<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: I truly hope some of the commentary was satirical...
Review: ...but fear, in this day when psychobabble, family values, and the like are taken far too seriously, the "American Dream" as related to Dick and Jane is as well.Most of us "Depression Era through Baby Boom" kids (I'm the latter) can enjoy some memories of the Dick and Jane we knew so well in first grade. But anyone whose memory is keen enough will know that the "Dick and Jane" family were hardly those we'd have wished to imitate. The kids apparently had no friends (though the book shows that, after "my time," they did acquire a few); were not terribly bright; hardly had a decent conversation (remember story one: "Oh, Look!"?); their prime concern seemed to be "helping mother," and they might have been an adult's dream (never caused trouble, and so forth) but were not a fellow kid's.
Rating:
Summary: I truly hope some of the commentary was satirical...
Review: ...but fear, in this day when psychobabble, family values, and the like are taken far too seriously, the "American Dream" as related to Dick and Jane is as well. Most of us "Depression Era through Baby Boom" kids (I'm the latter) can enjoy some memories of the Dick and Jane we knew so well in first grade. But anyone whose memory is keen enough will know that the "Dick and Jane" family were hardly those we'd have wished to imitate. The kids apparently had no friends (though the book shows that, after "my time," they did acquire a few); were not terribly bright; hardly had a decent conversation (remember story one: "Oh, Look!"?); their prime concern seemed to be "helping mother," and they might have been an adult's dream (never caused trouble, and so forth) but were not a fellow kid's.
Rating: 
Summary: Dick and Jane where the best!
Review: I didn't think i'd ever see Dick and Jane again. This book is great. I loved reading about them. There are stories from the readers that I still remember. And would like to read all the books over again. What are the chances of seeing the original stories again?
Rating:
Summary: Great books for early readers.
Review: I was disappointed in the review that said phonics is not needed when reading these books. My 5 year old will cover up parts of the words to sound out each part and put it all together. The great thing of these books, is repetition. That is how kids learn and remember. Repetition, repetition, repetition - isn't this how people learn new jobs, too? I have bought all the old editions (I don't like the updated versions), and she has read almost all of them since Christmas (1 week ago!). I think that is great for a 5 year old, she loves them, and can't get enough. Now we scour antique stores, libraries, resale shops and garage sales to keep this kid interested in reading.
Rating:
Summary: Great books for early readers.
Review: I was disappointed in the review that said phonics is not needed when reading these books. My 5 year old will cover up parts of the words to sound out each part and put it all together. The great thing of these books, is repetition. That is how kids learn and remember. Repetition, repetition, repetition - isn't this how people learn new jobs, too? I have bought all the old editions (I don't like the updated versions), and she has read almost all of them since Christmas (1 week ago!). I think that is great for a 5 year old, she loves them, and can't get enough. Now we scour antique stores, libraries, resale shops and garage sales to keep this kid interested in reading.
Rating:
Summary: pop culture meets pop cultural studies
Review: Somewhere between the boring textbooks of cultural studies and the objects of culture which the field explores, this book offers an excellent overview of the Dick and Jane readers' evolution over time as the ideals of the society in which Dick and Jane were grounded evolved as well. And what a tumultuous time it was! Through illustrations from the original texts and photographs of cultural change, short essays on subjects and eras, and even the inclusion of Dick and Jane cut-out dolls to stand on one's desk, the authors take us through the evolution and meaning of Dick and Jane, from Dick and Jane's depression-era origins to the loss of their relevance in the sixties, when the books stopped being produced. Both a reminiscence and an excellent analysis of cultural change through a single set of broad-strokes ideals, this text is both a fun read, a strong cultural text, and a solid way for me (or any teacher) to introduce high school media and communications students to the ways in which ideals, ideas, icons and culture affect and are affected by each other over time. Those who look to this book for an explanation of Dick and Jane as representing complexity, as one reviewer does below, seem to have missed the point -- Dick and Jane represented cotton-candy ideals of a conservative and young-minded nature; to ask them to have represented more is to completely misunderstand what cultural studies assumes as a foundation. Those who come to this book with an open mind and an interest in mid-19th-century american culture as seen through the evolution of its primers and iconography will find this an excellent, well-presented, and fun work of scholarship.
Rating:
Summary: It took me back to my fond memories of childhood!
Review: There are so many times that I had wished I were a child again to experience the slow pace of life as opposed to the way it is now. This book has allowed me to do that. It's a wonderful book and I would highly recommend it. As I read each chapter I found myself recalling memories of childhood...friends, school and family. Because we cannot reach back in time, I would sincerely and strongly advise anyone who experienced the original texts in school, to read this book. It will take you there, even if it's in memory.
<< 1 >>
| 
