Kent Rasmussen
Mark Twain is certainly no longer with us in the flesh but his words live on. This was clearly the case when he was quoted no less than 5 times at a two-day conference I just attended devoted to adolescent literature. Sonya Sones, a poet, used the quote "To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence, is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself...Anybody can have ideas--the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph." (Letter to Emeline Beach, 2/10/1868) to help in her summation of the poetic form of writing that she uses. Kelly Easton used the quote that "Man is the only animal who blushes--or needs to." (Following the Equator (1897)) in her discussion of her books which relate to current issues. And finally, one of the really big names in children's literature-Christopher Paul Curtis know for his humorous books used Mark Twain's words "The secret source of humor is not joy but sorrow;..."
Kent Rasmussen is another author who revels in the words, wisdom and wit of Mark Twain and he would have been pleased to hear all of these references. After all he has been acclaimed for his two books Mark Twain A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Writings and The Quotable Mark Twain: His Essential Aphorisms, Witticisms & Concise Opinions. Kent has now taken his vast knowledge and produced two books for younger readers. Mark Twain's Book for Bad Boys and Girls and the most recent one Mark Twain for Kids published by The Chicago Press. Kent himself is quite an interesting fellow. He was once a contestant on Jeopardy and knows all too well the stress and skill required to hit that button just at the right time. For those who have been fans of the show, the new format of carrying on with the winner may be less an attraction because as we all know, the long term winner has several advantages-practice makes perfect and intimidation. As Kent pointed out, Ken Jennings, the all-time Jeopardy winner is merely an average player in final jeopardy where timing with the buzzer doesn't matter. That sort of information gives you a little tiny glimpse into Kent's life and experiences. His real passions have been language, literature and Mark Twain. When did all of this interest start? In the introduction on page vii to Mark Twain for Kids, Kent states that he read Tom Sawyer at the age of nine and he didn't want the story to end. He has since read the book at least ten times. One of the scenes vividly stuck in his mind is set at school where Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher are alone at lunch and they take a sneak peek at a book the schoolmaster is constantly reading. Becky accidentally tears the frontispiece and they are really frightened. The angry schoolmaster starts down each row asking each student if he or she did the damage. Tom who has been fighting with Becky and is still angry with her, knows that she cannot lie and that she will be severely punished. Tom suddenly confesses that he did it and takes the beating. The relationship between the two changes and for Kent it was also a "changing moment" in his life. He began reading everything written by Twain and later began compiling all of his pithy, quotable remarks. Kent's book Mark Twain for Kids was actually written twice. The first attempt was targeted to an older group than the editors had in mind. Therefore, he wrote it again, and I am sure that most will agree that it is most appropriate for the target audience Middle readers). In addition to a fascinating text that describes the life of this great American writer and humorist, Kent developed all of the related activities. He wanted to come up with projects that would teach and be true to the spirit of Mark Twain. For example, there is one activity that challenges kids to invent words-something Mark Twain would do. In addition to the activities, Kent was also responsible for researching and creating the images that fill the pages of the book. Since many of the images were originals or part of bound books, Kent scanned them; he wanted and needed to preserve the originals. (He was working on another book at the time for Facts on File entitled Mark Twain: A to Z and could not send both publishers the originals). Another goal was to present pictures that had been rarely seen which would add a freshness and uniqueness to his book. Kent also made suggestions as to the placement of the images and one of his scans is on the cover of the book. His approach to the text was to relate as much of Mark Twain's life as possible while demonstrating its relationship to what the author wrote. Thus, the text moves back and forth between Mark Twain's experiences and his books and speeches. Kent told me that he did not gloss over the hardships of Mark Twain's early life-epidemics, violence and the uncertainly of life, including economic factors. Many people were not living well during that time. Mark Twain was sympathetic to the issues of civil rights and slavery and what it was doing to the country. Slaves in Hannibal had it bad and his own father was not kind to his slaves. If you look closely at the pictures and read the text you will observe that Mark Twain did not wear a white suit for most of his life-that image and person came much later and of course has been reinforced by Hal Holbrook's one man show and the standard photographic image that seems to be so ubiquitous. Enjoy the pictures, learn about the man and his works, and if you are so inclined have a go at the activities. It is a great way to introduce this icon of American literature and perhaps encourage readers to pick up copies of the original stories.Contributor: Marilyn Courtot
Reviews
Mark Twain for Kids: His Life and Times, 21 Activities
R. Kent Rasmussen
Young readers and adults alike will enjoy learning just how many of Tom Sawyer's adventures were once Sam Clemens' adventures--and just the sheer number of Clemens' adventures is mind-boggling. At a time when most people lived and died in the same town, doing the same work all their lives, Clemens worked as a typesetter, a fully-licensed steamboat pilot on the Mississippi, a gold miner in the west, a newspaper reporter, and a storyteller--all before he was 30 years old. Later he would travel the world to lecture and gather material for more stories. He was famous and well-paid in his own lifetime, though he met with great sorrow by outliving his wife and three of his four children. This biography is written in short sections filled with strange or funny anecdotes, illustrations from Clemens' books and marvelous large photos of Clemens, his family, and his homes. The book bogs down toward the end when Clemens is writing more and moving around less, but there are plenty of hands-on activities--carving a potato to learn how old-fashioned type was set, an exercise in posing for a 19th century photographer to understand why everyone in these old photos looks so serious, an exercise in capturing the nuances of real human speech as Clemens does so well, and instructions for making a slate or a scrapbook (Clemens actually patented and sold a self-pasting scrapbook). There is plenty of fascinating, excellent information for young people to read or teachers to share about this most famous of American humorists, even the origin of his pen name Mark Twain. It was a term used by Mississippi steamboatmen to indicate the river was at "mark twain" or two fathoms, the dividing point between safe and dangerously shallow water. 2004, Chicago Review Press, $14.95. Ages 10 up. Reviewer: Karen Leggett (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 1-5565-2527-3
Added 2005
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