated and sets him apart. This coming of age story uses themes of young love, friendship, family, and bullying to tell the story of how despite all the odds, Lewis is able to find some semblance of normalcy and happiness.   Critical Analysis (Including Cultural Markers)             The cultural markers of this story come in the reactions of others to Lewis and his lifestyle. The mistreatment of Lewis can be seen time and time again, all because he is of a different cult...
Read more

Infographics: Information in Picture Form

Image
   Just as the title suggests, infographics are simply images with statics and numbers thrown in. It is generally something that someone can read by just glancing at. Infographics are a good way of informing the public or getting your point across about a certain topic. When creating your own infographic , there are many programs available online to help. For the purpose of this post, I will be comparing three different websites; Easelly , Piktochart , and Infogram , to see which (in my opinion) is easiest and most user friendly with creating an infographic .    All three programs that I played around with to create an inforgraphic required me to create an account. As such, I don't anticipate much Spam mail coming from these sites, however that is a subject for another day. Let's see how each one of these programs stacked up. Easelly ( http://www.easel.ly/ ) This site is terrific because it already has created infographics where one can go in and change the...
Read more

Gingersnap by Patricia Reilly Giff

Image
Gingersnap by Patricia Reilly Giff Bibliography Giff, Patricia Reilly. Gingersnap . Wendy Lamb Book s, 2013. ISBN 0375838910. Plot Summary Jayna is an orphan and has only her older brother Rob to rely on. Rob has been called to the war in the Pacific, and Jayna is left with only her landlady, Celine. Jayna decides to go to New York and try to find any possible family. After finding a French cookbook with a photograph of a bakery among Rob’s things, Jayna goes in search of the Gingersnap bakery. Once there, she finds much more than she could have imagined. Jayna finds answers to her questions, acceptance, and most importantly, family.  Critical Analysis The different recipes scattered throughout the story that related to particular moments in the story add to a unique spin on the story. For example, on page 122, there was a recipe titled “Waiting Soup” that appeared just as Elise mentions that Jayna can stay with her until Rob comes home from th...
Read more