The Big Picture: An Excellent Documentary About Dyslexia

Misconceptions about dyslexia abound. To name a few: many people mistakenly think that dyslexia is a problem with visual perception (it isn't), that dyslexia is characterized by letter reversals (it isn't), or that dyslexics either can't perform well in school (they can) or must not be very capable (they are). For anyone curious about dyslexia, we highly recommend the film The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia.

The Big Picture is a documentary that debuted at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Both critics and viewers have applauded the film for what it teaches about dyslexia, but its director James Redford (son of Robert Redford) was after more than just good reviews. For him, and for his family, the topic of the film is a deeply personal one. Redford's son Dylan is dyslexic, and Dylan's journey through high school and into college is one of the story lines the film explores.

Redford weaves together interviews with a variety of experts on dyslexia. Some, like several young people and their parents, know a lot about dyslexia because they live with it. Others study dyslexia, with the esteemed dyslexia authorities Drs. Sally and Bennett Shaywitz, co-directors of the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, featured prominently among them. And interviews with staggeringly successful dyslexics, from Sir Richard Branson to Charles Schwab, lend credence to the Shaywitz's insistence that dyslexia does not indicate lack of intelligence or potential.

In fact, acclaimed attorney David Boies believes he wouldn't have achieved such success in his career if not for his dyslexia. He is able to speak extemporaneously with ease because he's been forced to practice for most of his life; he can't rely on written notes. And he trained himself to be an exceptionally focused listener. Most skilled readers know they can always review handouts later if they miss important information when a lecturer is speaking, but Boies's difficulty with reading made this nearly impossible. Both of these skills were critical in making him one of the most successful attorneys in the country.

The Big Picture is a must-see for both kids and adults who live with dyslexia, whether they struggle with it themselves or are part of the support network. It is informative, insightful, and inspirational and, at just under an hour's running time, it's digestible even for younger viewers. Visit the film's website to download the film or to purchase the DVD.

Mary Poppins Delights, on the Page and on the Screen

As enormous fans of Mary Poppins (the character, the book, and the movie), we can hardly wait to see the new Disney film Saving Mr. Banks. We’re eager to learn more about the transition from book to movie, which makes a number of changes to P.L Travers’s original work. Such adjustments are common enough in movie adaptations. But the differences between the Mary Poppins penned by P.L. Travers and the one filmed by Walt Disney go beyond simply condensing the plot to fit the time constraints of films. Saving Mr. Banks promises to tell some of the story.

Like many authors, Travers was loath to see her book change at all in preparation for the big screen, but Disney’s screenwriters had their reasons to tweak her masterpiece. Beyond standard concerns about time constraints, one major worry was the fear that the concept of a nanny would be too foreign to families in the 1960's to grasp. So Mrs. Banks’s character, as justification for needing assistance, was transformed from the meek, rather silly figure she cuts in the book into a devoted suffragette too busy to tend to her children – a role script writers must have hoped would strike a chord in audiences at that time.

Another major difference is the tone at the end. In the movie, Mary Poppins flies off under the power of her parrot-handled umbrella, her absence scarcely noticed by the blissful, kite-flying family below her. The Banks adults have learned to be the kind of parents their children need, and Mary’s work is done. This kind of emphasis on the importance of family is a hallmark of Disney and would have resonated with American families at the time of the movie’s release. Those who haven’t read the book may be surprised, however, to learn that it ends quite differently. Travers’s pages reveal a distraught Michael being comforted by a very slightly less so Jane when they discover that Mary, true to her word, has flown the coop when the wind changed. Jane, it is suggested, is starting to grow up and may not need a nanny any more, but Michael and his infant twin siblings (who were cut from the movie) surely will. The children have had a lot of wonderful adventures under Mary’s supervision, but she has wrought no lasting changes in the family’s dynamic by the end of the book.

Beyond plot differences, Travers’s Mary herself was far removed from the version dreamed up in Disney’s studios. Julie Andrews portrays hints of the original Mary’s sharpness, but she’s warm and wonderful beneath it all. We certainly loved the first Mary – it seemed clear to us that she was deeply caring beneath her strict demeanor – but less discerning kids may miss this subtlety that Andrews makes so apparent in the movie. Mary in the book is vain, forever admiring her own appearance, and is often very short with the children. She threatens to send Jane home from a shopping trip when Jane tentatively points out that they are going to the wrong shop for gingerbread. (The one to which Mary brings them is full of magic and wonder for the children, though Mary brushes off their amazement somewhat haughtily.) She is offended when Jane and Michael, the day after the elevated tea party portrayed in the movie, ask if her uncle is frequently so filled with laughing gas that he levitates; she snaps that her uncle is a sober, responsible man and that she’ll thank them not to make up silly stories about him. Still, these mood swings seem part of Mary’s mystery, and the children in the book are no less delighted by the magic she brings to their lives than the actors in the movie accompanied by the more genial Andrews.

Characters who get only small bits of screentime in the movie are delightfully fleshed out in the book, another major difference. For example, we love the story of Andrew, the coddled dog from next door who longs to be a common dog; his rebellious speech to his overbearing owner is translated by Mary, who, of course, can understand his barking. Fanny and Annie, mentioned in a single line of a song in the movie, are major characters in one of the book’s chapters, initially selling gingerbread to the children and then helping their mother to hang stars in the sky in the middle of the night. And many episodes from the book simply didn’t make the screenwriters’ cut, such as Mary’s late-night birthday party with the animals at the zoo, or the ten-minute trip she takes around the world with the children in tow. Kids who missed the book will be delighted to follow Mary and her charges on these additional, fanciful adventures.

We encourage families to revisit both the Mary Poppins movie and book. The passage of time has not tarnished the charm of either, different as they are. The book is on a sixth grade reading level, so parents of younger kids may wish to read it aloud. It would be great fun to watch the movie afterward and discuss both with youngsters. Ask them what differences they noticed, why they think the movie changed the book’s characters and events, and which they prefer. And unlike the movie, the original book is the first in a series, so kids can continue to enjoy the magic of Mary Poppins after they’ve turned the last page of the original.


Some of the information above came from a fascinating New Yorker article by Caitlin Flanagan.

Young Adult Literature Coming to the Big Screen

Blockbuster film series like Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games have proven that there’s a lot of money to be made presenting stories from the pages of young adult fiction on the silver screen. The rest of 2013, and the next few years, promise to be filled with releases of films based on books that have captivated young readers. The line-up is a mixture of newcomers and classics. Teenage book lovers may want to get started on reading the following titles, arranged by release date, if they’re the type who likes to read the book first*. The ages cited below correspond to readers, not movie-goers.

Incase

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (ages 14+) - August 21, 2013

One reviewer called the first installment of the popular The Mortal Instruments series Buffy-esque, and it’s a fitting term. Fifteen-year-old Clary witnesses a murder that no one else sees and gets swept up in the world of the Shadowhunters, teenage vigilantes who kill supernatural demons and monsters.

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff (ages 13+) - October 18, 2013 in the UK; no word on when we’ll see it on this side of the pond

This award-winning book is the story of Manhattan-native Daisy’s trip to the English countryside to visit her cousins. Sounds idyllic, but when terrorists suddenly invade England and war erupts, Daisy and her cousins are forced to fight for survival.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (ages 14+) - November 1, 2013

Ender’s Game, released almost 30 years ago, needs almost no introduction. Brilliant Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is recruited for Battle School where he undergoes vigorous military training so he can help save the world from hostile aliens. Many parents will be just as excited about this release as their kids!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (ages 14+) - November 15, 2013

We are not the only ones who adore this book; it is the winner of several awards and has been on the best-seller list for several years running. The story is narrated by Death, who has his hands full in WWII Germany. The course of his work brings him several times across the path of young Liesel Meminger, a foster child who is placed with a couple outside of Munich and finds she can’t resist stealing books.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (ages 14+) – 2014, no other date specified

Like most teenage girls, Hazel finds herself suddenly head-over-heels in love. Unlike most teenage girls, she meets the object of her crush at Cancer Kid Support Group, a retreat she attends to help her cope with the fact that her terminal illness is incurable. We hope the movie will do this much-lauded novel justice.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner (ages 11+) - February 14, 2014

Fans of The Hunger Games will love this fast-paced book. Thomas, the protagonist, wakes up in an elevator, remembering nothing about his life but his own name. He discovers that he has somehow landed in a world his 60 teenage peers call “the glade,” which they have been trying for two years to escape by navigating through the maze that surrounds it. The Maze Runner is the first book in the eponymous trilogy.

Divergent by Veronica Roth (ages 13+) - March 21, 2014

Beatrice lives in dystopian Chicago, where sixteen-year-old citizens must decide which one of five factions they will belong for the rest of their lives. This book, the first in a three-part series, consists mostly of the initiation trial Tris must undergo as a result of her decision. And, of course, she has a secret she is desperate to keep to herself.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (ages 13+) – 2015

The horses that run in the annual Scorpio Races are no tame thoroughbreds; they’re blood-thirsty, man-eating creatures taken from Celtic mythology. Tomboy-ish Puck and her brothers are barely scraping by after their parents are killed by water horses when Puck’s oldest brother announces that he will be leaving their island to work on the mainland. In a desperate attempt to keep her remaining family afloat, Puck enters the race with her eyes on the purse; as the first female ever to compete, she will pit her inexperience against reigning champion Sean Kendrick and her opponents’ murderous mounts.

The Giver by Lois Lowry (ages 11+) - in pre-production; no release date available

As far as we are concerned this book is the gold standard by which YA dystopian novels-all the rage these days-should be judged. Young Jonas is shocked to learn that he has been chosen to be the next Giver, keeper of the memories people have forgotten, or never had a chance to make in the first place. As an apprentice to the current Giver, Jonas learns more and more about the experiences of people in the past-gifts, family, snow, war, love, pain-and begins to have doubts about his own world. Little information is available about the movie, but Jeff Bridges has been cast!


*Reading the book first isn’t for everyone. Some students achieve much better comprehension if they see the movie before delving into the more complex,demanding, written version. Young people for whom reading doesn’t come as naturally may already have a sense of which order works best for them – book before movie, or movie before book. If not, the movie-book duos above would be great opportunities for experimentation.



All release dates found through www.imdb.com

Creative Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month

There are lots of fun, out-of-the-box ways to celebrate National Poetry Month. Below are a few of our favorites.

Put a Poem in Your Pocket – Or on Your Feed

Poets.org suggests participating in Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 18; visit their page for more details and to access links to poems you can carry with you throughout the day. But rather than simply sharing your pocket poem with co-workers, family, and friends as the site suggests, why not put a modern twist on this fun idea? Many websites, including Poets.org., The Poetry Foundation, Poem Hunter, Old Poetry (oldpoetry.com) and more will allow you to share poems with the click of an icon. Post your favorite poems to Facebook or share them via Twitter or email.


Take a Poet to Lunch

Of course, if you know any poets, buying them lunch would be a great way to celebrate poetry month. But for those of us without connections, a fun alternative is to tuck a poem into someone’s lunchbox for them to find when they sit down to eat that afternoon. Or pack yourself a favorite poem, or a whole book of them, to nourish your body and your soul come lunchtime. For a child, why not use Magnetic Poetry as an inspiration and include a bag of poetic words next to the bag of apple slices? Your child and his/her friends can create their own poems while they eat!


Enjoy Poetry-Inspired Media

The Outsiders was inspired, in part, by Robert Frost’s Nothing Gold Can Stay. What would Dead Poets Society be without “O Captain, my Captain”? Plenty of books and movies center around poetry, and there are also a number of wonderful movies about the lives of famous poets. Poets.org hosts a long list of great films to enjoy. Or, challenge your family to think of as many books as they can which are focused on poetry. One of our recent favorites is Matched by Ally Condie, which centers around themes in Dylan Thomas’s Do Not Go Gentle.


Read Poetry – as a Novel

There are many wonderful novels available for young people that are written in verse. These can be great options for unsteady readers because verse looks much less intimidating than dense paragraphs on a page. Try titles like Love that Dog by Sharon Creech (also, look for Hate that Cat), What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Somes, Out of the Dust and Aleutian Sparrow by Karen Hesse, The Surrender Tree by Margarita Engle, Crashboomlove by Juan Felipe Herrera, and The First Part Last by Angela Johnson.


Trade Your Bedtime Story for a Poetry Reading

Instead of reading a traditional picture book to your children as you tuck them in, opt for fun, child-friendly poems like those of Jack Prelutzky or Shel Silverstein, or reach for classics like A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne, or Appley Dapply’s Nursery Rhymes by Beatrix Potter. Rhyming books like Llama, Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney and just about any of Dr. Seuss’s offerings are also good choices.

Photo: CC by Jemimus

Seriously Fun Kids’ Events at Symphony Space

Consider your Saturdays covered. Most New Yorkers already know that Symphony Space, located on Broadway at 95th Street in Manhattan,  is a wonderful venue for the performing arts. But did you know that it also plays host to fun, enriching events for kids every single weekend?

Running the gamut from dance performances, music, theater, storytelling, movies, and more, the Just Kidding series is sure to be a hit with the kids in your life. Upcoming events include a concert by musical historians the Deedle Deedle Dees, a Muppet double feature movie screening, a performance by Morgan the Clown, and dancing and singing to the eclectic music of Aaron Nigel Smith. Want to share these fun events with your kids? Interested parties can purchase tickets to individual events or buy a subscription for deep discount on unlimited Saturday events from the Just Kidding webpage.

For young bookworms and aspiring writers, the Thalia Kids’ Book Club  is another Symphony Space offering that’s sure to please. The next club event, on April 7th, is a performance of author Pseudonymous Bosch’s delightful choose-your-own-adventure-like Write This Book: A Do It Yourself Mystery, performed by the Story Pirates. Club events are co-presented with the Bank Street Bookstore, and each includes a creative writing project, a discussion of the book with the audience, and a book signing. Often, actors perform segments of the book as well.

Be sure to visit the Symphony Space website  so you don’t miss a thing!

Photo: Symphony Space

International Children's Film Festival Starts Today

It's not easy to find quality films for children, especially if you eschew commercialized animation and movies that feature a bit too much violence to make most parents comfortable. So, it is a particular pleasure to note that today kicks off the International Children's Film Festival, which runs through March 24th at seven Manhattan movie theaters. The festival features "100 animated, live action, and experimental shorts and feature films" from 35 countries.

Now in its 16th year, the Festival also sponsors classes for ages 6 to 16 in animation and live action filmmaking. The Spring 2013 one week classes run from March 25-29. The two week summer program runs from July 8-19. Registration for both programs is now open. 

Some of the films featured in the Festival can be seen as part of a slide show on the New York Times website. Tickets for individual films can be purchased online.