Rachel Christine

More people should know about Project Gutenberg. It makes reading classics so accessible to everyone.

I've always liked Eric Carle's heart for children. He grew up in Nazi Germany after the age of 6 when his family moved back to their homeland. He was conscripted to dig trenches at the age of 15 with other children during the war. By all accounts he had a very traumatic childhood and grew up during a time where there were very particular ideas about what art should look like and what its purpose should be for children. He was surrounded by military-grade children's propaganda that called any art that wasn't photorealistic "degenerate". As an adult, you can see that his reaction was different. He could see through the eyes of the child. Instead of imposing the worldview of any group or political ideology onto children, he wanted to meet them where they were and to respect them as people. He understood the traumas of childhood and was cognizant of what children found comforting. Any political spin that people tried to place on his work he dismissed as "psychobabble" and would simply emphasize that he is only thinking of what children need. I found this quote from Carle to be particularly relatable to what I've personally seen as a teacher, "With many of my books I attempt to bridge the gap between the home and school. To me home represents, or should represent; warmth, security, toys, holding hands, being held. School is a strange and new place for a child. Will it be a happy place? There are new people, a teacher, classmates—will they be friendly? I believe the passage from home to school is the second biggest trauma of childhood; the first is, of course, being born. Indeed, in both cases, we leave a place of warmth and protection for one that is unknown. The unknown often brings fear with it. In my books, I try to counteract this fear, to replace it with a positive message. I believe that children are naturally creative and eager to learn. I want to show them that learning is really both fascinating and fun."

Which will happen to me first?

What's one wise saying everyone should memorize?

I feel like it’s okay to admit you learn new things or take recommendations from someone you’re a fan of