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A review by gymnerdreader
Be the Change: A Grandfather Gandhi Story by Bethany Hegedus, Arun Gandhi
5.0
Annotated Bibliography Entry: Be the Change by: Arun Gandhi
Summary:
Arun Gandhi spent 2 years living with his grandfather, Mohandas Gandhi in Sevagram Ashram, a village of sorts that abides by Gandhi's nonviolent philosophy. The pray together and work in the benefit for others and live by certain vows of nonviolence. Gandhi often invites his grandson, Arun with him when he speaks about his nonviolent philosophy. One of the things his grandfather preaches about is not being wasteful, which is something Arun has a hard time understanding. On his way home from school Arun throws his pencil into the grass and when he gets back to Ashram Gandhi tells him to go retrieve the pencil and not be wasteful because that is violence. Arun of course doesn't understand how being wasteful could be considered violent. Gandhi illustrates this by creating a tree consisting of physical and passive violence, he has Arun fill in examples of each and as the tree extends he begins to understand. Being wasteful is wasting resources not leaving enough for everyone else and that lack of resources could possibly create an uprising. The book closes with Arun realizing he must be the change, much like Gandhi was throughout his life.
Personal Response:
I know I say this about a lot of the books I have reviewed, but this is one that has to be read in schools because the message is so essential. A lot of people do not realize the impact a small decision could have on someone's life. Most do not think their actions and choices could possibly affect someone else. A lot of the lessons in this book remind me of a quote from 13 Reasons Why (the book) "Everything affects everything". This is one of my favorite quotes because of how true it is. Our decisions can have a big impact not just on ourselves, but on others as well. I do think this is a lesson that children should learn about. Children should also be encourage to "be the change they wish to see in the world" (Another favorite quote of mine!).
Descriptions of Illustrations:
It says on the back cover of the book that the illustrations incorporates multi media in it. I am not sure exactly what that means, but when you look at the illustrations there is quite a bit going on. Most would say it is busy, but I actually liked it. I liked the different uses of line and shape. I like how the illustrator used the various shapes whenever Gandhi was speaking. The illustrations illustrated how Gandhi's ideas were transmitted to Arun. I also liked the use of color because it really evoked a type of mood. For example, the colors were very drab to illustrate monsoon season. Overall, there is a lot to these illustrations and I think they were great to look at. I could see these being appealing to children.
Classrooms Connections:
Teachers could use this to talk about the nonviolence philosophy known as satyagraha. Teachers could have students brainstorm ways to practice nonviolence as well as the important implications this philosophy could have on the world. Teachers could also have students do what Gandhi had Arun do in the story. Teachers could have students add examples to a tree to illustrate different types of violence (although this could be done with other concepts as well). I thought this was an interesting way to illustrate this. Teachers could also use this book to teach more about Gandhi and students could do mini research on Gandhi and why he is important.
Summary:
Arun Gandhi spent 2 years living with his grandfather, Mohandas Gandhi in Sevagram Ashram, a village of sorts that abides by Gandhi's nonviolent philosophy. The pray together and work in the benefit for others and live by certain vows of nonviolence. Gandhi often invites his grandson, Arun with him when he speaks about his nonviolent philosophy. One of the things his grandfather preaches about is not being wasteful, which is something Arun has a hard time understanding. On his way home from school Arun throws his pencil into the grass and when he gets back to Ashram Gandhi tells him to go retrieve the pencil and not be wasteful because that is violence. Arun of course doesn't understand how being wasteful could be considered violent. Gandhi illustrates this by creating a tree consisting of physical and passive violence, he has Arun fill in examples of each and as the tree extends he begins to understand. Being wasteful is wasting resources not leaving enough for everyone else and that lack of resources could possibly create an uprising. The book closes with Arun realizing he must be the change, much like Gandhi was throughout his life.
Personal Response:
I know I say this about a lot of the books I have reviewed, but this is one that has to be read in schools because the message is so essential. A lot of people do not realize the impact a small decision could have on someone's life. Most do not think their actions and choices could possibly affect someone else. A lot of the lessons in this book remind me of a quote from 13 Reasons Why (the book) "Everything affects everything". This is one of my favorite quotes because of how true it is. Our decisions can have a big impact not just on ourselves, but on others as well. I do think this is a lesson that children should learn about. Children should also be encourage to "be the change they wish to see in the world" (Another favorite quote of mine!).
Descriptions of Illustrations:
It says on the back cover of the book that the illustrations incorporates multi media in it. I am not sure exactly what that means, but when you look at the illustrations there is quite a bit going on. Most would say it is busy, but I actually liked it. I liked the different uses of line and shape. I like how the illustrator used the various shapes whenever Gandhi was speaking. The illustrations illustrated how Gandhi's ideas were transmitted to Arun. I also liked the use of color because it really evoked a type of mood. For example, the colors were very drab to illustrate monsoon season. Overall, there is a lot to these illustrations and I think they were great to look at. I could see these being appealing to children.
Classrooms Connections:
Teachers could use this to talk about the nonviolence philosophy known as satyagraha. Teachers could have students brainstorm ways to practice nonviolence as well as the important implications this philosophy could have on the world. Teachers could also have students do what Gandhi had Arun do in the story. Teachers could have students add examples to a tree to illustrate different types of violence (although this could be done with other concepts as well). I thought this was an interesting way to illustrate this. Teachers could also use this book to teach more about Gandhi and students could do mini research on Gandhi and why he is important.