by Carmen M. Martínez-Roldán, University of Texas, Austin
During the month of July we want to invite readers to respond to the 2011 Pura Belpré Award winner, The Dreamer (2010), written by Pam Muñoz Ryan and illustrated by Peter Sis. Based on events of Pablo Neruda’s childhood and inspired by his poetry, Pam Muñoz created a fictionalized account that offers adolescent readers the opportunity to meet one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century: Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.
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Published in separate editions in English and Spanish, The Dreamer or El soñador, makes Neruda’s life accessible to both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking youth. There is also a wonderful English audio book edition read by Tony Chiroldes, which contains a bonus DVD with artwork by Peter Sis along questions Muñoz intertwined throughout her narrative in response to critical events in Neruda’s childhood. In the creation of these questions, she was inspired by Neruda’s El libro de las preguntas [The Book of Questions].
Those questions invite readers to let their imaginations fly, as Neruda’s left his. As a reader, these questions definitely let me wondering. Here are some of my favorites, please feel free to share yours or any part of the story that touched you:
| ¿Quién pasa el agua de la nube a la cumbre al río y la echa a las fauces del oceáno? (p. 9) ¿Qué es más afilado?¿El hacha que tala los sueños? ¿O la guadaña que desbroza el camino a los demás? (pp. 92-93)¿De qué están hechas las paredes de un santuario? ¿Y las de una cárcel? (p. 193) |
Who spoons the water from the cloud to the snowcap to the river and feeds it to the hungry ocean? (p. 9)
Which is sharper? From what are the walls of a sanctuary built? |
The Dreamer not only introduces the reader to Neruda’s life but it also invites the reader to enjoy poetry through Muñoz’s own poems. In the Jacket of the English version we read:
“Combining elements of magical realism with biography, poetry, literary fiction, and sensorial, transporting illustrations, Pam Muñoz Ryan and Peter Sis take readers in a rare journey of the heart and imagination.”
In this first week, I want to invite you to read The Dreamer and to share your responses to this work. You can use whatever medium you feel best expresses your response, words, images, sound… You can respond to the questions, the story itself, or your connections to Neruda’s work. Later in the month, teachers from Teachers College Columbia University will join the discussion.
If you have used the book with children, would you share that experience with us? How the youth responded to the story? What response engagements did you use? Art, writing, drama, audio, video . . .? What strategies were most effective for engaging students with the historical background? Did they identify with Pablo Neruda in any way?
This will be a bilingual blog. Feel free to write in Spanish,
English, or both.
Journey through Worlds of Words during our open reading hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Themes: Carmen M. Martínez-Roldán, Dreamer, Pam Munoz Ryan
- Descriptors: Books & Resources, Student Connections, WOW Currents
On a personal level, I really enjoyed reading The Dreamer. I quickly inhaled the book in only two sittings. I was moved thinking about the circumstances surrounding Pablo Neruda’s childhood and his inspiration for becoming a writer. As promised in the description of the book, the prose was consistently lyrical and thoughtful.
It is the lyricism of the book, however, that makes me wonder how my former students would respond to it. Most of my experience working with students has been with struggling, reluctant readers. I am not sure that a text this dreamlike (as the title implies) and sometimes even sleepy would grasp their attention. I wonder how I could frame this novel to make it interesting for my most hostile readers.
As a student new to children’s literature, I find it difficult to critique, evaluate, and organize my own thoughts on Pam Muñoz Ryan’s The Dreamer, El Soñador. On one hand, my critique depends on the intended audience of the book. A 5 year old does not process information the same way as a 13 year old, and my comments somewhat depend on the purpose of the book and how a teacher or parent intends to use it.
Ryan uses beautiful imagery that brings readers into this childhood world: the plipping and plopping rain, the mysterious forest, the waves que dan reverencia a Neftalí, Blanca’s skin that was like the “piedras lisas y bruñidas [en el margen de la carretera]”(125). Other images evoke strong emotions, like las botas del Padre—the boots of Neftalí’s nameless father—that inject an audible fear in the reader, every time he enters the house. Many of the side stories are cute little gems that make the reader smile and reflect fondly on childhood—the voice that calls out to young Neftalí and has him wondering who is calling, walking his little oveja, and taking care of the wounded swan with a compassionate innocence that nicely captures what it means to be a kid. The two main themes that persist through all the chapters—a son who cannot live up to the absurd expectations of his father, and the social mistreatment of the Mapuche indigenous Chileans—are crucial in tying everything together.
However, I want to be critical of this work. First of all, the father is a one-dimensional character. There is no depth to him. He is mean. Demanding. Everything that comes out of his mouth is like a broken record: be a doctor, study, be a man. As I read on, I expected a father-son bonding moment or space where we would see the Padre sin nombre for who he truly was. I make this judgment because I think it actually weakens the novel by lowering the emotional stakes in the family. Nothing in life is black and white, even if a child may see it as such. By making the father a black and white character, as readers, we dismiss his actions and dialog, even though fathers often have reasons for what they say.
I also felt that Neftalí was too self aware, especially as an 8 year old. At 8 years old, children are in 2nd grade. They are just beginning to have a concept of self-identity and what it means to be a son, a brother, a Chilean, a student, or a human being. Yet Neftalí was already admiring the passion and sense of liberty of Tio Orlando (66), embracing complicated social justice issues, and exhibiting a sense of self-reflection that is impressive for even college students. For example, only an 8 year old, Neftalí (as well as Rodolfo and even Laurita) is very critical of his father’s child-rearing strategies. Laurita was my favorite character because she seemed more developed than either Neftali or the father, despite being a secondary character. For example, she was both innocent (crying on the beach) yet the voice of reason (on page 319 she gives her brother advice, telling him to rebel against Padre after he is already at the university in Santiago).
Neftalí has beautiful self-reflections. For example, he questions himself while on the beach for the first time, “Era esta la misma familia con la que vivía en Temuco?” (162). I want this issue – his love and hate relationship with his family, much like the love and hate relationship he has with the ocean, that tug-of-war that is so painful for a child, to be explored.
So far, I am really enjoying The Dreamer. The authors do a great job of creating an atmosphere of fear and anxiety every time Neftali’s father is present. I appreciate that the authors reveal the harmful effects of hyper-masculinity and the gendered expectations that some fathers (and mothers) impose on their sons.
In response to Dan’s post, I agree that in terms of children’s literature, this is a quasi-adult piece for any child to tackle. The language itself is a bit too inaccessible and the themes too abstract. The intended audience of the novel, chosen by Scholastic, is grades 2-6.
On a technical level, I cannot comment on the prose in English, as I read it in Spanish. However, having taught Spanish children for 2 years in Spain, I know that most of my second, third, and fourth graders would never make it through this book on their own. On a metaphorical level, the themes are much too abstract for those ages.
I have to disagree with Dan on the subject of Padre, though. I see how he has little depth throughout the story, but I think that showing a softer side of Padre more often would have been cliché in itself. There are two moments in which he does make Neftalí think that THIS time he can trust him: when they head to the woods for the first time and when they first arrive at the beach. Neftalí wonders if “quizá este sitio fuera el adecuado para compartir sus descubrimientos con él” (p. 161). Padre’s usually unwavering rigidity allows the other characters’ emotions to come to the forefront as they interact with him. Mamadre is both submissive and strong, Rodrigo is a dreamer who has sold out.
I really enjoyed reading The Dreamer and El Soñodor. I felt that both versions were relevant, especially considering the fact that Muñoz Ryan uses Neruda’s poetry throughout that was originally written in Spanish. The way in which this story is written and the language that is used, even in English, draws on Spanish language. For example, the use of words such as “Mamadre” and phrases such as “take coffee” (tomar café) speak to the fact that the book can be read either in English, Spanish, or both, in a way that is allows the reader to grasp the nuances of the story without losing any meaning in translation. As an aspiring teacher in the Dual Language program, I am always looking for texts such as this one that can be good crossover texts for use in both the English and Spanish component classrooms. I think that this novel is a wonderful way to incorporate the story of Pablo Neruda’s life into the classroom in a way that would allow the students to connect their own experiences to Neruda’s.
I especially enjoyed the visual elements of this novel. Interspersed throughout the pages of the story are some of Neruda’s “Preguntas Esenciales” along with beautiful and visually stimulating images by Peter Sis. I think that these images would be especially important to students who are visual learners and not necessarily as engaged with texts and books as other students are. These quotes and drawings allow students to follow Neftalí’s journey without necessarily having to read every word of the text. I think that these visuals would stimulate readers’ imaginations and inspire them to think of their own questions about life and their own particular family lives or other situations. Neruda’s work oftentimes leaves readers with more questions than answers, and I think that this book speaks to that same idea in the way that imagination and creative thought are demonstrated as important and essential to Neruda’s quest in life, and can be in our lives as well.
I agree with Sarita’s comments about the illustrations and other graphic elements in the novel being “beautiful and visually stimulating.” In addition to reaching visual learners, as she suggests, I think they are a potentially great way to make this text accessible to English language learners. Ultimately I hope to work with middle school and high school English language learners. Pictures can be a great way to guide emerging English speakers through difficult texts. Unfortunately, I feel like most picture books are too juvenile for adolescents. The few books written for tween readers with illustrations, like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, are fun but lack deeper substance. The Dreamer, on the other hand, contains weighty themes for students to explore. The pictures in The Dreamer give new English speakers context to dive into a more challenging and age-appropriate novel. There is nothing childish about the illustrations in The Dreamer. Instead, they purposefully add to the overall appeal and meaning of text.
In the same vein, the excerpts of poetry scattered throughout the book and the visual representations of words would give ELLs a manageable set of vocabulary to really focus on. Students could work on understanding the poems and then practice writing question-poems of their own.
I want to respond to Sarah’s post about the idea of parents’ expectations in their childrens’ lives and gender roles. I think that especially in cultures where machismo is so present, gender roles are very rigid and expectations of conformity run high. During my time living in Guatemala, I noticed that many people thought of gender roles as concrete and set in stone. This idea that gender is not fluid and changing according to each person, but rather that there are only the male and female roles and all the traditional activities that are associated with these are the only acceptable ones for each gender was one that was infuriating to me at times. I think that it is important to examine any and all stereotypes associated with gender and norms, especially in areas where they intersect with themes of family and community.
I think that many times gender stereotypes are taken for granted as part of our lives, and questioning them is not even an option. Bringing these issues to the forefront of the discussion in our classrooms and our lives is important and necessary for self exploration as well as exploration of why and how we believe what we do. I think that even in an elementary school classroom, students will be able to use this book as a jumping off point to discuss the expectations that their parents and other family members have for them, as well as their own views on gender and expectations they hold for themselves.
The subject of gender roles is interesting in The Dreamer because, like Sarita eluded to, I am left with so many questions. Sure, we have the standard hard-nosed father with the son that doesn’t live up to his expectations…that’s a pretty obvious one and commonplace in literature. But the secondary characters provide such rich insight into how this story views gender roles. For example, Rodolfo follows the advice of Padre and goes into business, ditching his singing career. I want to know more about his story. Does that flame still linger inside? I think it does; when Rodolfo supports Neftalí’s literary ambitions at the dinner party, we can see how Rodolfo wants something different for his younger brother. It’s a nice detail. But I’m left wondering about Mamdre. In the beginning, we see glimpses of her going back and forth between the loving step-mom and Padre’s silent follower. For example, when they delve into the treasure chest with the old dresses, they have to immediately clean up when they hear the train whistle (a nice auditory detail; the book is filled with all these sensory cues when Padre comes like the whistle, his boots, his shadow, his steps). But we really get none of her insight—how does she feel about this situation? I guess I am confused because Neftalí talks about loving her so much, but I don’t think we get much of a glimpse of that love. Also, we don’t really see many of her reactions to Padre’s actions. I think she is one of the most interesting characters and want to break open that voice.
I also wonder, what would the story be like if told from Laurita’s point of view? Where would it be similar? Where would it be different? Would it matter that she is Mamadre’s daughter and younger (therefore Padre and Mamadre are older)?
I agree with Megan’s first post about the challenge of getting readers to relate to a text such as The Dreamer. I think it would be difficult to get struggling readers to get through such a lyrical and dreamlike book. The book is really challenging not only in terms of content, but the way it is written is stylistically so different from many children’s books. I wonder what age group/ reading level this book is specifically tailored to?
However, I think that the book would be really great for strong readers, maybe at the fifth grade reading level. I think that strong readers would be able to get through the lyrical prose and connect with the deeper meaning of the book. I think that older elementary and even younger junior high school readers would be able to grasp the important ideas of the book, as well as applying the reading to their own lives and family issues.
I want to respond to Dan’s post about Neftali’s father as a
“one-dimensional” character. I agree that his father was abusive
throughout the book. However, as I commented in class, I believe that
Munoz Ryan shows the complexity of his character at times. For instance,
on page 100, when Neftali and his father are in the forest, his father
engages him in a conversation about a beetle. At this rare moment,
Father shows a softer side of himself. Based on my experiences of
working at domestic violence agencies, Father’s sweetness, while
short-lived, is not surprising. Most people who abuse family members are
thoughtful and loving at times, one of the many reasons why survivors of
violence have hope that the abuse will stop. In addition, Father is
charming when he interacts with his employees from the railroad. Similar
to many people who abuse their family members, Father chooses to “turn
on” his charm when he is in a public setting. As a result, people
outside the family usually do not know about the abuse going on within the household. Given that Father’s abusive behavior is so common, I believe that many students, particularly those who are survivors of abuse and violence,
will be able to connect to The Dreamer and feel validated while reading.
At first, I did not like reading the Dreamer. I was having a difficult time understanding the author’s style and point. Once I got used to the writing style and understood that the story was from a creative eight-year old boy, I quickly loved the story. Neftali was a creative soul!