September 11: Through the Eyes of a Child
Erica Craigston (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
2002 1stBooks Library
ISBN: 1403377723
“We Will Remember” is honored by this compilation of children's words, pictures & poems in tribute to our collective experience of 9/11.
In Erica Craigston's introductions she explains who she approached for these stories, pictures & poems as well as her intention in amassing the children's reactions to the attacks.
The ideas the children thought to write about should arouse any adult to think about their own place in the scheme of things...about what freedom & democracy means; the love of mothers & family; of guilt & losing someone without saying goodbye; of expressions of grief for children, just like them, who were left without parents; the discovery of fear & homeland security; the new fear of flying; of contemplating about the meaning of one's own life; of who Osama bin Laden is & where the training camps are; of why America was attacked; of history repeating itself, in particular Pearl Harbor; of the Twin Towers; of firemen & policemen & what makes a hero; of friends & brothers being called up; of Ground Zero, & of missing someone who didn't come home.
If we, as adults, wonder at our reactions to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, then how our children remember & wrote about that day will give you pause.
While I do not fault the younger writers for the way they write (although seeing how rudimentary are their writing skills, in & of itself, is scary), & I cannot fault them for their take on what they perceived happened on that dreadful day, their factual errors alarmed me. That one assigned Afghans as the perpetrators of that infamous assault, curdled my blood. I can only hope clarifying discussions were held later on.
It is inevitable that my editor's hat sat upon my noggin as I read these children's public words. In my time at school, I would have had to re-write & re-write such offerings (as undoubtedly the older students did), until I got both the spelling & facts right. If this is the modern way of teaching--ignoring basic writing & reporting skills in a fervor to get at & enshrine such raw spontaneity--then we are doing our students a disservice. If anyone assumes that the final copy of our Constitution started out that way, their understanding of how something is written is seriously flawed. & while writing inexact essays for one's self or family can be forgiven, when writing as an assignment for public reading, the teachers & editor who let such offerings pass uncorrected have failed their students, miserably.
Notwithstanding all of that peeving, the essays, pictures & poems of September 11: Through the Eyes of a Child, especially those of the teenagers, are fascinating, thought-provoking &, in a poignant way, comforting.
The proceeds from the sale of September 11: Through the Eyes of a Child will benefit several charities: Twin Towers Orphan Fund (www.ttof.org), Tennessee Farm Bureau's Ag in the Classroom (http://www.tnfarmbureau.org/frame.html?webpage=http://www.tnfb.com/specialprograms/agclass.htm); Tennessee's Overton County Library (http://www.overtoncolibrary.com/), & Missouri's Sullivan Public Schools (http://eagles.k12.mo.us/). Be patient, all the sites will eventually download.
RebeccasiReads.com
