Cover To Cover Book Analysis

When it comes to children books, fictional children books are definitely one of the more popular types for kids. In Cover to Cover by Kathleen Horning, she defines fiction as types of books that “offer a rich diversity of style, content, and form to satisfy a variety of tastes, interests, and abilities of young readers” (Horning 138). The book that I chose that I feel relates well with Horning’s definition of fiction is Katherine Paterson’s story Bridge to Terabithia for a couple of reasons. One of them is that Horning talks about how fictional books have many genres and one of them is fantasy Paterson’s story. I believe this fits well with how Horning describes fantasy fiction books. Another aspect in Cover to Cover’s fiction chapter

that I feel relates with Paterson’s story is the point of view aspect which as Horning defines as “the vantage point from which the action in the story is viewed and related” (Horning 156). One of the vantage points that Horning talks about is the omniscient viewpoint and I feel Paterson does a great job utilizing this type of narration throughout the story. While reading through this book, I also noticed a few American ideologies that are present in the story which were: friendship, gender roles, and finally education.
There are many literary genres for children’s books and one that is gaining in popularity is the one of fantasy. Horning describes the fantasy genre as “stories that take place in an imaginary world created by the author” (Horning 142). In Paterson’s story most of the story takes place in the land of Terabithia as it serves as Jesse Aaron and Leslie Burke’s fantasy get away land. Terabithia is the ideal fantasy fiction because Terabithia is a symbol of idealized childhood; a perfect world in which children can rule supreme without the heavy responsibilities of adulthood. Nothing bad can alter the rulers of Terabithia, no matter what the obstacle, they can always emerge victorious. The place provided a ‘safe haven’ for Leslie and Jess. However, Terabithia is not an absolute sanctuary, which is shown when Leslie dies. She drowns in the creek which is the border between the perfect world of Terabithia and the world of reality. By having this happen, Patterson is suggesting that Leslie is frozen forever on the borderline between childhood and adulthood, which is symbolized by the creek itself as the bridge to Terabithia giving the book its fantasy genre. The other aspect that Horning talks about in the fiction chapter of Cover to Cover is the different types of vantage points.

Paterson uses what Horning calls is the omincenset point of view. This point of view is defined as “the author can move inside the story and enter thoughts and feelings of any of the characters” (Horning pg. 156). Horning also points out that the ominscnesnt vantage point is the easiest for younger readers to comprehend as well. Throughout Patterson’s novel, we see the omniscient viewpoint because she is always moving from the different viewpoints of mainly Jesse and Leslie throughout the book which allows the kids to gain different perspectives of how each character is feeling at the certain time. It definitely can make the story easy for young readers to follow too because since it is not just one person’s thoughts. The fact the author bounces around to all the characters, makes the kids have a better idea of what is going on throughout the entire story.

An ideology is something that is a system of ideas/ideals that especially forms the basis of economic or political theories. American ideologies are a very important aspect into what makes our country what it is today and in Bridge to Terabithia, we are able to see a few of these ideologies present in the novel. One of the ideologies we see in this novel is the concept of friendship. Jess and Leslie’s friendship is a great example because their youthful adventures are filled with

amusement and joy. Another important aspect of Jess and Leslie's friendship being so key is because it allows them to celebrate the concept of childhood and to escape the rest of the pressures that bear down on them so heavily in the rest of their own lives. Jess, in particular, leads a life full of everyday adversity and dissatisfaction with all the races he partakes in at recess. Readers can maybe feel that before Leslie came along, he was in danger of sinking under the weight of these pressures and unwillingly accepting conformity. With their respective differences, it is the vital beauty of their friendship since it allows both Leslie and Jess (mainly Jess), to find their true selves. This seems to be Paterson's central point about friendship, which it allows friends to expand, to explore new dimensions of one's self as a result of the other person's pushing one in new directions which is how she shows the ideology of friendship. Another ideology present in Paterson’s novel is the gender role ideology. In this ideology what it essentially is, is that it is as a set of attitudes and beliefs about the proper roles of women and men in family or society. In Paterson’s story we see the ideology of gender roles present when Jess is expected to fit into a certain mold, but that mold is a masculine one only. Jess's father is disparaging of his artistic ability, calling it a “girl's pastime” (Paterson 22). Jess's classmates laugh at the fact he shows a tendency wanting to avoid brawling whenever possible. In regards to Leslie, she has her own family disapproval to deal with because she does not fit easily into a feminine category, with her short hair and athletic ability. Even though they may be different from what gender role they’re supposed to be, it is part of what draws Jess to her. She has a liberating force that she exerts over all his cramped confinement. Leslie shows him that he does not need to fulfill an abnormally masculine role, and that he is free to be himself without any reference to the gender stereotypes. While it may seem that Paterson is challenging gender roles, she actually is praising them because while Leslie is more on the free spirited side, Paterson is showing that even though we may not fit into ‘gender roles’ it doesn’t matter as long as we are ourselves that is all that matters at the end showing that all genders are equal. A final American ideology that Paterson shows in her story is the ideology of education. In this ideology, it focuses more on the aspect of the importance of education and teaching others. Paterson shows this by having Jess have little exposure to intellectual desire and curiosity until he meets the Burkes. They are very intelligent and highly educated, a quality that sets Jess interesting at first. Certainly their education forms a crucial difference between them and the rest of the people in the area. As Jess gets to know Leslie, he eagerly consumes her books and excitedly plunges himself in the imaginary world of Terabithia. Jesse does not adapt her education overnight, but the seeds of intelligence and desire to learn are firmly planted in him you can say. If he'll never be the scholarly that either of Leslie's parents are, the gap between them is not as wide as he imagines early on. Paterson then leaves us wanting Jesse to have had the chance to have the education that Leslie has since when he see does have it, he becomes a better person similar to Leslie.
Not only did Bridge to Terabithia have connections to Cover to Cover it also was able to show a few American ideologies as well. While reading books like Paterson’s we can now have a much greater appreciation for these kind of stories because of what the author has in them. Before, examining for these ideologies was not something I would think of doing, but now learning about them, it gives a whole new perspective to children’s chapter books that I never could be possible.