Beacon Press: Welcome to Lizard Motel
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Welcome to Lizard Motel

Protecting the Imaginative Lives of Children

Author: Barbara Feinberg

Welcome to Lizard Motel is one of the most surprising books about reading and writing to come along in years. Not only does this rich and wonderfully readable memoir explore the world of children and stories, it also asks us to look at how our children are growing up. Barbara Feinberg suggests that we have lost touch with the organic unfolding of childhood, with that mysterious time when making things up helps deepen a child’s understanding of the world. This book will reacquaint readers with the special nature of children’s imaginations and why they need to be protected and fostered.
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“Fresh and wonderfully readable . . . perfect for parents eager to cultivate their kids’ fantasy lives and foster a passion for literature.” -Michelle Green, People

“The implications of this small book are quite large. Parents will want to read it, as will writers, publishers and educators.” -Publishers Weekly, starred review

“I loved this book. Feinberg is a brave woman to challenge every shibboleth of the schools of education.” -Diane Ravitch, author of The Language Police

Welcome to Lizard Motel turns out to be more than a diatribe against the dark subject matter of YA problem novels . . . Only a reader as attuned to realism as Feinberg could have puzzled out so nuanced a defense of imagination in children’s lives.” -Laura Miller, New York Times Book Review

“When we place the steady diet of ‘problem’ novels in the context of the hours children spend being electronically bombarded by graphic, unremitting trauma, Feinberg’s concerns . . . become not just comprehensible, but urgent.” -Susan Linn, Boston Globe

Reviews

Review by: Mary Pipher, Author Reviving Ophelia and The Shelter of Each Other - September 7, 2005
"Feinberg's ideas should become part of our cultural dialogue on the needs of children."
Review by: Michelle Green, People Magazine - September 7, 2005
"Fresh and wonderfully readable, this quirky book is perfect for parents eager to cultivate their kids' fantasy lives and foster a passion for literature."
Review by: Laura Miller, New York Times Book Review - September 7, 2005
"Only a reader as attuned to realism as Feinberg could have puzzled out so nuanced a defense of imagination in children's lives."
Review: Publishers Weekly - September 7, 2005
"The implications of this small book are quite large. Parents will want to read it, as will writers, publishers and educators."
Review by: Noelle Oxenhandler, Author of The Eros of Parenthood - September 7, 2005
"With this book, Barbara Feinberg has created something quite extraordinary: a profound and penetrating critique that unfolds like a mystery. Pursuing her own sense that something is wrong in the schoolhouse, Welcome to Lizard Motel identifies a herd of dangerously sacred cowsóand slaughters them, one by one."
Review by: Susan Linn, Boston Globe - September 4, 2005
"When we place the steady diet of 'problem' novels in the context of the hours children spend being electronically bombarded by graphic, unremitting trauma, Feinberg's concerns . . . become not just comprehensible, but urgent."

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Welcome to Lizard Motel

ISBN: 978-080707145-8
Publication Date: 9/7/2005
Pages: 216
Size: x Inches (US)
Price:  $15.00
Format: 
Availability: In stock.