Introducing our March book!
New book who dis?
This week we’ll be reading pages 1-40
Welcome to a new month and a new book!
I am delighted to tell you that for March we will be reading, discussing, and writing in response to From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L Konigsburg!
Among being a winner of the Newbery Medal, an SLJ one hundred books that have shaped the century, and winner of the Lewis Carroll shelf award (among others), it also happens to be a deep and true personal favorite. In fact, I can still remember the exact couch where I first read this book and the view from the window when I finally looked up. Even the weather. It was the white loveseat in the family room, the view was a parking lot from the 11th floor in midtown manhattan. And the the weather was overcast but somehow bright. I was nine years old.
Strangely I can remember those details more than I could the actual book. Rereading it this week I couldn’t believe all I had forgotten. But the feeling I felt, that moment when I fell back into reality remains incredibly vivid.
This month I’ll share with you some educational materials, some interesting information about this book, we’ll have discussion questions to help you think deeper and give you the chance to share your ideas, and of course we’ll have writing lessons and prompts. But what I truly hope to give you is something close to that unique feeling of being absolutely absorbed and completely enchanted by a piece of writing.
Overview
You may not know a lot of people like Claudia Kincaid, but from the first few sentences she is very very real. Claudia is bringing a lot of eldest child energy to this story. She is fed up by her brothers, her domestic responsibilities and imagines a scenario of total freedom from all that restriction. And of course, that scenario involves running away to the most glamorous place in the world, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I’m actually surprised that more people aren’t doing it. I guess things are a little different than they were in the 1960’s when this book was written.
Fun Fact: The author of this book, E.L. Konigsburg was a mother of three and would drop her kids off at The Metropolitan Museum to wander around alone while she took a painting class nearby!
There is a lovely article in the New Yorker magazine that came out for the 50th anniversary of this book. In the article one of her children remembered a time when his mother came to pick them up and where inspiration for this story came from.
One day, as they were walking through a gallery of French furniture, she saw, behind a velvet rope, a single piece of popcorn on a blue silk chair. When Konigsburg died, in 2013, the Metropolitan Museum of Art hosted a private event in her remembrance, and her son Paul recalled his mother wondering aloud about that piece of popcorn. The moment was “burned into shrapnel memory” for her, he said, and it provided the kernel, so to speak, of the whole book.
How cool is that!?
Claudia and Jamie make their way to The Met and spend a glorious week among the art. All the while a mystery of a captivating sculpture leads them on a quest of sorts. This leads Claudia to some discoveries about art, as well as some important self understanding. It’s a stunning book that is so inventive and real and fun. I am so excited to get into it with you!
Next week we will talk about the character of Mrs. Basil E and how the narration of this book is so unique. We’ll answer questions like, what form is this written in and who is the main character and narrator? Later this week we are having a creative writing prompt as well.
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Discussion Questions
Why did Claudia decide to run away and why did she decide to take her brother Jaime? Why do you think Jaime agreed?
What does Claudia’s careful planning of her running away tell you about the kind of person she is?
What else do we know about Claudia and how would you describe her character?
Is Claudia the main character in this story?
Who is narrating this story?
Who is Saxonberg and what role does he play?
It remains one of my favorite books of all time.
This was one of my childhood favorites!