Children of the Dust Bowl and Grapes Of Wrath

Dust.
You wake up to find yourself covered in it.

It gets in your teeth...in your eyes and nose.
Every morning you have to sweep piles of it out of your house.



It destroys the farmlands.
You're forced to leave the one place you called home.

An "Okie" from Oklahoma...trying to make it to California. A place where "Okie" becomes a curse word. Where families are forced to live in labor camps.

This is life during the Great Depression in 1930.

FYI....
this expose takes place right around the time Grapes of Wrath was banned. Oh come on! Grapes of Wrath? Please tell me you've at least heard of it. It's that novel by John Steinbeck written about an Okie family and their struggle to survive in California? The one where the oldest brother, Tom Joad finds himself in a murderous brawl? Oh, but you probably think that sort of stuff is boring.

Still....why would a "boring old book" that accuses the Californian Farming Association of being racist...and depicts the deplorable conditions of the New Deal labor camps....get banned? Is Steinbeck waging a war on American ideals...just because he told the truth?

Read these two books together to present a comprehensive look at the pros and cons of New Deal America, told from the perspective of the poor Okie and migrant workers who were hit the hardest.


Stanley, J. (1992). Children of the Dust Bowl: The true story of life at Weedpatch Camp. New York: Crown Publishers.

Steinbeck, J. (1939). Grapes of Wrath. New York: Viking Press.

Grimms Fairy Tales and Other Stupid Stories

A frog who thinks he's a prince?

"Ever since I
started wearing
this fake crown,
lovely girls have
kept coming up
and kissing me."



A girl who confuses a wolf with her granny?


"First off, I don't appreciate the comments about my face. And second, your granny lives next door. "












A witch hiding out in a gingerbread house?



"Of course
it's latex....
it's for
display purposes
only."






Can
this
be
for
real?




Humor, Horror, Romance, Adventure and Happy Endings...Grimms Fairy Tales has it all!

These are classic stories that have been passed down from generation to generation. They appeal to the child in all of us by invoking our dreams and our nightmares. And there's always a lesson to be learned! Leave it to the Grimms brothers to collect the first set of stories meant for a child’s enjoyment and education.


A Caldecott Award Winning Book!
Sarcasm, Idiocy, Screwed Up Plot Lines...and other fairly Stupid Tales.

This is a modern take on fairy tales that (according to Amazon.com) would have Mother Goose rolling over in her grave. There are no lessons to be learned here. Just silly sarcastic rips on the classics. This book is a lesson in breaking down the stereotypes of classic literature. Recommended for class clowns and readers who are tired of the same old happily ever after.


If you want to protect the oral tradition of story-telling...

Take these stories and pass them on!


Grimm, J. & Grimm, W. (1987). The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. (Zipes, J., Trans.) New York: Bantam.

Sciezka, J. (1992). The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. New York: Viking