The author was the 1997 winner of the Virginia and Warren Stone Prize.
Vivian Gussin Paley (1929–2019), a longtime classroom teacher at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, was a MacArthur Fellow and winner of the 1998 American Book Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Paley’s book is the breathtaking account of a golden time she has
carved out in the lives of [her school] children and herself.
Essentially, she conducts a high-power kindergarten think tank in
which she, the children, and some parents explore ‘the artist’s
role in society, the conditions necessary for thinking, and the
influence of music and art on the emotions.’ Infected by their
teacher’s enthusiasm, wisdom, and human warmth, these beautiful
children shape their semester of art, dance, song, and applied
psychology around 14 picture books by the great writer-illustrator
Leo Lionni… [Paley] render[s] tellingly the originality and
sensitivity with which her kindergartners explore art and life as
they skip from work to work, character to character, and back to
their daily lives with persistence, eloquence, and depth… Her book
is a reminder for adult readers that our task, at home and abroad,
is to ensure that children may flourish with such awareness of
their own worth that they can be free, then, to love another.
*Boston Sunday Globe*
Paley [tells how she] and her co-teacher turn a sizable portion of
their curriculum over to a study of Lionni stories, and her
students blossom with insight… Paley’s book is a treasure for
anyone who wants to know more about what magic is possible in a
classroom where a teacher encourages what Paley calls…a ‘narrative
community.’
*San Jose Mercury-News*
To focus a year’s curriculum on a single writer, no matter how
acclaimed or popular, was a departure for [Vivian Gussin Paley] and
her school. But as anyone can tell from reading The Girl with the
Brown Crayon, Paley’s experiment was a resounding success,
cultivating among very young children a deep engagement with
literature that they were able to share every day.
*Book Links*
I was delighted after an initial reading of The Girl with the Brown
Crayon and couldn’t wait to share it. However, after rereading the
text and discussing it as a member of a learning community, I can
more fully appreciate why it was awarded Harvard University Press’s
annual prize for an outstanding publication about education and
society.
*Reading Teacher*
[Paley describes how] she decides to give direction to her
curriculum by focusing on the books of one author, Leo Lionni… The
result, as recorded in the book, is a long exploration,
questioning, and debate among the children and teachers about the
characteristics and actions of the characters and important ideas
(which become curriculum themes) as the books are read, dramatized,
and portrayed in notebooks and posters. Throughout this journey,
Paley shares her unique insight into the nature of young children
and kindergarten learning as it could be, as it should be.
*Young Children*
A beautifully realized, deceptively simple classroom memoir from a
longtime kindergarten teacher and author. Paley begins the
narrative of her final year of teaching by focusing on Reeny, a
self-assured, thoughtful, and creative black five-year-old girl in
a class that’s mostly Caucasian and Asian. Reeny is a wonderful
character, but it is her identification with another character,
Frederick the Mouse in a Leo Lionni children’s book, that is the
catalyst for a truly remarkable classroom experience… Disproving
the general opinion that kindergartners are unable to focus on a
lengthy, ongoing project, these children show an amazing aptitude
for referring back to previous discussions, understanding metaphor,
relating their reading to the world around them, and using the
information they glean in creative and unusual ways. Their
discussions cover everything from race and friendship to gender and
the artistic personality, and they are able to appreciate the
Lionni titles with a maturity that is sometimes startling… The
reader closes the book with the hope that Paley will, with Reeny’s
help and her own newfound self-awareness, overcome her ambivalence
about standing out and continue to write superb books like this
one.
*Kirkus Reviews*
Paley, the charismatic teacher and author…is taken on a
metaphorical journey of discovery and self-discovery by
kindergartners with inquiring minds… [Paley’s class] is an oasis,
blessed with a unique curriculum and a teacher willing to be taught
by her students.
*Publishers Weekly*
Paley's book is the breathtaking account of a golden time she has
carved out in the lives of [her school] children and herself.
Essentially, she conducts a high-power kindergarten think tank in
which she, the children, and some parents explore 'the artist's
role in society, the conditions necessary for thinking, and the
influence of music and art on the emotions.' Infected by their
teacher's enthusiasm, wisdom, and human warmth, these beautiful
children shape their semester of art, dance, song, and applied
psychology around 14 picture books by the great writer-illustrator
Leo Lionni... [Paley] render[s] tellingly the originality and
sensitivity with which her kindergartners explore art and life as
they skip from work to work, character to character, and back to
their daily lives with persistence, eloquence, and depth... Her
book is a reminder for adult readers that our task, at home and
abroad, is to ensure that children may flourish with such awareness
of their own worth that they can be free, then, to love another. --
Peter F. Neumeyer * Boston Sunday Globe *
Paley [tells how she] and her co-teacher turn a sizable portion of
their curriculum over to a study of Lionni stories, and her
students blossom with insight... Paley's book is a treasure for
anyone who wants to know more about what magic is possible in a
classroom where a teacher encourages what Paley calls...a
'narrative community.' -- Carol Doup Muller * San Jose Mercury-News
*
To focus a year's curriculum on a single writer, no matter how
acclaimed or popular, was a departure for [Vivian Gussin Paley] and
her school. But as anyone can tell from reading The Girl with
the Brown Crayon, Paley's experiment was a resounding success,
cultivating among very young children a deep engagement with
literature that they were able to share every day. -- Molly McQuade
* Book Links *
I was delighted after an initial reading of The Girl with the
Brown Crayon and couldn't wait to share it. However, after
rereading the text and discussing it as a member of a learning
community, I can more fully appreciate why it was awarded Harvard
University Press's annual prize for an outstanding publication
about education and society. * Reading Teacher *
[Paley describes how] she decides to give direction to her
curriculum by focusing on the books of one author, Leo Lionni...
The result, as recorded in the book, is a long exploration,
questioning, and debate among the children and teachers about the
characteristics and actions of the characters and important ideas
(which become curriculum themes) as the books are read, dramatized,
and portrayed in notebooks and posters. Throughout this journey,
Paley shares her unique insight into the nature of young children
and kindergarten learning as it could be, as it should be. * Young
Children *
A beautifully realized, deceptively simple classroom memoir from a
longtime kindergarten teacher and author. Paley begins the
narrative of her final year of teaching by focusing on Reeny, a
self-assured, thoughtful, and creative black five-year-old girl in
a class that's mostly Caucasian and Asian. Reeny is a wonderful
character, but it is her identification with another character,
Frederick the Mouse in a Leo Lionni children's book, that is the
catalyst for a truly remarkable classroom experience... Disproving
the general opinion that kindergartners are unable to focus on a
lengthy, ongoing project, these children show an amazing aptitude
for referring back to previous discussions, understanding metaphor,
relating their reading to the world around them, and using the
information they glean in creative and unusual ways. Their
discussions cover everything from race and friendship to gender and
the artistic personality, and they are able to appreciate the
Lionni titles with a maturity that is sometimes startling... The
reader closes the book with the hope that Paley will, with Reeny's
help and her own newfound self-awareness, overcome her ambivalence
about standing out and continue to write superb books like this
one. * Kirkus Reviews *
Paley, the charismatic teacher and author...is taken on a
metaphorical journey of discovery and self-discovery by
kindergartners with inquiring minds... [Paley's class] is an oasis,
blessed with a unique curriculum and a teacher willing to be taught
by her students. * Publishers Weekly *
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