Cons: Many references so unintentionally outdated they they're out of kids' realms of experiences
The Bottom Line: As a modern-day realistic fiction book, Ellen Tebbits has outlived its relevance. Those who were children in the 1950s would probably enjoy it as a nostalgia book.
jenninca's Full Review: Beverly Cleary - Ellen Tebbits
I’ve been a Beverly Cleary fan for most of my life. While my favorite books of hers are the Ramona ones, I’ve read most of her other ones too, both recently and as a child.
But Ellen Tebbits was one I hadn’t read since childhood—until recently. I knew I’d read it before, but really couldn’t recall anything about the story. Now that I’ve reread it, I’m having the distinct feeling that I’m emerging from a time warp. The story is about as stereotypically 1950s as it could possibly be!
Here’s the basic plot, sans the 1950s undertones. Ellen has been a lonely third grader since her best friend moved away. She ends up befriending a new girl when they discover that they share the same embarrassing secret. She worries that her teacher doesn’t like her very much and so tries to impress her. She gets frustrated dealing with the class clown. She exaggerates how much she knows about something. She wants to dress the same as her friend. She gets in a fight with her best friend, and it takes an unusual circumstance to bring them back together.
There, in a nutshell, is the plot of Ellen Tebbits. On the surface, it sounds like Ellen could be any girl living today. After all, what child doesn’t face most of those situations at one point or another? But when you examine the circumstances of each event, you start to see just how removed from modern society the 1950s are.
Take Ellen’s terrible secret. Read a book written recently where two girls share a “terrible secret” and their secret probably involves divorce or abuse. The secret Ellen shares with her new friend Austine? Their mothers both make them wear long underwear. How tragic.
Many kids today worry about whether their teacher likes them. They may have some strange standard by which they judge their teacher’s view of them. Ellen does the same thing. However, the reason that Ellen uses for deciding that her teacher doesn’t like her is that her teacher never chooses her to clap the erasers. If I asked my students to go clap the erasers, they would look at me as though I were crazy. I haven’t seen anyone clap an eraser in the four years I’ve been teaching. (Incidentally, the reason Ellen’s teacher didn’t choose her is because Ellen’s dresses are always so neat and clean. Most of my students had to be threatened to get them to wear a dress to the graduation ceremony.)
Most of Ellen’s frustrations come from her dealings with Otis Spofford, the class clown. However, his pranks are hardly known today. His worst offense? Untying the sash on Ellen’s dress. That just burns Ellen up. Does any kid even know what a sash is anymore? If Otis is the teacher’s biggest problem, then I want her class. His biggest act of disobedience is to take out his Mexican jumping beans after the teacher told him to put them away. When the teacher said she would then keep them for the rest of the day, Otis says, “Aw.” When I do this routine with my students, they say, “But that’s not fair. They fell out of my pocket. I mean, I was just changing them to the other pocket. I mean, so-and-so asked to see them, so it’s his fault. You can’t take them! That’s not fair! You didn’t take so-and-so’s (whatever) last month! You’re picking on me! I need to go call my mom and tell her you’re picking on me! She’ll get you!” Yes, I get this about twice a day. What I wouldn’t give for a kid like Otis to be my biggest problem.
When Ellen starts fourth grade, she and Austine want to dress alike on the first day. So, instead of surveying each others’ closets or going to the mall together, they decide that they will have their mothers sew them identical dresses. So they go to the department store and ride the escalator to the fifth floor pattern department. (Can you imagine walking into JCPenney or Marshall Fields today and finding a pattern department?) The results are disappointing because Austine’s mother’s sewing skills just aren’t up to the standard that they should be.
Other dated references pop up throughout the book. Some examples: everyone wears rubber boots when it rains. Ellen gets concerned because her freshly-starched dress begins to “wilt.” The class produces a play for Open House night (Like that would fly in today’s world of proficiency tests and “higher standards.”) At the end of the play, everyone dances around a May Pole. I can honestly say that I have experienced none of the things listed above, but I’ve read enough to know something about most of them. Would today’s kids have a clue about any of them?
As much as I love Beverly Cleary, I’d have to say that Ellen Tebbits has outlived its relevance. It’s gone from being realistic fiction to almost being historical fiction. The book is 160 pages of early fourth grade level reading material that just won’t interest most of today’s kids. Ellen Tebbits’ broadest appeal today would likely be as a nostalgia book for parents and grandparents.
SOMETIMES SAYING SORRY IS HARDER THAN IT SEEMS ...Ellen Tebbits is convinced she ll die of embarrassment if any of the girls at school discover her se...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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