Point of View
For Christmas last year, Gideon got a wonderful set of Sesame Street ABC books published 
through Reader's Digest. The collection is really neat, with each book focusing on a different letter of the alphabet and all 26 books forming a cute little picture when they're all on the shelf. They're a great way to teach kids about different letters, and while Gideon doesn't understand that quite yet, right now, those are his favorite books.
However...
The English major in me is having a huge problem with the "Z" book. (Okay, so huge is an overstatement. It's more like a little annoyance.) Below is the entire text from the book. See if something rubs you the wrong way:
Zoe's Z Book
"Oh, Zoe," called her sitter. "It's time to go to bed." *
"Oh zounds, oh zoot, it couldn't be. I'd rather play instead."
"I'm playing I'm a zookeeper, I'm tending to my zoo.
"Zookeepers don't have time for bed. There's much too much to do."
"Now zip off to your bath, my dear," the baby sitter said.
But I was in a zany mood, and zigzagged off instead. **
I blew big bubbles in my bath, and popped them all with zest.
I zoomed a sailboat through the waves, and capsized all the rest.
I zippered up my sleepsuite. My sitter tucked me in.
I cuddled with my zebra doll, the quilt pulled to my chin.
"Are you asleep?" the sitter called. "You've had a busy day."
But Zoe, zapped and zonking out, had just one thing to say... ***
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Apparently, the author and the editors at RD either didn't catch or chose to ignore one of the main guildelines of writing: maintaining point of view! The book begins in third person at the (*) with, "called her sitter." But then it changes to first person at the (**) with, "but I was in a zany mood..." Why? Why does it change? Then, it switches back one last time at the end (***) with, "But Zoe, zapped and zonking out..."
I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out why they wrote it this way, and I just can't think of any logical reason. It reminds me of those people who always refer to themselves in the third person, which is totally one of my pet peeves!
But, as this has been bugging her for several days now, Emily might have to write the people at RD a nice little letter...
through Reader's Digest. The collection is really neat, with each book focusing on a different letter of the alphabet and all 26 books forming a cute little picture when they're all on the shelf. They're a great way to teach kids about different letters, and while Gideon doesn't understand that quite yet, right now, those are his favorite books.However...
The English major in me is having a huge problem with the "Z" book. (Okay, so huge is an overstatement. It's more like a little annoyance.) Below is the entire text from the book. See if something rubs you the wrong way:
Zoe's Z Book
"Oh, Zoe," called her sitter. "It's time to go to bed." *
"Oh zounds, oh zoot, it couldn't be. I'd rather play instead."
"I'm playing I'm a zookeeper, I'm tending to my zoo.
"Zookeepers don't have time for bed. There's much too much to do."
"Now zip off to your bath, my dear," the baby sitter said.
But I was in a zany mood, and zigzagged off instead. **
I blew big bubbles in my bath, and popped them all with zest.
I zoomed a sailboat through the waves, and capsized all the rest.
I zippered up my sleepsuite. My sitter tucked me in.
I cuddled with my zebra doll, the quilt pulled to my chin.
"Are you asleep?" the sitter called. "You've had a busy day."
But Zoe, zapped and zonking out, had just one thing to say... ***
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Apparently, the author and the editors at RD either didn't catch or chose to ignore one of the main guildelines of writing: maintaining point of view! The book begins in third person at the (*) with, "called her sitter." But then it changes to first person at the (**) with, "but I was in a zany mood..." Why? Why does it change? Then, it switches back one last time at the end (***) with, "But Zoe, zapped and zonking out..."
I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out why they wrote it this way, and I just can't think of any logical reason. It reminds me of those people who always refer to themselves in the third person, which is totally one of my pet peeves!
But, as this has been bugging her for several days now, Emily might have to write the people at RD a nice little letter...
posted by Emily Ryan at
1:49 PM
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