Alice in InfoLand

“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or dehumanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749–1832, German poet, dramatist, novelist, philosopher and scientist.

Lizanell Boman asked me “Was this not Hiam Ginott? It is only one word off from his quite often quoted version…” so I did some digging.
Haim G. Ginott (1922-1973) American teacher, child psychologist and psychotherapist. In Teacher and child: A book for parents and teachers, (Collier, 1995), Ginott wrote: ““I’ve come to the frightening conclusioin that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized.”

Goethe is an icon of Western civilization and culture.
Methinks Ginott should have credited the original author of those phrases.

“Perfectionism is simply putting a limit on your future. When you have an idea of perfect in your mind, you open the door to constantly comparing what you have now with what you want.
That type of self criticism is significantly deterring….
The idea of perfect closes your mind to new standards. When you drive hard toward one ideal, you miss opportunities and paths, not to mention hurting your confidence.
Believe in your potential and then go out and explore it; don’t limit it.”
— John Eliot, Ph.D., Reverse Psychology for Success

There’s been major harrumphing in the biblioblogosphere and then the MSM about a discussion on LM_Net re the 2007 Newbery Award winner:
Susan Patron’s The Higher Power of Lucky.

FWIW, the definitive response to the whole brouhaha is Kristen Mclean’s Thoughts on the Great Scrotum Kerfuffle of 2007.  As Liz B on Pop Goes the Library says of Mclean’s exposition: “It’s thoughtful, it’s well documented, it covers all sides.  And it has a scientific illustration!”

My comment to all those who’ve dismissed the book without even reading it — Judge not, lest ye be judged.

Addendum:  read Susan Patron’s excellent article in the L.A. Times, responding to all the criticism.  As she points out:

The problem with “scrotum,” evidently, is discomfort among adults who do not wish to see references to body parts in children’s literature. Also, fear of giggling. What if the teacher or librarian loses control of a class of kids, however briefly, while reading the book aloud? …

Of course, adults are right to fear a word in a book, although not, as in this instance, because it names a body part. They are right in the implied assumption that books have enormous power and influence. Children who read widely understand more about the world; they have a foundation for making better decisions. …

There are Newberys for every taste and for a range of reading ability and developmental levels. …Certain winning titles introduce concepts such as child abuse, racism, animal neglect, the Holocaust, slavery, abandonment. Why burden children with these heavy subjects? Because they live in the same world we do. They perceive much more than we may want to recognize. Well-written books that respect a child’s intelligence enable readers to identify with the protagonist’s mental and physical struggles. This helps them to see different perspectives and shades of gray, rather than a world of absolutes.

Granville Hicks said it best:  “A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to.”

tags: Newbery, censorship