The Orange Shoes

Contrary to the message of advertising companies who want us to buy their things, this fine story of Delly Porter shows that poverty and happiness can overlap.  Delly walks to school barefoot but takes joy in the soft, silky feel of the dirt road beneath her feet.  She happily pursues art with a stubby pencil, recycled envelopes, and homemade paints.

The story also shows that wealth and happiness are not synonymous.  Delly is bullied at school because of her family's poverty.  These actions reveal less about Delly's physical needs than they do about the personal needs of those engaging in the bullying.When Delly's teacher, Ms. Violet, announces an annual fundraiser, a Shoebox Social, in order to raise funding for art supplies, Delly asks her parents for a badly needed new pair of shoes.  Somehow, her parents scrap together the money to buy her a beautiful pair of orange shoes.  Because they equate money and possessions with value and because they want to be more valuable than someone else, the same bullies now decide to damage Delly's new shoes.  Delly shows her strength of character, using her artistic abilities to beautifully repair her damaged shoes and to create a winning shoebox for the school fundraiser.

 

 

                            

As extensions, we read several articles about the dangers of equating materialism with happiness.  We also looked at daily life in a one room schoolhouse.

Links:
http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/En/News/NewsAndFeatures/Pages/materialism-coping-mechanism-children.aspx
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE87K0QV20120821?irpc=932
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/7-reasons-why-materialistic-stuff-doesnt-lead-happiness.html
http://www.cedu.niu.edu/blackwell/oneroom/aboutStudents.shtml
http://www.cedu.niu.edu/blackwell/oneroom/typicalDay.shtml