Arlene Sardine

Rating:
Summary: Arlene's Unfortunate Adventure
Review: Arlene, the beautifully illustrated brisling, wants to be a sardine. She swims into a net and doesn't eat anything for three days in preparation of becoming a sardine. Arlene dies and the rest of the story explains how people turn Arlene into everything she wanted to be. What's not okay here? Manipulation by the author to try and convince the reader that it was okay for Arlene to want to become a sardine. That Arlene would intentionally want to get caught in a net, starve herself, and die is so misleading for a picture book that wants to explain, realisticly, how sardines are made. Raschka attempts to comfort the reader and soften Arlene's death by including lines after her death like, "...she was put on ice, in a box, with her friends," "I'll be Arlene felt well rested on the conveyer belt" and "I wonder if Arlene was a little nervous for the final inspection." It's obvious, this isn't a story about grieving but it is a story about death. It's not the book you pull off the shelf when you want to comfort a child who lost her pet goldfish. Yet, Arlene's death would have been better explained (and more appropriate) if it were told with the same honesty that explains the process that makes her suitable for human consumption. Raschka's weakness to cushion Arlene's death is the only flaw to this story. How unfortunate because every other aspect of the story is right on the mark. Illustrations are magnificant, the format well designed, a perfect balance of story and illustrations. Raschka is a true talent, one of the best children's book authors/illustrators of this decade. He has already redeemed himself, in the eyes of this reviewer, by creating yet another amazingly terrific book, "Like Likes Like."

Rating:
Summary: A GOOD ATTEMPT GONE BAD
Review: I admire Chris Raschka for his willingness to take creative risks. He certainly does that here. But in abruptly killing off the protoganist midway through the story, he seems to be taking aim not just at the character, but at the reader. It's a loathesome move. Books for even the youngest kids can and should contain the darker undercurrents of life, including death. But this book fails to broach the subject in an honest, responsible way. It's simply using death as a device to shock and provoke. That's not appropriate for adults and it's not appropriate for kids. (...).

Rating:
Summary: Arlene Sardine
Review: I am an educator and have read the previously written reviews about this story. In truth, I am horrified by them. To say that the book is no good because it discusses a topic that children are unfamiliar with, is rediculous. Of course my kindergarteners know nothing about sardines, but why shouldn't they? Maybe I read my job description wrong, but I thought I was SUPPOSED to teach them about things that they don't already know. I have not read this book to my students because of all of the contoversy surrounding it, but I wish I could read it to them. Surprise, surprise, children like to be exposed to new information, it peaks their interest in learning. Where would we be if we kept teaching the same information? Eighth graders would still be on the alphabet, and most of them would have dropped out of school because of sheer boredom. -------------In respone to those persons who feel that it is wrong to teach kids about death, (you'd better sit down for this) THEY ALREADY KNOW ABOUT IT!!! They always ask questions about death. They have had pets that have died, or family members, or their friends have told them about it (did your kid miss "The Lion King"), but we make it seem like it is such a taboo topic that they choose not to talk about death. They think it will upset you (obviously, they're right), so they keep those feelings in and they don't ask questions about something that they want to know about. It's amazing to me that people think this book has the potential to be damaging to their kid(s), but think it's fine to ignore a topic that their child probably has questions about. REALITY CHECK, it is not book that cause children to think about suicide, it is the inability to express themselves and their emotions. So go right ahead, repremand your children for seeking information on their own because they feel unable to ask questions openly. They will learn that they cannot express themselves openly, they should not seek information independently, and to believe everything that perople tell them. Why shouldn't they, they have no other resources for information than simple word of mouth. I am waiting for the day that children can get answers to their questions, rather than being told that it's not a good topic to talk about. ------------------------------------------------------------Furthermore, I think this book is wonderful. It shows children that there are steps to achieving goals, gives them a glimpse at a new type of animal, and at the same time, teaches them about the cycle of life. Arlene Sardine gets two thumbs up from this teacher.

Rating:
Summary: "One Fish, Two Fish, Red..."
Review: I have heard it stated that there is a very thin line between genius and insanity. Arlene the Sardine is very close to this line in dealing with the issue of death. Those who are scared of the potential of suicide might be very frightened by this book and would rate it low accordingly. The book, about a young fish who wants to become a sardine deals with death in an exceptionally playful manner... so playful that some could consider it macabre. This is a book one will either love or hate. Though, I was somewhat disturbed by the book... I believe that the book is exceedingly well done, with beautiful illustrations, and a playful narrative. It seemed reminiscent of the fairy tales of old... which were far more dark than today's Disney versions. It is a book definitely worth checkig out from your local library.

Crazy James

Rating:
Summary: Yikes!
Review: I was horrified to read this book and would not recommend it to anyone. To give a sardine "humanlike" qualities and a personality and then describe the way "Arlene" goes through the canning process is morbid and borders on the macabre. What next? A children's book on "Elmer" and the enbalming process? Arlene Sardine is not a book for either children or children at heart! Too bad there is not a "no star" rating because this is what this book should receive!

Rating:
Summary: A GOOD ATTEMPT GONE BAD
Review: My daughter is now two years old and she loves this book. It starts out with a little fish called Arlene that wants to be a sardine - it ends with Arlene accomplishing her life-long goal - and gives some details of the process.

I think it is intended to be light-hearted, and since some reviews have concentrated on the grimmer aspects of the story (namely the heroine of the story dying and being packed in the can, or under some interpretations, turning life forms into commodities) I think I will tell you what my daughter enjoys about this book.

1) Arlene is a little fish that she can follow through the whole book because Arlene has a red circle on her cheek.
2) The fish swim "this way" and "that way". This seems to hold her attention - I think because the pictures are colorful.
3) She has a particular fondness for the word "thronging".
4) She likes to point to the pictures that show the different ways sardines are packed and say - "packed like this!!" She says it again, and again, and again...
5) She likes to pretend she is eating the sardines at the end of the story.
6) She claps when Arlene is finally a sardine.

Rating:
Summary: My daughter loves this book
Review: My daughter is now two years old and she loves this book. It starts out with a little fish called Arlene that wants to be a sardine - it ends with Arlene accomplishing her life-long goal - and gives some details of the process.

I think it is intended to be light-hearted, and since some reviews have concentrated on the grimmer aspects of the story (namely the heroine of the story dying and being packed in the can, or under some interpretations, turning life forms into commodities) I think I will tell you what my daughter enjoys about this book.

1) Arlene is a little fish that she can follow through the whole book because Arlene has a red circle on her cheek.
2) The fish swim "this way" and "that way". This seems to hold her attention - I think because the pictures are colorful.
3) She has a particular fondness for the word "thronging".
4) She likes to point to the pictures that show the different ways sardines are packed and say - "packed like this!!" She says it again, and again, and again...
5) She likes to pretend she is eating the sardines at the end of the story.
6) She claps when Arlene is finally a sardine.

Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous artwork, creative text
Review: Sick of sappy stories about teddy bears, bunnies, and tea parties? Arlene Sardine, a favorite story in our household, fills the void. The artwork is gorgeous and the story is realistic and fun. Added plus: your child will understand the word "hermetically"!

Rating:
Summary: The Very Short Life of Arlene Sardine
Review: Some readers may be pleased with the bluntness and directness with which the author described what happened to the snared Arlene, from her flopping around on the trawler's deck to her being cooked in a can.
Some might think that this story was a laudable and unblinking effort to let children know, without any sugarcoating, what at least one part of the real world is like. I found this story to be revolting. My reaction was not due to my being squeamish about the subject or a refusal to face the truth. I have eaten many a sardine in my time,( one of which may have been Arlene), usually on crackers. The latest one was this morning, during a hike into the Selkirk Mountains of northern Idaho. It was delicious and I did not feel at all guilty as I gulped it down. Neither was the cause of my revulsion the fact that this was a children's story. I have no problem with telling children the truth about the world in so far as we understand it.
One of the great truths of the World is that life lives upon life. (Perhaps somewhere there is a little Blue-Green Alga who believes that he has evaded this way of making a living, having ... energy from the sun, but where does he think he got his CO2 with which to make carbohydrates?) No, what revolted me was the author's obvious message that poor little Arlene Sardine was predestined for the blue point special at your neighborhood sandwich shop. It was clear that the only purpose that she ever had in life was to serve as a tasty treat for Mankind. This story turns a living organism into a commodity, whose purpose in life, which it looks forward to, is to be eaten by human beings.
There is no hint or inkling from this book that Arlene might have lived out her life (and death) in any other manner. She might, for example, have become food for a Salmon, and it, food for another fish, and so on in the great round of life. She might have lived to procreate and therefore served to perpetuate her species, etc. etc. This story may true in one sense, but it is false in another because the child reader is taught not to confront the facts and learn how to deal with them, but to become desensitized to them. No, sadly, Arlene served only to perpetuate one of the greatest myths of our culture, and that is that all other living creatures have only one purpose, that of serving man, and that they enjoy doing so. In short, this story converted Arlene from a fellow life form to a commodity, to be used or discarded by Man as he sees fit. This is an important part of the mind set that has set our culture on a collision course with Nature, as Daniel Quinn brilliantly describes in Ishmael. The disastrous results we see all around us - atmosphere and water poisoned with over 70,000 synthetic chemicals, a population of 6.2 billion, surging beyond the limited carrying capacity of the Earth, Global Warming, just to mention a few of our more minor problems.
The great question that our ancient ancestors had to face , ( and contemporary traditional peoples still do ),was that life lives off life, and how do they handle that fact? They coped with it in a manner that is in stark contrast to way our culture approaches the subject. What is astonishing is that they consistently came up with similar or even identical answers. Even more remarkable is the fact that they labored under a more difficult dilemma than we. They regarded other living creatures, not as commodities, but, on the contrary, as fellow travelers or even as elder brethren from whom they could gather much wisdom. Yet they had to kill their brethren in order to live. They solved their dilemma through the worldwide myth of the Animal Master. They believed that their prey animals were controlled by a prototypical animal spirit and that if they treated the animals with respect as they hunted them and afterwards dealt with their remains, the Animal Master would insure that the animals will not really die, but will reappear the next year and offer themselves to the hunters again. Thus these ancient peoples symbolically demonstrated that they understood and accepted the great round of life and death that perpetuates and informs the world. Our culture may consider this myth to be nonsense, but the test of a myth (which Joseph Campbell once defined mischievously as a lie that tells the truth) is: does it serve the people who live by it well? The Animal Master myth has served traditional peoples, probably for hundreds of thousands, if not for millions of years, and enabled them to live in harmony with the rest of the world without destroying either it or themselves. Our culture is 7 - 10,000 years old. Another of our foremost myths is that of "unlimited growth". Inspired by myths that defy biological principals, what chance do you give our culture to last as long as that of traditional peoples?
Turning Nature into a commodity leads to the mentality of trying to patent living organisms or the dismissal of difficult moral issues. For instance, I happen to be pro-choice, but I do not pretend that there is no troubling ethical issue with respect to abortion. This book helps to propel us down a slippery slope that leads to such bizarre outcomes as the patenting of life forms, and the genetic engineering of the very food we eat without consideration of of the inevitable unforeseen consequences. Will we learn the error of our myths in time to remedy them? Not if our self-distructive myths continue to be passed on to the next generation in stories like Arlene Sardine.