A few nights ago my husband read me the original German version of Monsters Aren't Real (i.e., Monster Gibt es Nicht) by Kerstin Schoene. As we laughed together like we haven't laughed in a long time, we also had quite a deep discussion about the monster in this book who is having an existential crisis. Don't tell me picture books can't produce prolific, literary discussions. Here we were on a Thursday evening talking about existentialism in a children's book. :)We also compared the English and German versions of these two books and noted that there are many places that did not directly translate. When I first read the English version, I thought the ending fizzled. The original German ending, however, was more substantial, which makes me wonder how many other translated books we've all read and disliked because things get lost in translation.
I clearly need to get back in the classroom if I'm having literary and linguistic discussions with my husband about children's books and existential monsters.
Speaking of getting back in the classroom, a few weekends ago I took the high school English test for Michigan Teacher Certification and I passed! So I'm hoping to get back into the classroom by September. We shall see what new adventures are in store for me in the fall. My classroom library is tired of being chained up in the basement. It has asked to see the light of day and start making its way into kids' hands again.
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