Life Lessons from Beloved Children’s Book Characters  S. 5 Ep. 68

Listen to this episode to revisit some beloved children’s book characters and see what lessons they have to teach us!

Show Notes: 

Episode Summary:

We all love children’s books. Reading stories provides great lessons for our classrooms, but our most beloved storybook friends also have a few life lessons for us as teachers and adults. What do our favorite storybook characters have to teach us? Check out this episode to see if we reference your favorite children’s story character AND to see what important life lessons we can learn from these beloved fictional characters.

Introduction:

We love children’s books. Since you are a teacher, we are guessing you do too.

When we read these books, we escape to a new world. So do our students. We also use these books to help our students learn important life lessons. But as an adult, especially as a teacher, have you ever considered what your favorite characters have to teach you?  Well, as true book lovers we couldn’t resist that challenge.

Here are the life lessons we, as teachers and adults, can learn from our favorite children’s book characters:

Ramona from the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary

Life Lesson: Assume that others have the best intention, even if they are making things difficult for you.

Ramona often finds herself in trouble, but she doesn’t mean to be a mischief maker. Like many children, Ramona is impulsive and inventive, a combination that can lead to trouble. She really does have good intentions though the receivers of her actions often don’t feel that way.

This is how Ramona describes herself:  “My name is Ramona. I’m nine and three months, and no matter what my sister Beezus tells you, I’m not a pest. My dad says I just having overactive imagination, which does come in handy. It makes the fun parts funner and the scary parts scarier.”

There is a lot we can learn from Ramona. Remember when your students get into trouble that they rarely mean to cause harm. Remember when your family members annoy you that they are probably doing the best they can in the moment with what they have. The same can be true for co-workers and administrators.

Alexander from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

Life Lesson: Some days are going to be awful but tomorrow will be better.

You all likely remember that Alexander is having a bad day. Chances are, you are going to have a bad day, all teachers do. You may want to run away to Australia, but know that tomorrow will be better.

The book ends with this quote: “It’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. My mom says some days are like that. Even in Australia.”

On your way home from work, or before you lay your head down for the night, you might think that it’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. We’ve all been there. Many times. We all need to remember that some days are just like that…even in the schools with more resources, the families with more financial means, or whatever looks better than the place or space in which you experienced your bad day.

Lily from Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

Life Lesson: Disagreements will happen but it is possible to make up and move on without holding a grudge.

In this well- known story, Lily and her teacher Mr. Slinger have a disagreement. You are going to have a disagreement with a student, with your significant other, your principal, your friend or your coworker. In the end, Lily and Mr. Slinger make up. They don’t hold a grudge, which is good advice for all teachers.

We love the simple way Kevin Henkes addressed this in the book. He said, “Today was a difficult day. Tomorrow will be better.” That is a mantra we could all live by.

Curious George from the series by H.A. and Margaret Rey

Life Lesson: Don’t lose your curiosity. Be curious in your life and work.

Curious George is curious! That is what makes him endearing. We love his inquisitiveness. This quote from The Complete Works of Curious George, reminds us about the power of curiosity, “Curiosity is a powerful thing. It can lead to great discoveries.”

Teachers should remember to encourage and love children who are inquisitive, even when they are adventurous “little monkeys” like George. We also should remember to hold on to that curiosity as adults. When did we lose that curiosity and what steps can we take to get it back? That is a question we should all be asking ourselves.

We love this quote from The Complete Works of Curious George, “Curiosity is a powerful thing. It can lead to great discoveries.”

Anne from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Life Lesson: Be an optimist and embrace each day as a new adventure.

Anne is an eternal optimist. She wears her heart on her “puffed sleeves.”  Most children are optimistic.  Teachers can follow their lead, embracing each new day and each new adventure as Anne does.

Consider this quote from Anne, “It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will”. It doesn’t get more optimistic than that.

Then there’s this quote about embracing each day as a new adventure, “When I left Queen’s my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don’t know what lies around the bend, but I’m going to believe that the best does. It has a fascination of its own, that bend, Marilla.”

Wow! Imagine how our lives would be different if we looked at challenges this way.

Flat Stanley from Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown

Life Lesson: Resilience and Explore New Things/Places

When a bulletin board falls on him and he becomes flat, Stanley doesn’t despair. He adjusts! He is resilient and makes the most of his situation. Teachers, and all adults, will always have days when things don’t go as planned. Like Stanley, we need to be flexible and pick ourselves up and move on. We also can take life’s bumps as an opportunity to learn more things.

How many Flat Stanleys have traveled the world because they could be packed up in envelopes and shipped to family and friends?

Consider this quote from the book: “Stanley enjoyed going in and out of rooms by sliding through the crack at the bottom of the door.” Flat Stanley was definitely resilient, making the most of his situation. Because of that Flat Stanley is probably the best-known world traveling book character. How cool is that?

What life lessons have you learned from children’s book characters?  We would love to hear your ideas in the comments section!

Conclusion:

To quote author George Orwell, “The best books… are those that tell you what you know already.”

The information we shared with you today is not anything that you didn’t already know. In fact, we hope this trip down memory lane, helped you reconnect with book characters that you already know and love. We hope it helped you remember the important life lessons we can learn from these beloved characters.

At Inspired Together Teachers, our motto is “Work life. Home life. Best life.” We appreciate that these book characters help us learn how to accomplish that lofty but necessary goal.

Recap:

 Our most beloved storybook friends have a few life lessons for us as adults and teachers. Today we revisited some of our favorite children’s story characters and explored the important life lessons we can learn from these beloved fictional characters- assume the best intention in others (thanks, Ramona), some days will be difficult but tomorrow will be better (great reminder, Alexander), move on from disagreements without a grudge (per Lily), be curious (good advice from that little monkey, George), be an optimistic adventurer (thanks Anne with an E), and be a resilient explorer (per our flat friend Stanley).

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Books are tagged in the show notes above. If you purchase a book through our link, we receive a small percentage of the total cost at no extra cost for you. This allows us to pay for the production costs of this podcast.

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