Catherine, Called Birdy

Title: Catherine, Called Birdy
Author: Karen Kushman
Publisher and date of publication: Clarion Book 1994
Genre: Historical Fiction (Multicultural)
Grade: 3-5
Newberry Honor Book

Catherine is a 14 year old girl living in the English countryside during the year 1291. Catherine also called Little Bird or Birdy is the daughter of an English country knight. Her favorite brother Edward who is a monk asked her to please keep a journal so that she can record the events of her life over the next year. Catherine of course saw no point in this journal however she decided to write in it for her brother. Catherine wrote of many things in her journal. She hated women chores and longed for adventure. She hoped to run away from her life of being a woman and become a crusader, a monk or something that only men could do. She wanted to explore the world outside of her manor and she the great things that the world had to offer. Catherine also wrote about how she hated her beastly father for thinking that he could sell her off to be married for whatever price he saw fit. She did not think of herself as cattle or something else that could be sold. Through out her story she ran off many suitors by being unlady like, playing tricks and so forth. It was that last suitor that gave her the most trouble, Shaggy Beard as she called him. Shaggy Beard was an old and nasty man who at the thought of him turned her stomach. She did not know how she was going to get rid of him. Catherine faced many other events throughout the book. She experienced the birth of her baby sister, death, marriage, broken hearts, hangings and many more events that took place in her life through the ones that she loved. In the end Catherine realized that she will always be woman but that nobody can change who she is inside. She decided to live the life that was chosen for her but with dignity, self respect and as the person she knew she was inside. She was married off not to Shaggy Beard but his son who was handsome and sweet. Catherine's journal ended there but her journey to a new and happy life was just beginning.

Catherine, Called Birdy was a wonderful book to read. What I liked most about it was that it was about a life of glitz and glamour during that time which is what you see in most stories. Instead it was about a young girl who lives a middle class life and the peasants that she surrounded herself with. It was about ordinary people and how they went about their everyday life instead of the life of kings and queens. Karen Cushman really captured the essence of era in her story. The words and sayings made me feel like I was tight there in the thirteenth century with Catherine. What amazed me the most was the description of foods that they ate. It consisted of things like eel pies, peacock, and things that I would have never imagined. She included how they took care of headache and other life needs with remedies they would cook up from dung, goose wax and things of that sort. It was just so captivating and seemed so real not just in parts but from start to finish. Catherine longed for adventure and so do I. I could understand her pain in not wanting to be and act like everyone else. She wanted to be an individual and do something great in her life. I also felt her pain in not wanting to be married off. I can't put my mind around the concept of marring someone you don't love and Cushman does a wonderful job at bringing what was once true back to reality. It made me really step back and think about how far we have come since then. I feel that any young girl would read this book and fall in love with Catherine. I believe we could all see a piece of ourselves in her.

There are so many ways that I could use this book in the classroom. It talks about many historical events that happen During the Middle Ages. Cushman has always loved history and made it a point to stick to true events throughout the story. Some of the issues that were addressed were arranged marriages, hangings, Jews being persecuted and moved to other lands. It also talked a lot of the crusades, how awful and full of death they were. The book also addressed life in the English countryside and how people lived. The style of houses, the food they ate, the games they played, chores and how they made a living raising goats, making linens or things of that sort. The whole book embraced the culture of the Middle Ages and I do feel that it would be a great introduction to that era. Another strong topic was religion. Back then everything that these people did revolved around their religion, every celebration, mass on Sundays, saint's days and many more. Their religion was them and they were their religion. It is a topic that can't be ignored and I would most definitely address the importance of this to my students and the effect it has on their lives. As a teacher I could also talk about the importance of a diary. How keeping them can alone someone to look back at their life and see how much they have grown. It can be an outlet for emotions and thoughts that you are feeling. So many positive things come from keeping a journal or diary that I could maybe have the class keep an in class journal of how they feel and the thoughts that they have. I could go in so many directions with this book that I would use it in my classroom. It is a great book and I highly recommend it.

http://www.kathimitchell.com/middleages.htm#Feudal%20Life
This is a great link for Middle Ages for kids. It allows you to choose your topic games, crusades etc. It then provides you with 3-4 links about that one topic that contain kid frindly pages. Check it out

Here are some more:

http://www.suelebeau.com/medievaltimes.htm

http://www.cambridgelibraries.ca/wizkids/wizkidlinks.cfm?categoryid=193