The association of trees with Life, both in the worldly plane and that of the gods, is a universal concept that spans both space and time. Evidence that humans accorded trees with a special status and equated them with the spiritual world can be found in virtually every religion and every ancient culture . . . Crann Bethadh was depicted as a tree with a stout trunk, its many branches swirling up to meet the sky above while its equally numerous roots expanded into the earth below . . . they (the Celts) recognized that trees were the center of all that occurred. Their ability to create life from the sunlight and water abundant in the air and the soil fed the herbivorous and omnivorous species, including man. Celts realized that the absence of greenery would be the absence of life itself -- The Mythologian
The illustration is by Marc Simonetti
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"In the happy country of fairies, one leaves it only to find one’s way back. One suffers only to become happy, whereas pain is for us an enigma and life a struggle without end where the better people are the first to fall." Edouard Laboulaye
The illustration of the book elf is by Jean Batiste Monge.
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And we still have war.
What Fairy Tales will be read to these children as they leave their home in Ukraine to start a new life in another world?
Fairy tales came about as people created fantasies to capture the imagination, relieve the difficult moments. and offer hope.
After all these centuries, the stories have evolved, been written down, and even illustrated.
But we still have war, and children on trains who are leaving home and the life they knew.
Photo taken in Kyiv train station. Credit Daily Sabah.
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Fantasy, Hope, and Tales That Were Told
"By entering the world of fantasy and imagination, children and adults secure for themselves a safe space where fears can be confronted, mastered, and banished. Beyond that the real magic of the fairy tale lies in its ability to extract pleasure from pain. In bringing to life the dark figures of our imagination as ogres, witches, cannibals, and giants, fairy tails may stir up dread, but in the end they always supply the pleasure of seeing it vanquished." -- Maria Tatar in her Introduction to The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales.
The illustration is by Rima Staines.
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Snow White -- The Original Brutal Ending of the Tale for Adults
The Grimm's stories, taken from the timeless adult oral tales that reflected the hard, uncertain and often brutal lives of ordinary people were modified for children in the nineteenth century as written versions evolved.
The tale of Snow White, with brutal abuses of power -- including witchcraft -- by an evil Queen, is an example of a fairy tale that called for change. This included a new ending to the story. Here is the Grimm's 1812 version ending to Snow White, translated by D.L. Ashman.
"Their wedding (Snow White and the Prince) was set for the next day, and Snow White's godless mother was invited as well. That morning she stepped before the mirror and said:
Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?
The mirror answered:
You, my queen, are fair; it is true.
But the young queen
Is a thousand times fairer than thee.
She was horrified to hear this, and so overtaken with fear that she could not say anything. Still, her jealousy drove her to go to the wedding and see the young queen. When she arrived she saw that it was Snow White. Then they put a pair of iron shoes into the fire until they glowed, and she had to put them on and dance in them. Her feet were terribly burned, and she could not stop until she had danced herself to death."
The illustration from Snow White of the queen and the mirror is by Trian Schart Hyman.
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Putin Brings Still More War Upon Us
"War came, and the soldiers came with it -- hungry, angry, bored, scared men who, as they pushed through, stole the cabbages and the chickens and the ducks. The woodcutter's family was never certain who was fighting whom, nor why they were fighting, nor what they were fighting about. But beyond the forest, fields of crops were burned and barley fields became battlefields, and the farmers were killed, or made into soldiers in their turn and marched away. And soon enough the miller had no grain to mill into flour, the butcher had no animals to kill and hang in the window, and they said you could name your own price for a rabbit." Neil Gaiman -- Hansel and Gretel retold.
Pause in the Battle of Passchendaele,1917; Photo credit: James Francis Hurley.
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Elegant and Deep
"If I am a scholar, I am also a parent. To read to a child is to experience not just the pleasures of instruction or the warmth of entertainment, but the immense importance of quite simply reading...Even the most ordinary prose becomes magical when read aloud at bedtime. And even the simplest seeming of our children's books teaches something elegant and deep." Seth Lerer -- Children's Literature: A Readers History from Aesop to Harry Potter
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Little Mole and Honey Bear
Jack Zipes' new publishing company, Little Mole and Honeybear is bringing us exceptional children's books that have been lost because of time, fashion, or the vicissitudes of the publishing business. The range is extensive since Zipes is able to translate books which may have originally appeared in non-English speaking countries. The results are a cascade of fascinating, eye-opening children's books. I have previously written about some of them: Laboulaye's myriad tales; Fearless Ivan and His Faithful Horse, Double Hump; The Giant Ohl and Tiny Tim; The Original Bambi, and more.
With the madness of Putin's war affecting a multitude of children and their families, I turn to lost books from the WW2 era that Zipes rediscovered: Yussuf (Emery Kelen), the heroic anti-fascist ostrich; Keedle, the Great (Deidre and William Counselman, Jr), the satire about a boy who was a would-be-Fascist; and Teddy, the Little Refugee Mouse (Dorothy Burroughes), who, during the Naizi bombing, was forced to leave a his home and start a new life.
Today, Keedle is published by Little Mole And Honey Bear. Their Mission Statement: "History is doomed to repeat itself. We must preserve the things that make us human, and stand up to forces that would tear our society apart."
Here is a link to Zipes' informative new website.
The illustration from Keedle is by Fred L. Fox.
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"We like to think we live in daylight, but half the world is always dark; and fantasy, like poetry, speaks the language of the night." -- Ursula K. LeGuin
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Fairy Tales and War
Donald Haase, a scholar of fairy tales and Professor at Wayne State University, wrote a very informed and scholarly article, Children, War, and the Imaginative Space of Fairy Tales. I was particularly taken by his observations relating to WW 2 memoirs by British artist and illustrator, Corinna Sargood, and Hungarian psychoanalyst, Magda Denes. Fairy tales and their importance to each of these women, both as children and as adults, are moving to read. Both women had different types of fearful traumatic experiences. They both found solace in fairy tales. Here is a link to Donald Haase's article: Academia
The photo is of British children after a bombing raid during the London Blitz.
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Independent Original Animation
Latitude Du Printemps
Exceptional, for adults and kids, engaging, fun
Created by an imaginative student team at Rubika School of Art and Design.
Chloé Bourdic, Théophile Coursimault, Sylvain Cuvillier
Noémie Halberstam, Maÿlis Mosny, Zijing Ye, Music by : Romain Camiolo,
Latitude Du Printemps Time 7.24
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My Favorite War
Poignant, Meaningful, Imaginative trailer for the full length version.
Taken from real life under fascism.
“My Favorite War teaches the global value of freedom and demonstrates how a very personal story can be of universal interest." A quote from the Annecy Festival where the film won the award for best feature. This is a personal, animated documentary that tells the story of the director growing up in Latvia, part of the Soviet Union, from 1970 to 1990."
Here is a link from the program of the Norwegian Film Festival
Created by Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen, Ego Studios,Latvia
Here is the link: My Favorite War 2 minutes
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O Matka (Mother)
Brilliant innovative, excerpt, mother and son change places, become each other
Created by Paulina Ziolkowska
Music Giorgio Giampa, Montaz Karol Stadik
Here is the link: O Matka 57 seconds
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Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
The latest Fantastic Beasts movie has opened to mixed reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Reading the reviews, however, elicits my respect as I find that the story relates to matters relevant to what is going on in the world today: an election, a powerful messianic villain who is unfeeling about humanity, and empathy with Dumbledore's homosexuality. Here is an excerpt from the review by Amy Nicholson NYT
"Like so much children’s entertainment these days, “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” is a political primer sprinkled in magic dust. . . A chunk of the story is set in 1930s Berlin. The deadly stakes are crystal-ball clear. An alternate subtitle could be “Totalitarianism for Tykes". . . . It’s a pointed movie from tip to barbed tail. Instead of building the plot around a tedious pursuit peppered with cutesy digital monsters — a misstep in the first two “Fantastic Beasts” films — the returning director David Yates and the screenwriters, J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves, center “Secrets of Dumbledore” on an election. "
Trailer: Dumbledore
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Navalny documentary rated 100% by audiences and critics alike..
"Shot as the story unfolded, NAVALNY is a fly-on-the-wall documentary thriller about anti-authoritarian Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Recovering in Berlin after nearly being poisoned to death with the nerve agent Novichok, he makes shocking discoveries about his assassination attempt and bravely decides to return home--whatever the consequences." -- Rotten Tomatoes
Photo of Navalny courtesy of: english.alaribiya.net
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Baseball, Kids, and Bullets.
There has been no reaction from the National Rifle Association to this event:
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A parent’s video shows children ducking for cover Monday night as gunfire erupted during a youth baseball game in North Charleston. . . . North Charleston Police say they are actively investigating the shooting. Police spokesman Harve Jacobs said police responded to Pepperhill Park in the 7600 block of Brandywine Road where gunshots had been reported.
A police report released Tuesday states witnesses told responding officers that a “large group” of teenagers pulled into the parking lot and began fistfighting. Witnesses then told officers the teenagers began shooting at each other before they fled in their vehicles where it appeared shots were fired from one vehicle towards another, the report states. Story by Patrick Phillips Channel 5,Charleston, SC
Link to the video of gunshots at a baseball game and kids running: Run to safety
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The Ukranium Anthem In Finland
The Ukranian Anthem was played by an orchestra and sung by a chorus and shoppers in a cavernous Finnish shopping center. I found this to be very moving.
Here is the link: Ukranian Anthem Flashmob Finland
Finland was invaded by the Russian army on December, 1939. Finns do not forget.
Photo credit of Ukranian refugees: Belge
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Harvey the dog. Link
Humor for Dog lovers.
Harvey and his Rabbit Friend
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Why Am I ?
Amazon Review by The Hills
Prince Ukko, the ruthless leader of the Blackhawk tribe, has kidnapped the two children of his rival, Bik, the Warrior Chief of Stone City. There will be war unless the dogs can free the children from The Castle In The Mist.
" I feel Castle in the Mist is also a beautifully-crafted tale. This particular book has a slightly darker tone, but is still completely readable by children. As a matter-of-fact my 10-year-old son, Michael, says the book is 'great' and thinks: 'it is cool that the dogs come from their own planet.' As well, the illustrations really give depth and visual characterization to the manuscript."
Charyl Miller Pingleton -- The Uncommon Review
Illustration by Stella Mustanoja McCarty
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"The more one gets to know of men, the more one values dogs. .." Alphonse Toussenel
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