My Great-Aunt Arizona (edition 1997)

Gloria Houston's My Great-Aunt Arizona is a delight from start to finish, presenting a biographical sketch of the author's aunt, a book-loving girl who grew up to be the teacher in her small Appalachian community's one-room schoolhouse, nourishing the minds and spirits of many generations of students. Named after the state of Arizona, where her older brother was stationed at the time of her birth, Arizona Houston (Arizona Houston Hughes, as she would one day become) was a girl with many interests, from growing flowers to square dancing on a Saturday night. But nothing ever eclipsed her love of words, and nothing - not the death of her mother, not the necessity of caring for her father and younger brother - ever put an end to her desire to get a good education.

A tribute both to a beloved family member, and to the noble profession of teaching - the "most influential profession in the world," according to the author's dedication - this lovely picture-book is also a visual treat, featuring beautiful illustrations by Susan Condie Lamb. The artwork sings with joy, from the scene in which Arizona leaps about with abandon, at the square dance, to that in which she returns home as a teacher, striding confidently into her bright new future. I don't know that My Great-Aunt Arizona, for all its charm, is a particularly earth-shattering book, but its almost perfect blend of textual and visual narrative gives it immense appeal. ( )

A wonderfully illustrated story of the life of a school teacher who spent her days teaching in a one room school house in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Another great book for young readers to explore how schools worked in the past. ( )

My Great-Aunt Arizona was written by Gloria Houston and illustrated by Susan Condie Lamb. The29-page book, intended for the k-4 grade levels, is a biography about Arizona Houston-Hughes, a young woman who was taught in a one room schoolroom and later taught in a one room schoolroom and influenced generations of students through her teaching. Being a fan of pioneer books I enjoyed the descriptions of Blue Ridge Mountain life in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The illustrations evoke memories of the Little House on the Prairie books with the simplicity of line and water-washed illustrations of pioneer life.

In truth though, I was confused about the intended audience of this book. Was is it intended to show students how important their teacher is? Or was it intended for future teachers to give them a pep talk about how much of an influence they can have on future generations in their classroom? If it was intended for a younger audience to make them appreciate their teacher, I don't find this lesson, and thus would not pick it to read to them, needful as most elementary students I know are in no doubt as to their feelings about their teacher positive or negative. This is the person who has power over recess or no recess, for goodness sake. If intended for future teachers, or a reaffirmation to ones that are already working, I think it is sweet but not in the correct format for such an endeavor as the pictures and vocabulary are clearly intended for a younger audience. When reading a good book, a book that has successfully conveyed a clear message, I do not think I should have to ask these sorts of questions.

Which brings me to how I could use this in an elementary classroom. I enjoy it for its information about living in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the late 1800's. The accuracy of the book is based on the first person stories that were told to the author. While not a primary source maybe for a history/social studies lesson, it is still a very visible one (through the illustrations) and one that has many unique moments of insight. That the mailman had to come on horseback, the gathering and preparing of maple sap, making snow cream, and the blab schools are all great examples of historical attributes, and could even be drawn over to a geographical lesson. Now that I think about it I also think the book has potential for students just starting to think about careers. I know that I had mine all picked out pretty quickly after I found out you had to have a degree to be a marine biologist and it did influence many of my decisions from about third grade until eighth or ninth, when I promptly decided another career was preferable. But books that show us the good, or points out a person who did great things in a career are needed so that students can begin the long process of picking a career. In this way I think My Great Aunt Arizona does a fairly good job of creating a life that sets an example for further exploration into a teaching career. I simply wish I could have felt a greater focus in this book, and that it have an organization based on this focus (the organization giving greater time or focus to the message). ( )

Summary:
This book is about a lady named Arizona. She was born in a log cabin. The family one day got a letter from her brother saying that if the baby is a girl he wants them to name her Arizona. It talks about the hobbies she enjoyed to do. Arizona went to school to became teacher. Arizona died on her 93rd birthday with her memories in her students minds.

Personal reaction: I really enjoyed this book because I want to become a teacher just like Arizona was. By the struggles she went through showed me that anything is possible.

Classroom Extension:
1. Have to students write in there journals about their hobbies.
2. Have a discussion on what it would like if we where in a one room building trying to learn.

This is a good example of historical fiction because it starts with the narrator’s aunt being born 90 years ago and tells about where she lived what she wore the kind of school she went to and other things about the time she grew up in and how it’s changed.
Characterization: Aunt Arizona is a round character because you know a lot about her and what she is like.
media: water color and pencil ( )