Overview

Welcome to Lizard Motel is one of the most surprising books about reading and writing to come along in years. Not only does this rich and wonderfully readable memoir explore the world of children and stories, it also asks us to look at how our children are growing up. Barbara Feinberg suggests that we have lost touch with the organic unfolding of childhood, with that mysterious time when making things up helps deepen a child's understanding of the world. This book will reacquaint readers with the special nature of children's imaginations and why they need to be protected and fostered.

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9780807071458

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Reviews

When her son's seventh-grade teacher said a good book should make you cry, Feinberg started to wonder. After she noticed her son's reluctance to read school-assigned novels--Newbery Award-winning books like Creech's Walk Two Moons or Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia--she read them herself and discovered the problem novel, a subgenre of the realistic adolescent novel, which often features a youngster facing horrible difficulties--incest, domestic abuse, rape, death or disease of parents, etc.--without the aid of any sympathetic adult, without recourse to fantasy. Educators push these parables, Feinberg says, believing children need to abandon fantasy and learn to cope with reality. This campaign starts quite young, as Feinberg found when her daughter invited her to her second grade's publishing party. Listening to these children reading their memoirs --as if eulogizing their own childhoods--Feinberg began to question the philosophy behind the Calkins writing workshop system used in so many schools. Why do children need experts to tell them how to write about the world, she wondered? Yes, it's good to learn to observe the world closely, but Calkins's orchestration of the poetic moment struck Feinberg as too didactic. Rarely can teachers reject the curriculum's problem novels, nor can they refuse the Calkins system. But Feinberg, who's spent years working with children in a creativity workshop she designed, has the independence and experience to raise important questions. Her critique, delivered in the palatable form of a chatty parenting memoir, should stir some much-needed controversy, especially among progressive educators. Copyright (c) Reed Business Information, adivision of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fresh and wonderfully readable . . . perfect for parents eager to cultivate their kids' fantasy lives and foster a passion for literature.--Michelle Green, @lt;i@gt;People@lt;/i@gt;@lt;br@gt;@lt;br@gt; The implications of this small book are quite large. Parents will want to read it, as will writers, publishers and educators. --@lt;i@gt;Publishers Weekly@lt;/i@gt;, starred review@lt;br@gt;@lt;br@gt; I loved this book. Feinberg is a brave woman to challenge every shibboleth of the schools of education. --Diane Ravitch, author of @lt;i@gt;The Language Police@lt;/i@gt;@lt;br@gt;@lt;br@gt; @lt;i@gt;Welcome to Lizard Motel@lt;/i@gt; turns out to be more than a diatribe against the dark subject matter of YA problem novels . . . Only a reader as attuned to realism as Feinberg could have puzzled out so nuanced a defense of imagination in children's lives. --Laura Miller, @lt;i@gt;New York Times Book Review@lt;/i@gt;@lt;br@gt;@lt;br@gt; When we place the steady diet of 'problem' novels in the c

Fresh and wonderfully readable . . . perfect for parents eager to cultivate their kids' fantasy lives and foster a passion for literature.--Michelle Green, People The implications of this small book are quite large. Parents will want to read it, as will writers, publishers and educators.--Publishers Weekly, starred review I loved this book. Feinberg is a brave woman to challenge every shibboleth of the schools of education.--Diane Ravitch, author of The Language Police Welcome to Lizard Motel turns out to be more than a diatribe against the dark subject matter of YA problem novels . . . Only a reader as attuned to realism as Feinberg could have puzzled out so nuanced a defense of imagination in children's lives.--Laura Miller, New York Times Book Review When we place the steady diet of 'problem' novels in the context of the hours children spend being electronically bombarded by graphic, unremitting trauma, Feinberg's concerns . . . become not just comprehensible, but urgent.--Susan Linn, Boston Globe

Fresh and wonderfully readable . . . perfect for parents eager to cultivate their kids' fantasy lives and foster a passion for literature.--Michelle Green, People The implications of this small book are quite large. Parents will want to read it, as will writers, publishers and educators. --Publishers Weekly, starred review I loved this book. Feinberg is a brave woman to challenge every shibboleth of the schools of education. --Diane Ravitch, author of The Language Police Welcome to Lizard Motel turns out to be more than a diatribe against the dark subject matter of YA problem novels . . . Only a reader as attuned to realism as Feinberg could have puzzled out so nuanced a defense of imagination in children's lives. --Laura Miller, New York Times Book Review When we place the steady diet of 'problem' novels in the context of the hours children spend being electronically bombarded by graphic, unremitting trauma, Feinberg's concerns . . . become not just comprehensible, but urgent. --Susan Linn, Boston Globe

Author Information

Barbara Feinberg is the originator of Story Shop, a creative arts program for children ages three through fourteen. She has won awards for her writing, including a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts. Feinberg lives with her husband and two children in Westchester County, New York.

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