- Illustrated by Kathryn Brown
- 29 pages
Not the gasping, choking crying of a sudden overload of emotion, but the silent, steady stream of tears that comes after a slow, deliberate build of well-placed emotional triggers.
The Old Woman Who Named Things (Old Woman), by Cynthia Rylant, tells a story of an old woman determined to call by name only those things that will outlive her, in order to avoid losing any more friends. The imagery and characterization of inanimate objects will entertain children, while the motivation behind such characterization will resonate heavily with the adults reading with them.
When I consider what makes this book so effective for a wide range of readers, I cannot help but compare it to another of Rylant's books: An Angel for Solomon Singer (Angel for Solomon). Like Old Woman, Angel for Solomon centers around an elderly protagonist struggling with feelings of loneliness and fear. However, where Old Woman is a story that can be enjoyed by audiences of all ages, Angel for Solomon is likely to appeal primarily to an older audience. Though I believe upper middle school students could use it to explore literary analysis, I doubt many of them would appreciate or enjoy the story until they were much older.
The primary distinction Old Woman has from Angel for Solomon, I've concluded, is its humor. In Angel for Solomon, young readers cannot connect with Solomon's emotions and longings- they simply have not had enough life experience for it to resonate. Thus, while they can admire Peter Catalanotto's gorgeous artwork, there is little in the story for a young audience to truly grab onto and say "I get it!" Connection with a text is imperative for true appreciation, and in Old Woman, Rylant (and illustrator Kathryn Brown) provide this connection for their younger audiences through the humor of the main character.
Despite the origin of her naming ritual, Rylant presents the old woman's predilection with naming inanimate objects in a matter-of-fact and humorous manner:
"Once there was an old woman who loved to name things.
She named the old car she drove "Betsy."
She named the old chair she sat in "Fred."
She named the old bed she slept on "Roxanne."
And she named her old house "Franklin."
The Old Woman Who Named Things, page 2
Note that Rylant says the old woman "loved" naming things. This positive association with her character defining trait immediately presents the character in a happy context. Regardless of what will later be revealed has her reasons for naming things, Rylant makes clear up front that the old woman loves doing it, and makes her a character who evokes our empathy rather than our pity. This introduction is followed by some truly absurd naming. A car named Betsy? A chair named Fred? A house named FRANKLIN? I can just hear children giggling. Children love names; names are some of the very first words they learn, and children understand even at an early age that they have great importance. The idea of giving a human name to your furniture is a funny one, and I can imagine students going home after this read aloud and announcing to their parents that they are going to name their desk "Sally".
Brown's illustrations of the old woman and her things supports Rylant's characterization. The old woman is long and thin, with goofy hair that wraps up her head, and mis-matched clothes that are at once typically "old woman" and unique: for example, on the book's cover she wears a red cardigan and has glasses sliding down her nose, but on her feet are jazzy cowboy boots. She wears the boots in nearly every illustration, and they become visually as much a part of her character as the habit of naming things. Ultimately, the character that emerges is one who does not feel sorry for herself, and so as readers, we do not feel sorry for her either. Older readers (like yours truly!) may cry, but it is less for the old woman than it is for the way in which she makes us examine our own future. Younger readers will simply get caught up in the story of the old woman and the puppy.
Oh yes. There's a puppy. Still wondering why I cried? Without giving anything away, the old woman's interactions with the puppy and the absolutely adorable way in which Brown draws the puppy are further ways in which the story will engage young readers, while continuing to twist the hearts of the older ones.
It is notable that the titular "old woman" does not herself have a name. She is simply "the old woman", and I think that gives her a unique accessibility, particularly in a story populated by so many different names. She could be anyone's grandmother, mother, aunt or neighbor. Though the illustrations pin her down as a caucasian character, it would be interesting to read this story a group of people (children and/or adults) without the illustrations, and then ask them to draw their own portrait of the old woman. I would predict that people of all different backgrounds and heritages would draw portraits reflecting their own experience.
More than anything, this story highlights the power of names as a point of connection, and it is this theme which I believe will resonate with any reader, regardless of age.
