Barking Planet Children's & YA Books

April -- Turning Points, Struggles, Smiles, Hopes

 

                                     

                      The illustration of the Moomins is by Tove Jansson.

The Moomins were borne out of life. The life of Tove Jansson. She was a gifted artist living in turbulent times. A complex woman who was able to find her identity even in a conservative Finnish culture. The Moomins reflect her imagination and her life.

Tove Jansson was 4 years old when the newly independent Finns, having freed themselves during the Russian revolt against the Czars, found themselves in a painful civil war, Reds vs Whites. Healing in Finland took several years

Jansson's mother was an accomplished illustrator and the primary source of family support. Her father, a conflicted man, had a career as a neo-realistic romantic sculptor. Like many Finnish people, her family spent summers where they were close to nature. During those years, family life was often stormy.

Tove was a talented painter and illustrator from a young age. She was 25 in 1939 when Russia invaded Finland in what is known as The Winter War. Finland was at war with Russia throughout WW2; in 1944, the Finns fought the Nazi Army, pushing them out of Lapland, During their retreat, the Germans used a scorched earth policy burning to the ground every town and village they encountered. Fascism and all the brutality and destruction of war deeply affected Tove. It was reflected in her illustration work, especially those satirizing Hitler for Garm magazine. If you click on the Garm cover illustration to enlarge it, you will see an early Moomin drawing on the bottom leg of the letter "M"

During the period after the war, the success of the Moomins -- over 15 million books in 50 different languages -- her hard work, and her personal courage gave Tove a new life.  A major outcome in her personal life was finding a lifetime partner and soulmate, artist Tuulikki Peitila. They were together until Tove's death at 82. They spent nearly 30 happy years on a small, rocky island retreat in the Pellinki chain. Together, they designed and built a small house (Kovharn). where they lived, worked, and enjoyed nature.

As time went on, she found more time to paint. Some of her work was exceptional.  She was very disturbed following her mother's death in 1970. Her mother had always been supportive and was the soul of the Jansson family. This became a turning point in her creative life as she started writing adult fiction. Her first adult book, The Summer Book, was based on her mother and her grand-daughter, Sophia. It takes place on a small rocky island very much like Tove's island and on which her real life niece, Sophia, had spent many summers. This book, and her later adult fiction were all well received.

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"The Moomins also gave Jansson the opportunity to explore a variety of topics, from morals to personal relations. Many of her characters were informed and openly representative of close friends and lovers. Theatre director, Vivica Bandler, with whom Jansson had a secret affair, inspired the character of Thingumy, who was always accompanied by Bob (who was actually based on Tove herself). And Jansson’s long-term life partner, Pietilä, inspired the positive-thinking Too-Ticky.

Today, the Moomins continue to fascinate and enchant and, although Jansson returned to her first love of painting, she’ll always be best remembered for the strange creatures that endured and succeeded in the face of any obstacle put in their path."  Friere Baines The Culture Trip

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Here is a link to an excellent and informative documentary of Tove Jansson.

Here are links to two well written overviews on Tove' s 100th year anniversary.

Mark Bosworth-BBC

Erika Harlitz-Kern Book Riot

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“I only want to live in peace, plant potatoes and dream!”-- Tove Jansson, A Moomin quote

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Angela's Fairytales -- Perverse Grace and Wicked Fun

“Angela Carter...refused to join in rejecting or denouncing fairy tales, but instead embraced the whole stigmatized genre, its stock characters and well-known plots, and with wonderful verve and invention, perverse grace and wicked fun, soaked them in a new fiery liquor that brought them leaping back to life. . . she was to become fairy tale’s rescuer, the form’s own knight errant, who seized hold of it in its moribund state and plunged it into the fontaine de jouvence itself." 

Marina Warner, Chamber of Secrets: The Sorcery of Angela Carter.

The illustration of Little Redcap is by Gina Litherland.

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Crossing Boundaries with Wise Girls: Angela Carter’s Fairy Tales for Children

by Jack Zipes

 Long before Angela Carter had conceived the tales for her remarkable collection The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories (1979), she had begun experimenting with the fairy-tale genre in two highly sophisticated picture books for children, Miss Z, the Dark Young Lady (1970) and The Donkey Prince (1970), both illustrated by Eros Keith. Neglected by critics and unknown to most readers, these two tales actually laid the groundwork for Carter’s future work and reveal some of her basic concepts with regard to the revisionist fairy-tale tradition. All this makes Carter’s stories worth reconsidering. But even more than shedding light on her development as an innovative fairy-tale writer, they also indicate how much she esteemed children, and how much the child in her gave expression to a mischievous humor that stamps the “post-modern” quality of her fairy tales. . . 

In Miss Z, the Dark Young Lady, we are told that Miss Z lives in a Parrot Jungle on a farm with her father, who is greatly annoyed by the parrots because they make such a racket with their comic songs. He uses a catapult to chase
them away, and the King Parrot decides to kill him but is killed instead. Miss Z, who has been busy making a magic dress, is convinced that her father acted too rashly, and sure enough, once the parrots depart for an unknown land, everything goes haywire because of a magic spell the revengeful parrots have cast: “Miss Z returned to her sewing machine. But the needle refused to go in and out of the fabric, and she had to finish the magic dress by hand. And the well refused to give water; the cow refused to give milk; the plow refused to turn the soil; and the fire refused to light. Even the rocking chair refused to rock.

           

Miss Z’s father is remorseful and promises that he would laugh at the antics of the parrots if they returned. He would even give them marmalade. So, Miss Z goes to a wise woman, who informs her that the parrots have gone to the place where the green lions live, and they plan to return with the lions to force Miss Z and her father off their farm and back to Human Town . . ."

Jack Zipes continues writing about Angela Carter's Miss Z, the Dark Young lady, regarding both the story and its significance. He then writes about her other fairy tale of the era, The Donkey Prince. Here is an excerpt:

 Carter’s other fairy tale, The Donkey Prince, concerns a queen who was given a magic apple as a wedding present by her father. This powerful king told his daughter to keep the apple safe and she would never lose her beautiful looks or fall ill. When she comes across a donkey, who asks for the apple, she tells him that she cannot give away such a valuable gift, but she would be willing to give him as much fruit as he wants at her castle. He is saddened by this reply and explains to the queen why he is so distressed: “Madam, though you see us in the shapes of donkeys, my company and I are, in fact, Brown Men of the Hills. Your father transformed us into this shape by a cruel enchantment after my son accidentally transfixed him with an arrow while he was out hunting. If you had given your father’s apple to me of your own free will, because of my need, we should have returned to our natural forms at the very first bite I took from it”(9).

The queen regrets her act and learns that the only way she can help the Brown Men turned donkeys is by adopting a foal named Bruno and raising it as her son. She agrees, and Bruno is raised as a prince . . .

Miss Z and The Donkey Prince (1970) stand at the beginning of Carter’s fairy-tale production. They do not have the density and complexity of her later tales. They do not have the stunning imagery and lust for sexual imagery. But these tales are zestful because they initiate “crossing over” into new realms for her female protagonists, exploring dangerous territory, and returning home fully confident in their abilities. Carter combined the simple folk style, baroque elements of the literary fairy tale, and contemporary jargon to create unorthodox narratives that suggest the potential of women and men to change their destinies and to take full control of their lives. These tales ran counter to traditional expectations. These tales were harbingers of even more radical fairy tales to come from Carter’s pen. Her last novel was fittingly titled Wise Children(1993), and her fascinatingly zany heroine Doris Chance is certainly related to Miss Z and Daisy. She is the wise girl grown up, not straight, but like Carter preferred, prodigiously crooked on the wrong side of the tracks and all the more admirable in her frank approach to life.

Photo of Angela: by Faye Godwin, Irish Times; Book covers by Eros Krief.

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Fighting the Disturbing Ban on The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison -- and other books

• Excerpted from a CSM article by staff writer Tara Adhikari . Here is a Link: BannedBooks

As daylight turns to dusk and a closed sign dangles from the outside of EyeSeeMe, a St. Louis children’s bookstore, a glance through a side window reveals an after-hours banned books operation. Paper strips litter the floor. Books pass from hand to hand as eight volunteers package 600 copies of “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison to ship to kids and parents across the nation.

The bookstore is working in partnership with In Purpose Educational Services on the Banned Book Program, a donor-funded campaign that will send a free banned book each month to those who request one, as funding allows. Started just days after a school district in a suburb near St. Louis voted in January to remove copies of “The Bluest Eye” from its libraries, the program has already received over $30,000 from people around the nation. But Missouri residents aren’t the only ones taking action. 

As school boards across the United States increasingly vote to remove books from library shelves and classroom curricula, community members are countering by amplifying awareness of those very books. These grassroots efforts – from free book drives to book clubs to lawsuits – differ in method but share a common mission to keep the world of books open for exploration . . .

Written by Nobel- and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison and published in 1970, “The Bluest Eye” tells the story of a young African American girl growing up in Lorain, Ohio, who longs for blue eyes. It addresses a range of themes, including racism, beauty standards, and the girl’s abusive home life.

After a community member in the Wentzville School District challenged the book, objecting to it on the grounds that it includes pedophilia, incest, and rape, the district’s school board voted on Jan. 20 to remove the book from district libraries. Less than a month later, two Wentzville students, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, filed a lawsuit saying the district’s removal of eight books, including “The Bluest Eye,” from school libraries violates their First Amendment rights . . .

Photo by Tara Adhikari, CSM; 

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Exceptional Independent Animation

Oliver Nelson, "The Blues and the Abstract Truth" -- Deep Dive

Totally original, exceptional.

The link opens on a full page. Scroll down to the bottom left. Click and be transported.  Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader.

Created by Diego Basaglio Basa studio

Link:The Blues and Abstract Truth    Time 4.36

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Bless You

Sneeze in an alternate reality, imagination, surreal smiles.

Video created by Paulina Ziakowska, music Max Litvinov, editor Piotr Baryza.

Lodz Film School, Polish Film Industry.

Link: Bless You  Time 4.30

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Football

Outrageous, imaginative, humorous, absurdist 

Created by Joseph Bennet in collaboration with Martin Starr

Background design Wes McClain, Animation assistance Felipe DI Poi

Music Nic Snyder, Sound design Mike Jansson

Link: Football  Time 1.12

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To Create
“To understand what I am saying, you have to believe that dance is something other than technique. We forget where the movements come from. They are born from life.
When you create a new work, the point of departure must be contemporary life -- not existing forms of dance.” Pina Bausch

 

Photo: Dance International Magazine

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Amelia, a 7-Year Old Ukranian Girl, Sings in a Bomb Shelter

"Ukranians huddled together in a dimly lit bomb shelter in Kyiv seeking safety from deadly explosions and chaos overhead. One young girl, wearing a sweater decorated with silver stars began to sing.

She was scared at first, worried that her voice would not be heard over the commotion inside the crowded bunker. But the sound of her singing "Let It Go" from the 2013 Disney movie "Frozen" pierced the uncertainty and fear, drowning out the sound of babies, crying and adults chatting. The Link is of that moment." Amelia   Photo credit: ai.com

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Wonder Tales, Through Millenia, Have Always Dealt with the Brutal Abuses of Power

War is the worst evil that people have inflicted upon one another, at costs to themselves, since some hominid discovered the lethal efficacy of rocks. It is waged continually somewhere or other in every generation, furiously now, in Ukraine, and fitfully in the Middle East and Africa. The recurring horror has paused on a global scale—holding its breath, you may feel—only because, post-Hiroshima, nuclear weaponry bodes suicide for the next power to use it. Or so we have thought, and perhaps still think, but with shaken complacency. What never ends is the primordial emotional tug toward organized mayhem, which is playing out, yet again, in Eastern Europe in the face of widespread revulsion. Putin: Monster! But a madman? Diagnosing him as such assumes that sanity is the normative state of people with power."

Peter Schjeldahl ,excerpted from Facing War, The New Yorker
The illustration by Francisco Goya is from The Disasters of War

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HOME  Excerpted from a poem that went viral by Somali refugee Warsan Shire.

no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city running as well. . .

you only leave home
when home won’t let you stay.

no one leaves home unless home chases you
fire under feet
hot blood in your belly
it’s not something you ever thought of doing
until the blade burnt threats into
your neck. . . you have to understand,
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land . . .

Photo credit: USA for UNHCR

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Question For Vladimir Putin

 

Masters of War

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

Bob Dylan Link to Bob Dylan singing all the lyrics of Masters of War

 

Rumanian Refugees from Ukraine -- Photo: NYTimes

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Bangor News

HOULTON, Maine, By Joseph CYR — Aroostook County will be the first to have a dog stationed at the courthouse that is specifically trained to comfort people who are dealing with traumatic experiences.

Holiday, a yellow Labrador retriever who was donated by a local breeder and lives with Aroostook County District Attorney Todd Collins in Presque Isle, is being trained to work with people in a courtroom setting.

“Courthouse facility dogs can provide a sense of normalcy during juvenile and family court proceedings, and can accompany vulnerable crime victims, including children, rape victims, developmentally delayed adults and the elderly during investigations and court proceedings,” Collins said. “They can also provide emotional comfort to family members during the trial and sentencing of the offender.”

Link Bangor News 

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Why Am I ? 

"Floyd is an adorable character that steals your heart from the get-go. He's happy, he's spunky and he loves life. He has tons of friends: some are dogs, some are cats, some live in the water, and some live in the sky. He is a very, very popular little pooch! One day he is asked why he is yellow?  Floyd hadn't thought of that aspect of himself before but this gets him wondering and finally searching for an answer to that question. Off he goes on a mission to seek why! "
Storywraps Review   An outstanding Children's Book Blog.

Why Am I ? is Written and illustrated by Ariel Wulff -- Link Yelodoggie Book

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Author Ariel Wulff, in addition to writing dog books for children, writes fiction and dog related books for adults. 

 

Finding Fido -- A guide book if your dog is missing

"Like Wulff's "How to Change the World in 30 Seconds", this book is another practical handbook for helping pets. Easy to follow steps, important data, and insider info. . .  Many times the pet's people have no idea where, or how, to start looking for them. This guide spells it out with lots of helpful tips and advice. And all the sales go to charity - how great is that?! " Kristina Kaine, Amazon Review

 

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Castle In The Mist

“Do you think that it is possible for dogs to stop a war? Author Robert J. McCarty has created a charming fantasy-allegory that can be read and understood on at least two different levels. Children will enjoy the story about dogs who come from another planet to help people on earth. But under the surface are the important messages of friendship, love, loyalty, and how to overcome evil with good.” The same things are true as the story continues in Castle in the Mist. The book is well written and easy to read.  It will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next, and, as with Volume I, leads to a satisfying conclusion."

Review excerpt by Wayne Walker: Stories for Children Magazine and Home School Buzz

Here is a link for sample chapters from the Planet Of The Dogs Series.

Here is a link to Goodreads for more reviews

 The photo by Susan Purser is of her nephew, Chase, reading Castle In The Mist with Rose, her departed therapy dog.

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"A man may smile and bid you hail

Yet wish you to the Devil;

But when a good dog wags his tail,

You know he's on the level." --  Author Unknown

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March -- Empowered Women. Angela Carter, and Enchantment

 

                                     

   Igor Karash's illustration is of the unnamed woman-narrator in The Bloody Chamber. 

 Angela Carter -- The Catalyst of a Million Awakenings

The most incandescent work to arise from the feminist explosion is undoubtedly The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, a stretch of virtuoso imaginative writing and potent critique. . .The Bloody Chamber (1979) has become the founding charter of modern fairy tale, and the catalyst of a million awakenings for readers (especially girls) coming upon it for the first time." -- Marina Warner, Once Upon a Time, A Short History of Fairy Tale

The impact of Angela Carter's (1940-1992) courage and creativity continues to this day. The Bloody Chamber book contains ten tales, rewritten from the early, traditional versions. They are dark tales, but the women protagonists are now empowered. The first tale, gives its name the book. It was inspired by the version that came from Perrault. She had translated Perrault's Tales in 1974. The writing in Carter's provocative version has a totally different style and format from Perrault's tale, and an empowered woman protagonist.

The painting by Gina Litherland was inspired by Carter's The Conpany of Wolves.

 

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Angela Carter

 

"She was a wise child herself, with a mobile face, a mouth which sometimes pursed with irony, and, behind the glasses, a wryness, at times a twinkle, at times a certain dreaminess, with her long, silvery hair and ethereal delivery, she had something of the Faery Queen about her, except that she was never whispy or fey." -Marina Warner, A Virago Keepsake, 1993.

Photo credit: Mike Laye/Corbis.

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The Opening Sentence of The Bloody Chamber 

"I remember how, that night, I lay awake in the wagon-lit in a tender delicious ecstasy of excitement, my burning cheek pressed against the impeccable linen of the pillow and the pounding of my heart mimicking that of the great pistons ceaselessly thrusting the train that bore me through the night, away from Paris, away from girlhood, away from the white, enclosed quietude of my mother's apartment into the unguessable country of marriage." -- Angela Carter

 

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The Marquis

Nearly all her writing is strikingly full of cultural and intertextual references, but this story (The Bloody Chamber) is extremely so. It is an artfully constructed edifice of signs and allusions and clues. The Marquis, as he is called (suggesting, of course, the Marquis de Sade), is a parodic evil aesthete and voluptuary with his monocle and beard, his gifts of marrons glacés and hothouse flowers, and his penchant for quoting the juicier bits of Baudelaire and De Sade. On the walls of his castle hang paintings of dead women by Moreau, Ensor and Gauguin; he listens to Wagner (specifically "Liebestod" - "love-death" - in Tristan und Isolde); he smokes Romeo y Julieta cigars "fat as a baby's arm"; his library is stocked with graphically- described sadistic pornography . . . Helen Simpson -- The Guardian.

The illustration of the Marquis and his new wife is by Martha R. Ford.

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Intellectual Intensity

"Her writing style has often been labeled 'magic realism,' but she has remarked that 'it's more realism than not. I can't define it until after it's done except that it is definitely fiction. It's more in the genre of Latin American writers like Marquez and Borges. Borges was by far my most important influence. I first read him in 1969, and it was like the Revelation -- the extraordinary things he could do in his stories.'

Carter's own extraordinary sensitivity has an intriguing aspect that, in my opinion, goes beyond Borges and Marquez. As Walter Kendrick has noted in The Village Voice: 'Carter's fiction somewhat resembles magic realism, but she's got an intellectual intensity that makes Garcia Marquez look slack and moonstruck.' "    Jack Zipes-- Personal Memories

This lino print, inspired by The Bloody Chamber, is credited to Spanish Fans.

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A Torrent of Posthumous Acclaim

When Angela Carter died – aged just 51, on 16 February 1992 – her reputation changed from cultish to canonical. Her obituaries in the British press received more space than any others that year except Francis Bacon, Willy Brandt and Marlene Dietrich. Their tone was rhapsodic. “Angela Carter … was one of the most important writers at work in the English language.” “She interpreted the times for us with unrivalled penetration.” “Her imagination was one of the most dazzling of this century.” . . .

Her friends and long-term admirers regarded this torrent of posthumous acclaim with a touch of exasperation. For more than 25 years Carter had been producing novels, short stories, drama and journalism that stood defiantly apart from the work of her contemporaries. At a time when English literature was dominated by sober social realists, she played with disreputable genres – gothic horror, science fiction, fairytale – and gave free rein to the fantastic and the surreal. -- From an excellent Guardian article by her biographer, Edmund Gordan.

The illustration, inspired by The Bloody Chamber, is by Barba Azul.

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Personal Memories of Angela Carter, a Down-to-Earth Working Girl by Jack Zipes

All my memories of Angela Carter, whom I knew personally from 1985 to 1992, are unique and distinct. Actually, my initial contact was through the mail during the early 1980s when I asked for her permission to reprint “The Company of Wolves” and “The Donkey Prince” in two books that I published during that time. Then, when I was in Paris on a sabbatical in 1985, I traveled with my wife, Carol, and our newborn daughter, Hanna, to London, and asked whether we could meet. Angela had recently given birth to her son, Alexander, and welcomed the idea that our “young” families might get together.

So, we drove to her flat in the South of London which took hours, and when we entered the flat, her son, who had a bad cold, was being cared for by Angela’s husband, Mark, and my wife was upset because our daughter was in danger of getting this cold. Angela was happy because she thought we had been lost, and she proceeded to plunge into a conversation about fairy tales and the film adaptation of “The Company of Wolves.” Indeed, she was wearing a t-shirt with an illustration of a scene from the film and had a wild excited look about her – she wanted eagerly to talk about tales, culture, and politics while we were starving. Finally, she turned to making our meal -- tuna fish from a can with lettuce. Though we were famished, Angela wanted us to keep talking for three hours, just as long as my wife and Mark looked after the babies, and it was clear that she would not be denied. Angela was persistent and curious.

From that point on until she died, I saw Angela about three times when she came to America and kept corresponding with her after her visit. There was always something sparkling and provocative about her letters, and I want to share a few along with my memories . . . When I began teaching there (University of Florida) in 1987, she sent the following letter on March 18:

"Herewith a little something for your collection, unless you think your wee girl would like it better. [It was a gift of a Red Riding Hood doll.] Please note that it is made in China. Do you think that they know the story there? I’m very sorry that I can’t get to Florida next month. I was pleased & startled when William Logan [American poet, who taught at the University of Florida] rang, but it just isn’t possible to get away at such short notice, even though the magnolias are in bloom. . .  Thanks for having me sent Victorian Fairy Tales – it’s a lovely book, lots of old favourites (The King of the Golden River, & George Macdonald, whom I love) and lots of ones I don’t know. Hope all goes well. – Love to Carol and Hanna & hope to see you next year if not before.  Angela

The photo of Angela and her young son is from Alamy. The illustration of Red Riding Hood and the wolf is by Lina Litherland.

After a Few More Letters . . . 

            After a few more letters, I received one the following year dated October 26, 1988.

"I’ll be coming by myself to Florida next week – Mark & Alex will be sad to miss visiting, but just as we were pondering the stark reality of the rest of the project (and maybe the Disneyland brochures did make me feel that only the most case-hardened theoretician of popular culture could get a buzz off it) Alex developed a roaring ear infection that contra-judicates flying. So he’ll stay home with his daddy; & I’ll come & do my thing & stay over & go home on the Friday. It is a brief visit, but we’ll have a chance to get together – I look forward to seeing you all , especially your wee girl, to compare notes . . . Love to all – Angela"

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Angela in Gainesville

 When Angela finally arrived in Gainesville the following week, there was a packed house in one of the largest auditoriums on the campus of the University of Florida, and here is how I introduced her. 

The publicity information distributed by Angela Carter's publisher stresses that she is one of Britain's most original and disturbing writers. Now there is no doubt that she is original, but I am uncertain about the term "disturbing." If anything, Ms.Carter is a disturbed writer, disturbed by the perverse nature of so-called “normal” social relations and the political machinations that we have developed in our sexual relations. If anything, Ms. Carter is a compulsive writer, who has felt an urgent need to respond to the disturbances in the world she has experienced, and her works are relentless imaginary endeavors to explore what we all repress to try to appear normal . . .

Photo by John Mahler, The Totonto Star, 1988.

More from Jack Zipes Personal Memories of Angela Carter in our next (April) blog

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The Company of Wolves is one of three stories in the Bloody Chamber where wolves are a focus. Making a coherent movie that combines these these stories is most unlikely. And yet Angela Carter and Neil Jordan collaborated and made it happen. I find the review (below) by the exceptional Roger Ebert to be brilliant.

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"The Company of Wolves" is a dream about werewolves and little girls and deep, dark forests. It is not a children's film and it is not an exploitation film; it is a disturbing and stylish attempt to collect some of the nightmares that lie beneath the surface of "Little Red Riding Hood."

The movie is based on a novel and a screenplay by Angela Carter, who has taken Red Riding Hood as a starting-place for the stories, which are secretly about the fearsomeness of sexuality. She has shown us what those scary fairy tales are really telling us; she has filled in the lines and visualized the parts that the Brothers Grimm left out (and they did not leave out all that many parts). The movie has an uncanny, hypnotic force; we always know what is happening, but we rarely know why, or how it connects with anything else, or how we can escape from it, or why it seems to correspond so deeply with our guilts and fears. That is, of course, almost a definition of a nightmare."   The film was directed by Neil Jordan.

Excerpted from http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-company-of-wolves-1985

The photo is of Sarah Patterson in the role of Rosaleen in the movie, The Company of Wolves.

Here is a link to the trailer of The Company of Wolves.

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“Many bowdlerized versions indicated a Victorian-minded censorship, which feared that Little Red Riding Hood might some day break out, become a Bohemian, and live in the woods with the wolf.” 

― Jack D. Zipes, The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood

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Exceptional Independent Animation

O MATKO (Oh Mother)

Stylized, surreal fun and imagination

Created by Paulina Ziokowska

Music Giorgio Giampa,

Momtage: Karol Stadnik

 

Link O MATKO Time-56 seconds

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Warm Liguria

Original, warm, humanity

People are a mirror of the place they live.

Created by twin sisters Olga and Tatania Poliektova

Music: Schwarzweiss "Ups and Downs"

 

Link  Warm Liquria  Time 1.0

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One Minute for Katrina

Memory lane,  storm aftermath

Created by Serafima Serafimova, Studio; Nice and Serious

Animation/Design by Max Halley, Luke Marsh, Mads Broni

Sound Design/Editor Serafima Seraimova

 

 

Link  One Minute for Katrina

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As I Write This

Russia is brutally invading Ukraine. 

 

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre   

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere   

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst   

Are full of passionate intensity. W.B. Yeats -- 

 

 

This photo of 4 Ukrainian women volunteers was taken as they await deployment to fight in Kyiv. The woman in the middle, Julia, a schoolteacher, is crying. They have just been given their weapons. 

 

Thousands of people in villages, towns, and cities have received weapons and joined the resistance. At this point, the Russian advance continues; however, the invasion by the Russian army is meeting fierce Ukranian resistance.

 

 

Both Photos were taken in Kiev, February 26, 2022. Top photo credit: Reuters; Bottom photo credit: Linsey Addario, New York Times.

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Link to Awesome Video Update  by Rufugees International Video 

This is our world. 

Are Wonder tales for children or adults being created by or for them?

I hope so.

 

Heseke Refugee Camp, Home Sweet Home, Syria

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Why Am I ? by Ari Wulff  Amazon Customer Review

A simple question leads to a Universal quest

(Reviewed by a teacher)

I love this book. . .

I come at this wonderful book, as I do all kid’s books; with the three-pronged perspective of being a parent, a parent of a disabled child with particular special challenges and needs, and finally as an Early Childhood Pre-K teacher of 3-5 year old children.

First time parents who don’t have much previous involvement with kids are often bemused or even befuddled by the simplicity of many popular kids’ books. Everyone summons respect for Seuss, and other unique iconic work, but many look at some enduring but seemingly simple books by the likes of Eric Carle, Susan Boynton, Margaret Wise Brown, Crockett Johnson, and Mo Willems to name just a few, . . This is the best time to mention the charm and imagination of the wonderful, colorful artwork: Wulff's drawings are enchanting and delightful. My students adored them and looked at the book many times after each reading. That's a nice bonus, but to me, the overwhelming value of the book is the seemingly simple story that looms larger as it's told.

Why Am I was written and illustrated by Ari Wulff.

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The Stone City Warriors Will Attack Green Valley. . .

"I love this series of books and Planet Of The Dogs sets the stage for all that follows. . . The story borders between reality, a dream world, fantasy, fiction, reality and wonderful imagination. . . the author has done a wonderful job of weaving this tale, making it a first rate fantasy read, while at the same time addressing quite real problems and indeed, how to fix those problems". . . Don Blankenship, Teacher, Editor/Reviewer at Good Books For Kids, Amazon

It was a cold, dark night when the howling dogs awakened Prince
Ukko from his sleep. It was a sound he had never heard before, and
caused a cold feeling of fear to move through his body. After a few
minutes, the howling stopped, but now Prince Ukko was unable to
sleep.
His bedroom was in the high tower of the ancient castle that his
father, King Ukko, leader of the Black Hawk tribes, had taken from
the forest people.
Now wide-awake, he rose from his bed, shouted orders to the
guards outside his bedchamber door, and went to the window. He
pulled open the wooden shutter and gazed out. Except for the open
area directly in front of the castle, everything was covered in fog
and mist. 
As he looked out, trying to see something, trying to understand, the
awful sound once again rose in the air. Something was out there
that should not be there. Something unknown.

Here is a link for sample chapters from the Planet Of The Dogs Series.

Here is a link to Goodreads for more reviews

 The illustration from Castle In The Mist is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.

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"Man is troubled by what might be called the Dog Wish, a strange and involved compulsion to be as happy and carefree as a dog."

 James Thurber

 

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February -- Inspired Retellings, Miyazaki, Beyond Boundaries

 

         

           The illustration is from  Howl's Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki.

 

This is a brilliant film. Miyazaki rewrites and opens up the story (by Dianna Wynn Jones) that inspired him. He was already celebrated and successful and wanted to make an anti-war film. Born in 1941, he had lived through World War2 and its aftermath in Japan and was passionately opposed to more war. Howl's Moving Castle was Miyazaki's response to the invasion of Iraq. 

The story is wonderful, engaging, and filled with surprises. The animation is extraordinary. And the spectre of war and tyranny pervades in the magical world of Howl. The illustration on the left is of Sophie, a remarkable young woman, on the tram. She has finished working in the family hat shop for the day and is on the way to see her sister at her work. Strange events and danger begin to occur. Before the afternoon is over, she will be rescued by Howl, experience preparations for war, and be transformed by the Witch of the Waste into an old woman. 

 

Miyazaki balances the cruelty of war with inventive moments of surprise, from the magic scarecrow to Howl's sharing childhood joys with Sophie. How does an artist in any medium introduce war to children? Miyazaki does this in three ways. He creates rather surreal sequences of Howl, in the form of a large, streamlined raptor in soaring scenes where he fights with stylized flying warships and demons. Below, there is chaotic burning and destruction. The war will continue, and, in his wizard way, Howl will always keep trying to end it.

 

Secondly, he creates compelling scenes where Sophie, Marki (Howl's young apprentice), and innocent people are directly involved in the war. For example: one sequence begins on a beautiful morning in a charming small seaport town. Sophie and Marki leave Howl's house (houses move when the castle moves) to buy food in the open air marketplace. "It's lovely shopping in the morning," says Sophie as they emerge from the house on a bright sunny street and begin walking.

 

Their food shopping is interrupted by a commotion of running, shouting people, rushing to the waterfront to see a battleship, returning from the war. Hurrying to the waterfront area, Sophie and Marki are awed by the return of a battered and burning battle ship, filling the air with with billowing smoke. As horrified spectators look on, the big ship begins to sink as hundred of sailors jump into the turbulent water. Sophie and Marki rush from the scene as bombs drop in the water and a huge plane opens and releases a torrent of leaflets. They arrive home safe but drained.

 

Thirdly, as the war continues, Miyazaki includes a major sequence revealing the callous indifference of the ruling elite to the suffering of innocent people.  Howl is invited to the palace by the King. Fearing the power of Suliman, the King's powerful sorceress, Howl convinces Sophie to go in his stead, posing as his mother. Howl was once a brilliant student of Suliman's and she wants him to join the King in making war. There are ordeals, magic, transformations, dogs and more in this sequence. There are also issues of loyalty, courage, and morality.

 

There is hope but there are no easy answers in this wonderful film.

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“There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children’s book.” (Or a movie)

— Philip Pullman

 

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Fairy Tales and Truth

" We ward off fairy tales and pretend that they are intended mainly for children because they tell more truth than we want to know, and we absorb fairy tales because they tell us more truth than we want to know . . . They stamp our minds and perhaps our soul" Jack Zipes, The Oxford University Press Blog

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The fairy tale genre does not possess a precisely generated form . . . but is as fluid as a conversation taking place over the centuries. -- Marina Warner, Once Upon a Time 

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Treat Yourself to A Celebration of Wonders by Miyazaki

Creator: Dono, Music: Joe Hisaishi

Link A tribute to Hayao Miyazaki Time: 3.24

 

 

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Not so long ago . . .

In the 80's and 90's, the world of fairy tales/wonder tales and fantasy achieved growing momentum, characterized by more book sales (including crossover YA), more wonderful writers, and big Disney films. And J.K. Rowling's success with Harry Potter added still more media attention and audience to the momentum.

An important contribution to the mainstream of those years were the anthologies edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. (Terri, creator of Myth and Moor fame, is also a prize winning author).

"These six volumes present stories by contemporary writers inspired by classic fairy tales. The series has been cited as a pioneering work in the modern revival of Adult Fairy Tale Literature -- which began with the publication of Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber in 1979, picked up steam through the 1980s and '90s, and is still going strong in the 21st century."--  Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

The original illustrations for all the books in the series were by Thomas Canty.

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Excerpt from The New York Times Book Review of Datlow and Windling Anthologies: In this “no holds barred . . . nightmarish . . . provocative” collection, bestselling and award-winning fantasy masters put a dark, disturbing, and erotic spin on your favorite bedtime stories—and give you something entirely new to trouble your dreams. 

The illustration of Little Red Riding Hood is by Edmund Dore

 

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Retold Classics

I have been reading one of those anthologies by Datlow and Windling, BlackThorn, White Rose, which offers classic fairy tales, reimagined and retold by excellent writers. Here are my reactions to three of these retold classics:

 

Ellen Steiber brings new life to Little Red Riding Hood in a sensual poem, Silver and Gold. I read it aloud and found myself immersed in the writing . . .

"Sometimes, I explain,

it's hard to tell the difference

between the ones who love you

and the ones who will eat you alive."

 

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Nancy Kress in Words Like Pale Stones adds compelling dimension to the story of Rumpelstiltskin. The well known Grimm's version of the story is extended in unexpected, logical, and disturbing ways. This is an ancient tale, estimated by Durham University scholars to be 4,000 years old.

The crush of royal arrogance and its outcomes permeates all of Kress's retelling; and the central figure, the young maiden, courageously overcomes nightmare events remaking this into an original and gripping story. 

This illustration, by Henry J. King, was created for the Grimm's version

 

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Swans have long been celebrated in wonder tales. They can be found in literature, mythology, poetry, music, dance and films. Their beauty and the fact that they mate for life has long fascinated humans.

Susan Wade continues this tradition with The Black Swan. She has written an engaging story about the painful aspects of female beauty, the destructive outcomes of royal prejudice, and an outsider -- a vibrant, big, handsome young woman, but unconventional by court standards.

The characters are well drawn, the writing is first class, and a gradual metamorphosis takes place, leading to a surprising and extremely powerful ending.

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Magical Stories

"Though now we think of fairy tales as stories intended for very young children, this is a relatively modern idea. In the oral tradition, magical stories were enjoyed by listeners young and old alike, while literary fairy tales (including most of the tales that are best known today) were published primarily for adult readers until the 19th century.”

Terri Windling -- Black Thorn, White Rose

 

The illustration of Bother and Sister is by Terri Windling,

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Jack Zipes -- Concerns for the Downtrodden

Jack Zipes has always written about and discussed fairy tales as a manifestation of the human struggle. Oral tales were stories that used analogy and metaphor to deal with injustice, chaos, brutal royalty, and fear. Often, fairy tales gave hope. 

I first encountered Jack Zipes on a 2007 YouTube video when he headed a fascinating roundtable discussion, How Fairy Tales Cast Their Spell. The discussion, which included Maria Tatar,  was fascinating and dealt with questions about fairy tales like:  why do they endure; and why do they have power.

My most recent viewing of Jack Zipes (also You Tube) was very recently, wherein he revealed his continued concerns for the injustice and cruelty of humanity through two books: his new translation of the original Bambi by Felix Salten (Princeton University Press); and Tistou of the Green Thumbs, by Maurice Druon (published by Little Mole and Honey Bear).

Druon was a WW2 French Resistance hero and a successful author of adult books. His abhorrence of war and it's brutality motivated him to write this delightful book of wonder about an innocent, but compassionate boy who finds he can do extraordinary things to help people with his ability to grow things.

Hitler banned Bambi. Zipes sees the book as a metaphor for Felix Salten's life as a Jewish author who narrowly escaped the holocaust. Salten's Bambi is totally unlike the saccharine Disney version. Zipes recounts a moving, multidimensional story of Salten and the book in this video. The video was sponsored by Magers and Quinn, Booksellers, Minneapolis, MN. 

Link to Jack Zipes talk about the Original Bambi and Tistou

The illustration from Bambi is by Alenka Sottler.

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Exceptional Independent Animation

Room

 

Stylized, sophisticated, exploring the concept of a room.

Created by Paulina Ziotkowska. 

Sound: Anthony Abbatangelo.

Music: In The Morning by John Leafcutter.

 

Room Time: 1.37

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La Jeune Fille et les Nuages (2000, extrait)

 

 

The young girl and the clouds (translation).

Fantasy images, dreaming, surprises.
Created by Georges Schwizgebel.

 

 

 

 

La Jeune Fille et les Nuages  Time .38

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Farewell/Slovo

 

Nostalgia, memories, human moments

Created by Leon Vidmar

Animator: Jaka Krambarjet, Camera: Milos Srdic

Music: Tomaz Gram, Puppets: Zigar Lebar, Leon Vidmar

Producer: Kolj Saksida, Production House: ZVVIKS, Slovenia 

 

 

Link :  Farewell Time 5.51

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Poupelle of Chimney Town

 

Poupelle of Chimney Town is, apparently, a flawed wonder. I haven't seen it. However, I have watched the trailers. And, I read several reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. I like this one by Ard Vin, EDITOR, EUROPE; ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS (@ARDVARK23): "Hirota Yuusuke's debut is a lightweight on story, but a heavyweight on world and design, and beautifully animated."

 

Directed by Yusuke Hirota 

 

Trailer: Poupelle

 

 

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Here Is The Midwestern Book Review of Why Am I . . . ?

 

"Why Am I? is a great family conversation starter about accepting ourselves and others just as we are, and provides a soothing bedtime read with the kids. For ages 4 and up with an adult's help, or 6 and up for beginning readers, "Why Am I?" is extraordinary, entertaining, thought-provoking, and original, making it an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture book collections."

 

 

 

 

 

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HI, WE'RE SARA AND BRITTANY!"

"We’re folklorists, teachers, and writers, and together we're the founders of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic! We teach online courses that celebrate traditional tales and everyday magic. Our goal is to re-enchant daily life, one story at a time. . . Myths, legends, and especially fairy tales are our passion."

 

 

 

 

These two women are passionate in their love of myth, wonder tales, and folklore. They have brought their broad knowledge (they both have PhD's) to the Internet and are teaching and sharing with award-winning, interactive, original courses on the Internet. Here is a link to information about these women, the courses, and their remarkable Carterhaugh School -

Here is a link to their recent very informative email on Myth.

 

 

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Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber -- Ten Turning Point Stories

 

Most would agree with Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling when they wrote that, "The modern revival of Adult Fairy Tale Literature . . . began with the publication of Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber in 1979"

This got me thinking again about the incredible Angela Carter and looking at her YouTube interviews. I'm now rereading my notes from earlier blogs, and once more immersing myself in her remarkable Bloody Chamber. I hope you will join me next month when I humbly return to Angela Carter.

 

 

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UnValentine's Day Invitation.

The Lewis Carrol Society of North America is presenting a virtual Unvalentine Party on the internet --

Please join us next Saturday February 12, 2022!
2:00 PM Eastern time, 11:00 AM Pacific
Un-Valentine's Day with the LCSNA
Join the Webinar on February 12: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81078930485

Join your fellow members and friends as we fete the Feast of Saint Valentine a few days early, with an emphasis on all things Carrollian (of course!). We’ve got scads of seasonal surprises in store. Dayna Nuhn will display her collection of vintage Valentines, and Brianna Beehler and Davis Vigneault will present their Wonderland Award-winning song “Red Kings.” No traffic, no crowds and no reservations are required for this virtual Valentine’s Day extravaganza! -- The photo is of Alice Liddell               Learn more about our presenters and this event 

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Just Us Books Celebrates 30 Pioneering Years 

 

Three decades ago Wade and Cheryl Hudson were parents on a desperate search for children's books that reflected the diversity of Black history, heritage and experiences. Disappointed by the limited number and their unreliable availability, the couple embarked upon a mission: to produce the kind of positive, vibrant Black-interest books that they wanted for their own two children. Combining their professional experience in marketing and graphic design, Wade and Cheryl developed a number of manuscripts including the AFRO-BETS^R ABC Book, which taught the alphabet using Afrocentric themes and images. They began presenting their ideas to various publishing houses. Although most editors liked the concepts, the Hudsons received rejection after rejection. "There's no market for Black children's books," one editor said.

 

The Hudson's published and marketed the book themselves (Afro- BETS^R ABC Book). It was a hit! Not only in sales -- over 5,000 copies in the first three months -- but also in the heartfelt reactions of children and their parents. The Hudson's were so nspired, in fact, that when they published their second title, the AFRO-BETS^R 123 Book a year later, they launched along with it their own publishing company. Here is a link to their website where you will find more of this inspiring story. And excellent books.

 

 

 

The cover is by Blair Culverson-

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The Worlds Largest Refugee Camp Is in Bangladesh -- 

Myshara, is a beautiful young  Rohingan girl,who hopes to some day be a teacher. She is quite wonderful --  an affirmation of the human spirit. Visit Myshara for 2 minutes 21 seconds. She lives with her family in Kutupalong camp – the largest of 34 camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district. The area is home to more than 860,000 Rohingya refugees, almost 55 per cent of whom are children. Most fled their homes in Myanmar in 2017. Violence, atrocities and persecution drove them out. 

 

United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR supports the camp. Myshara is writing in the center of the photo.

 

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World Read Aloud Day

World read aloud day is Feb2 2022 Now in its 13th year, and celebrated in 173 countries, World Read Aloud Day (founded by LitWorld in 2010) continues to call attention to the power and importance of sharing stories. 

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Planet of the Dogs --  Can the Dogs Stop The Stone City Warriors?

The Stone City Warriors will attack Green Valley in the morning when they emerge from the Dark Woods road. The farmers will resist, but alone they will have no chance to stop the invaders. It is up to Daisy and Bean, a sister and brother, and the dogs to stop them. Dogs are new on Planet Earth and only one warrior has seen a dog.

"Meanwhile, the woods became quiet again, and the horses were once again calm. The invaders could not hear Edgar and hundreds of big dogs moving silently through the woods on both sides of the road. . .

The dogs went into hiding places where they could see the road, but they could not be seen. They would smell the approaching army and hear the noise of the many men, horses, and supply wagons long before the warriors reached them."

Excerpted from Planet Of The Dogs Here is a link to read sample chapters of Planet Of The Dogs, Castle In the Mist, Snow Valley Heroes -- All the books in the Series.

The illustration from Planet Of The Dogs is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty

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"A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down.”  Robert Benchley

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January 2022 -- Conflict, Survival, Peace, and Hope

                                      The Village of Gont on Earthsea by Ed Savage                       

 

                         Acts of Imagination 

"A great writer of fiction both creates — through acts of imagination, through language that feels inevitable, through vivid forms — a new world, a world that is unique, individual; and responds to a world, the world the writer shares with other people but is unknown or mis-known by still more people, confined in their worlds: call that history, society, what you will."

 

Excerpted from At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches by Susan Sontag 

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Ursula Le Guin  -- the Formative Years

Ursula Le Guin was a child, 5 years old, when Black Sunday occurred. The great depression with thousands of the US workforce unemployed, was also 5 years old. Black Sunday was so named when an enormous cloud of topsoil, three million tons of it, darkened the sky as it blew over the Great Plains. An exodus of thousands of desperate farm families left -- with many going west. In one year alone, 86,000 people migrated to California.

 

Ursula was 10 when Hitler's military introduced the world to blitzkrieg, invading Poland and the low countries, destroying lives, hope. and everything in their path. Total war in Europe followed. She was 12 when the Japanese, without warning, attacked Pearl Harbor and the USA went to war. She was 15 when atomic bombs obliterated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Both Japan and Germany surrendered in 1945. Stalin continued expanding Russian territory and influence, dominating Poland and much of Europe including Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and the Baltic countries. Russia developed the atomic bomb and the Cold War(1947-1991) followed. 

She grew up in Berkeley, California, the daughter of Theodora and Alfred Kroeber, cultural anthropologists, who were both advocates for native Americans; both were involved in raising awareness of mistreatment and genocide. Ursula was a brilliant student, and grew up in a supportive family. She graduated from Radcliffe college, had a very good  marriage (1953) to historian Charles Le Guin, and raised her three children as a devoted mother. Her writing career of nearly 60 years was marked by originality, brilliance, courage, and a powerful moral sense.

The Kroeber house in Berkeley.
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Fantasy Isn't Factual But It's True

"For fantasy is true, of course. It isn't factual, but it's true. Children know that. Adults know it too and that's precisely why many of them are afraid of fantasy. They know that its truth challenges, even threatens, all that is false, all that is phony, unnecessary, and trivial in the life they have let themselves be forced into living. They are afraid of dragons because they are afraid of freedom." Quoted from Ursula K. Le Guin on Terri Windling's Myth & Moor 

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"Le Guin, more than Tolkien, has raised fantasy into high literature, for our time". Harold Bloom: Bloom's Modern Critical Reviews

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There is Hope in Ursula Le Guin's Trilogy Annals of the Western Shore

 

Ursula Le Guin returned to Earthsea  with the publication of Gifts (2004), the first book in what would become a trilogy: Annals of the Western Shore. These are totally different stories, resonating with similar themes: Voices (2006) and Power (2007). Certain key characters reappear in all three books. The major themes found in this trilogy are relevant in today's world. They include: power and its abuses; coming of age and identity; the power of story; fear, hope, slavery, and freedom. 

 

Parallels to the hardships and struggles of mankind through the centuries are found throughout the trilogy. 

 

Philip Pullman, in an interview once said that "every single religion that has a monotheistic god ends up by persecuting other people and killing them because they don't accept him." This type of persecution took place in Voices, the second book in the trilogy, where a militaristic desert tribe has made a brutal conquest of the people of Aland. Many events call to mind the jihadists of today. They also recall the brutal religious wars in Europe over the centuries as well as the crusades.

 

 

Orrec, a gifted storyteller/scholar appears in all three books in pivotal roles accompanied by Cyr, a fascinating woman companion who communicates with animals including her half-lion. The significance of story -- of words, ideas, history --  is hugely important to the events and characters in all three books. 

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Voices

Russ Allbery is a systems administrator, software developer, humanist, blogger, and an avid reader. He has written first class reviews of the Annals of the Western Shore trilogy. They are posted on his site (see links below) the Eyrie. Here is an excerpt from his review of Voices.

"As often seems to be the case with the best of Le Guin, I have a hard time putting my finger on why this book touched me so deeply. She has a quiet, deft touch with characters, a way of filling them with surprising details and moments where the reader can't help but respect them. . . The pacing is excellent, and even moments of conversation and introspection maintain the forward momentum of the plot. It's a book where I could trust the author and settle into the flow of the book without second-guessing where it was going."

LINK: Russ Allbery's Review of Voices

LINK: Russ Allbery's Review of Gifts.

LINK: Russ Allbery's review of Powers 

LINK: Profile Russ Allbery

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Powers

The central protagonist in Powers , the third book in Le Guin' s Annals of the Western Shore trilogy is Gavir, a brilliant young slave. His painful and courageous odyssey, ultimately brings him to a state where free men and women live and where learning and morality are valued.

The story is told by Gavir who survives brutal events, including the murder of his  dear sister, which shatters his very being. He endures near death, and  a series of experiences that test him. He evolves and grows, and seeking self knowledge, returns to a large area of lakes, reeds, and marshland. He and his sister were kidnapped from this area, where the people are physically like him: dark skinned, curly-haired, and short. There are also several who are like Gavir --  endowed with exceptional memories and psychic abilities.

His courage and enhanced self-knowledge take him through a perilous life journey to freedom and a fulfilling new life. He becomes part of the extended family of Orrec and Cyr, major characters throughout the trilogy.

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We like to think we live in daylight, but half the world is always dark, and fantasy, like poetry, sparks the language of the night.

 

 Ursula K. Le Guin

 

The Earthsea design is by Ruth Robbins

 

 

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Saving Buried and Meaningful Children's Books

Jack Zipes continues on his quest to save, and publish through Little Mole and Honey Bear (and others), lost but meaningful and engaging children's books.

Two of his latest books are: The Original Bambi: The Story of a Life in the Forest by Felix Salten (Princeton U Press) and Tistou, The Boy with the Green Fingers of Peace (Little Mole and Honey Bear). 

Tistou is classic story of a boy with a magic green thumb by the highly regarded French author Mourice Druon (Prix Goncourt). . . "Tistou (1957) stands as the unexpected flower he cultivated just for children."

Zipes brought the Original Bambi back to life with his own translation.  The forward of the book is a biographical saga by Zipes of Felix Salten's difficult life in troubled Europe. Before the Bambi story is told, the following Translator's Note appears:" A Word of Warning before You Enter the Forest:

Bambi is a sad but truthful novel. It was never intended for children. Unfortunately, the little ones—not to mention their parents—have been fed a diluted version in film and numerous books. Salten, a brilliant Austrian journalist and lover of animals, was also a dedicated hunter, a killer of deer and other harmless beasts. His novel Bambi, written after World War I, is an allegory about the weak and powerless in the world. This story has great implications for the development of humanity in our conflicted world. I was overwhelmed by Salten’s dilemmas as I translated his work and hope that I have done it justice." Jack Zipes, Minneapolis, June 7, 2021.

Photo of Jack Zipes courtesy Los Angeles Review of Books.

 

Here is a link to an excellent Guardian review by Donna Ferguson: Bambi: cute, lovable, vulnerable ... or a dark parable of antisemitic terror?

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“Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one's own self.” Franz Kafka

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The Unicorn in the Garden by James Thurber

"Once upon a sunny morning a man who sat in a breakfast nook looked up from his scrambled eggs to see a white unicorn with a golden horn quietly cropping the roses in the garden. The man went up to the bedroom where his wife was still asleep and woke her. 'There's a unicorn in the garden,' he said. 'Eating roses.' She opened one unfriendly eye and looked at him.

'The unicorn is a mythical beast,' she said, and turned her back on him. . ."

 Here is a link to the rest of this story: James Thurber

Courtesy of Ursula Le Quinn via Terri Windling. The illustration is also by James Thurber.

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Exceptional Independent Animation

The Battle of San Romano

 

 

Inspired by a 15th century painting by Paolo Uccello of the

Violent battle by Florentine and Sienese armies in 1432.

Director, George Schwizgebel.

Composer, Judith Gruber-Stitzer.

Production, Studio GDS,Schwizgebel.

 

 

Link: The Battle of San Romano Tme 2.27

 

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Afternoon Class 

 

Sleep humor in the classroom.

Directed by Seoro Oh, Graduation Film, South Korea.

Sound: Blue Cap.

Music: Hyeji Jung.

 

LINK:  Afternoon Class  Time 3.50

 

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Aesop_Candles

Sailing Ship, Storm, sea and stars.
Directed by Mattis Dovier.
Music/Sound Adrien Pallot.
Production By Remembers (an ensemble).

Link: Aesop Candles Time 1.37

 

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Why Am I ?

Here is a review by Story Wraps 

"This book is wonderful and concludes that you are perfect just as you are. No matter your size, shape, colour or unique qualities... you are mighty fine. What a great story to share and talk about with kids whether they be your own or in a classroom environment. Everyone needs to be validated, accepted and loved for who they were created to be. Everyone has value and worth just by being themselves. I love the illustrations and the positive message that will make kids ( and adults ) happy puppies just like Floyd. I highly recommend this book." 

 

 

Above is an excerpt from one of the many 5 Star reviews on Amazon for this joyful book. Story Wraps is an outstanding source of children's book reviews.

 

 

Ari Wulff created this book as well as all artwork.

 

 

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Animal Books Transcend Color

Animal books, from Aesop to Peter Rabbit, from The Cat in the Hat to Babar, from the Grimm's Hans the Hedgehog to the world of Mother Westwind, animal books are for children of all races, religions, and nationalities. And now we add Floyd's story to this mix .

 

 

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The Last Friday in February is Multicultural Children’s Book Day 

Our Mission: "To raise awareness for children’s books that celebrate diversity by getting more of these books into classrooms and libraries. This non-profit also strives to shine the spotlight on the diverse books and authors that often get overlooked by mainstream publishing and media . . .During Multicultural Children’s Book Day, we would like to focus on bringing attention to all of the amazing children’s books available that celebrate diversity."  Here is a link: MCCBD

Photo Courtesy NYMetroParents

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World Read Aloud Day is Feb.2, 2022

LitWorld founded World Read Aloud Day in 2010 to celebrate the power of reading aloud and to advocate for literacy as a foundational human right. Now, World Read Aloud Day is a global movement involving millions of readers, writers, and listeners from all around the globe!

Visit the World Read Aloud Day Activity Hub for virtual activities and read-alouds you can enjoy year-round, and join us for the next World Read Aloud Day on February 2, 2022 as we celebrate the joy and power of reading and sharing stories!

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"Fiction is the lie that tells the truth.
We all have an obligation to daydream.
We have an obligation to imagine . . .
Individuals make the future and they do that by imagining that things can be different."  Neil Gaiman   The plate is from Earthsea.

 

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Dog Rescue Charity Linked To Lara Trump Funneling Money Into Donald Trump’s Pocket

 Dog Ranch Rescue -- Where does the money go?

A dog rescue charity with links to Lara Trump has spent as much as $1.9 million at former President Donald Trump’s properties over the last seven years and will drop an additional quarter-million at his Mar-a-Lago country club this weekend. . . Reported by Christopher Reeves, Daily Koz. The photo is of Mar-a Lago. Also: From an article in the HUFFPOST on March 13, 2021 by S.V. Date 

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The Real Thing .. Healing and Supporting with The Human/Canine Bond

The Canine Therapy Corps, based in Chicago Illinois, has approximately 65 volunteer teams working in a wide range of programs across the Chicago Metropolitan Area.

The variety of services they are providing is quite wonderful. They include: autism; children who have suffered sexual abuse; children with severe emotional and behavioral problems; people trying to overcome chemical dependencies; unaccompanied immigrant minors; hospital patients of all ages; veterans with PTSD and depression; and more. The Canine Therapy Corps makes an ongoing difference and has eased pain for thousands of people.  

Here is a link to:  Canine Therapy Dogs

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Save the Children -- Working for Humanity

"Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm.

We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share. In 2015, we reached over 62 million children directly through our and our partners' work."

 Here is a link to their excellent video on violence in children's lives -- an international problem.

Here is a link to their website: Save the Children.

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The Planet of the Dogs

Out in space, on the other side of the sun, is the Planet Of The Dogs. Dogs have always lived there in peace and happiness. One day long ago, the council of the elder dogs learned that there were problems on Earth, the Planet of the People. Many people had forgotten how to love and had become mean and greedy. The good people of Green Valley were threatened by the warrior tribes of Stone City. The council realized that they needed help. This is the story of the first time dogs came to planet earth to teach people about love and to bring peace to Green Valley.

 

"Planet Of The Dogs may be a fairy tale, but it gives us hope that peace may someday be restored on earth through kinder and gentler means. Dog lovers and those who love a nice story will really enjoy this book." Reviewer: Alice Berger, Berger's Book Reviews

 

We have free reader copies of the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians and teachers . . . simply send us an email at [email protected] and we will send you the books. 

 

The illustration from Planet Of The Dogs is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.

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“A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours. Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart..."

--John Grogan, Marley and Me, Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog

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December: Season of Wonders

 

                                                             The  illustration is by Lennart Helje

A Time for Childhood and Wonder

"The deep, almost visceral connection between childhood and wonder had what was once perceived to be a dark side. The child's innate curiosity about the world and its wonders was repeatedly demonized and linked with the evils of idle hands...The rise of the fairy tale created a tectonic shift in children's literature and revealed that   something had been long off kilter. Fairy tales, sometimes referred to as "wonder tales" because they traffic in magic, opened the door to new theaters of action, with casts of characters very different from the scolding schoolmarm, the aggravated bailiff, or the disapproving cleric found in manuals for moral and spiritual improvement. Books were suddenly invaded by fabulous monsters -- bloodthirsty giants, red-eyed witches, savage bluebeards, and sinister child snatchers -- and they produced a giddy sense of disorientation that roused the curiosity of the child reader."

Maria Tatar, Enchanted Hunters, the Power of Stories in Childhood.

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The Celebration of Christmas and the Holiday Season of Today Originated with Dickens

Charles Dickens started it all with his wonder tale about a crippled boy, a greedy old man, and three ghosts.  This story, A Christmas Carol, had a great impact on the people of Victorian England where the Industrial Revolution had resulted in a brutal world of poverty, inequity. and suffering.

Dickens had known serious poverty as a boy, his father in debtors prison and Dickens working in a factory to help buy food for his family. What we now think of Christmas and the holiday season originated with A Christmas Carol. The book was an instant success and became popular throughout the British Empire from ordinary people to royalty.

The illustration is by Carol Granger

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The Weight of Truth

"The language around Christmas is usually pretty treacly, as befits the season. But future writers should remember that one of the amazing things about the holiday’s ur-text, Charles Dickens’s 1843 novella, “A Christmas Carol,” is that it’s pretty grim, that is to say realistic, when it comes to depicting Scrooge’s past and Tiny Tim’s present. Without Dickens’s eye and ear for extreme emotional and fiscal predicaments, the story’s more fantastic moments wouldn’t have the weight of truth."   Link to read more of this Hilton Als New Yorker Christmas article about Dickens, Dylan Thomas, and Horton Foote. Dickens worked in a factory liked the boys in the photo.

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Ebenezer Scrooge and The Ghost of the Future

"I see a vacant seat," replied the Ghost, "in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die."

"No, no," said Scrooge. "Oh, no, kind Spirit! say he will be spared."

"If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none other of my race," returned the Ghost, "will find him here. What then? If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief." --excerpt from The Christmas Carol.

The illustration is by Harry Furniss

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Following Dickens, the Christmas Spirit Grew in the USA 

The nineteenth century in the USA was alive with change and continuous growth from the country side to urban factories. And the Christmas holidays grew everywhere.

In the USA, the legend of Santa Claus was greatly enhanced in the early nineteenth century by the poem, A Visit From St. Nicholas. The popularity of this story-poem, first published in 1823, continued to grow with the passing years. It was originally written for his children by Clement Clarke Moore.

Later in the century, popular illustrations by Thomas Nast, including Moore's story poem, A Visit From St Nicholas, firmly established Santa Claus as a jolly, rotund figure in a red suit with a white beard. Nast's images of Santa, and his red suit with a sled and reindeer, became accepted and remain the norm today.

 

 

"As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack."

The illustration is by Thomas Nast.

 

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Sending a Christmas Card -- The Beginning

Sending a Christmas card began in the USA in 1843 when Henry Cole commissioned a card for Christmas; the Christmas card industry took off. By the 1880s the sending of cards had become hugely popular, creating a lucrative industry that produced 11.5 million cards in 1880 alone. The Christmas business, like the USA, continues to grow. Christmas is the largest card-sending holiday in the United States with approximately 1.3 billion cards sent annually. The giant, Hallmark, alone provides more than 2,000 Hallmark Christmas card designs. Digital cards, as evidenced by Blue Mountain (USA) and Jackie Lawson (England)), have been growing  constantly, soaring to huge membership numbers.

 

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Mr Dog Celebrates Christmas with His Animal Friends

Late in the nineteenth century Albert Bigelow Paine, a scholar with great imagination. wrote Mr. Dog's Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn. Alas, like many wonderful children's books it went out of print. However, it was read aloud during the Christmas holidays for generations in some families, including that of Ms. Betsey Cordes. Under her guidance, and with wonderful new period illustrations by Adam McCauley, Mr Dog's Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn has been given a new life. Driven by happy personal Christmas memories, the book was produced and republished with great care. It has the makings of a holiday classic. 

The illustration is by Adam McCauley

 

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An Old Favorite

Christmas Lights Moving Through the dark Hills . . . A Holiday treat, and a wonder to behold, the moving lights are on hundreds of sheep, running in the darkness, guided by sheepdogs . . . this is a classic video...Here is the link: Moving Lights Time 2.45

 

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One More Old Favorite

Music is created in a gradual flow as more musicians and singers arrive in this celebration of life.  Ode To Joy 

Produced by a flash mob.

 

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Two New Christmas Movies

Two new Christmas films have arrived with excellent reviews, Encanto and a Boy Called Christmas. 

I have seen the delightful Christmas story film, A Boy Called Christmas on Netflix. The beauties of a world of snow, the courage of a boy, lots of surprises and magic, a wonderful talking mouse, a loyal flying reindeer, and the power and importance of hope will carry viewers, young and old, to a joyful ending. The great value of story and imagination lies at the heart of this wonderful film. Adapted from the book by Matt Haig.

I haven't seen Disney's Encanto, but the reviews are excellent. Here is an example: The critic Maya Phillips of the NY Times writes that the movie has “stunning animation, a beautifully composed story and spellbinding songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda."

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Little Mole and Honey Bear

Here is the Mission Statement of the Publisher Little Mole & Honey Bear

"We republish children’s books with timeless values. 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."

 

The book, Teddy, The Little Refugee Mouse, was written and illustrated by Dorothy Burroughes during WW2.

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Hanukkah

December is a month for celebrations. The date for the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah changes yearly. Hanukkah is a joyful 8 day celebration of an ancient victory over oppression and a rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. The dates this year are November 28 to December 6. Many families today will give out presents and cook traditional foods during Hanukkah.

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Kwanzaa

 Kwanzaa, the African American holiday is celebrated from December 26 to January 1. It is estimated that some 18 million African Americans take part in Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration held in the United States that honors African heritage in African-American culture. Kwanzaa is observed from December 26th to January 1st. 

Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday, nor is it meant to replace Christmas. It was created by Dr. Maulana "Ron" Karenga,  a professor of Black Studies, in 1966. At that time of great social change for African Americans, Karenga sought to design a celebration that would honor the values of ancient African cultures and inspire African Americans who were working for progress. Kwanzaa is based on the year-end harvest festivals that have taken place throughout Africa for thousands of years."... Kwanzaa ends with gift giving and a celebratory feast.

This post is based on articles by InterExchange and  Holly Hartman.

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The joyous new Yelodoggie book, Why Am I ?,  will help open the imagination and perspective of children to the world around them.

It will help them to recognize and appreciate differences: to understand issues of belonging and acceptance: and to embrace that which is unique in each of us. 

For Example:  Here is what Sadie, age 6, said when responding to her teacher's question -- "Did you like the story?"

“I don’t like it, I love it!!
I liked that the dog accepted himself for how God made him. He realized being yellow was the way he was supposed to be and it made him special. I am different from my friends in ways that make me special, like my hair is a different color and I am good at the monkey bars"  Sadie, age 6

Floyd is a happy dog with many friends. One day, someone asked Floyd why he was yellow. Floyd had never thought about it. He did not know the answer. He wasn't a lemon. He wasn't a banana. He was a dog. "Why am I yellow?" he wondered. Join Floyd on his adventures to find the answer to his question, and meet many of his friends and other animals along the way. A great family conversation starter and bedtime read.

Read the reviews on Amazon

For ages 4 and up with an adult's help, or 6 and up for beginning readers. 

The publisher is Freedom Chaser Books:       Website:  https://www.whochainsyou.com

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Identity and Joy

"If children want to find out and delight about their identity, I strongly suggest you surprise them with a gift at Christmas and give them Why Am I  ?.

Ari Wulff and Robert McCarty have produced a colorful book about a curious tiny dog who searches for answers about his identity. This existential story will make your heart beat with joy."  Jack Zipes 

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Cookie 

Cookie is a joyous book by Isabelle Duff, a love story about a Girl and her dog, Cookie, with many wonderful, playful, illustrations by Susannah Crisp. The author was 19 when she wrote the book, inspired by her own life experiences. Children and dog lovers will find much enjoyment in this touching story, especially as it is told by Cookie, the dog.

"Cookie is also a timely reminder that young children struggle with down times with things like anxiety more and more a part of their young lives. Cookie is a rich opportunity to talk about the times when things don’t seem to be going right for young people, and giving them some strategies to respond to these feelings as and when they come up." (The quote is from an excellent review by NZ Booklovers)

 

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Making a Great Exhibition

This book flows with colors , shapes, and illustrations to create the multitude of people whose work produces an art exhibition. It describes the process of creating paintings and sculptures, including the world around us, and creating abstractions of what we see. The flow of activity moves on to museums including curators, art handlers, and the big opening of an exhibition. The narrative lends itself to a variety of interactions for children of different ages.

London-based illustrator Rose Blake is best known for her work in A History of Pictures for Children, by David Hockney and Martin Gayford, which has been a worldwide success. Author Doro Globus brings her love for the arts and kids together with this fun journey.

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Let's Talk

Let's Talk is the third and latest book published by the Yeager Foundation to help create a tangible path into the world of words, literacy and reading, particularly for the underserved. The Yeager books, while helping the child, also aid in the mother/child relationship.

They are given free to nonprofits, schools, public agencies, libraries, pediatricians, pediatric clinics, and hospitals. More than 101,000 print copies, in English and Spanish, have been distributed thus far.

The three books are entitled Mommy Talk, Talk to Me, and Let's Talk. The latter book, written by Doug Yeager and with warm, caring illustrations by Alma Miller-Glick that move through a multitude of loving family interactions with mom, child, and dad talking together. The back of the book has a large variety of excellent suggestions, guidelines and other information. Here is a link to obtain a free copy and learn more about how the foundation works preparing young children to be successful in school and in life.   

 

The Yeager Foundation

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This Able Veteran

Therapy dogs and therapy programs for PTSD. Link; This Able Veteran

 

"Why we do this: Simply put, we are  concerned about our returning military veterans. Some return with physical injuries, some with injuries less easy to see, but few come home from active combat and military duty untouched.  The statistics are alarming:  every day 20 veterans die by suicide. That’s almost one an hour, every day. Someone has to do something to help. And that’s what we are doing. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has many sides. . . Our program combines specially trained PTSD service dogs with a Trauma Resiliency Program and life-skills training meant to complement the veteran’s ongoing therapy program. We get to know each veteran in our program, and how PTSD affects him or her. . .We select a dog based on the individual veteran’s psychological, physical and social needs. We train the service dog and the veteran together as a unique team.

 

 

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Save The Children

“Even under normal circumstances, the bitter Afghan winter is a desperate fight to survive for many families, but this year, the need will be greater than ever.

Save the Children will support more than 26,000 families in nine of the hardest-hit provinces this winter. Families will receive winter kits containing blankets and winter clothes for children including coats, socks, shoes and hats. The organization will also provide families with US$200 to buy a heater and a three-month supply of firewood or one gas stove and fuel to last the winter.

Here is a link Save The Children

Photo credit Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

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Interview With Santa

This interview was conducted as part of a program to determine the truth behind the incredible story of Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale. . .

 Interviewer: Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions and clarifying things. 

Santa: I’m happy that the story is finally coming out. 

Interviewer: Is it a true story? 

Santa:  Absolutely. I think it was lost in the mists of time…It took place hundreds and hundreds of years ago. 

Interviewer: Is it true that there was to be no more Christmas? 

Santa: I’m sorry to say that it’s true. Until the dogs arrived. 

Interviewer: The dogs? 

Santa: It was a surprise to all of us in Santa Claus village. None of us, and that includes all the elves, had even heard of dogs. 

 To read all of the Interview with Santa, click this link:  Interview with Santa 

The illustration of Santa is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.

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Snow Valley Heroes

Santa's reindeer have been kidnapped by the King of the North. There can be no more Christmas. This is the true story of how dogs came to Snow Valley from the Planet Of The Dogs to save Christmas for children everywhere.

Review. . . Loved it . . .This delightful conclusion to the Planet of the Dogs series just caps off a wonderful tradition. The story is well suited to be read aloud to younger children and as chapter book for the older ones. All of your favorite dogs help rescue two of Santa's reindeer from the Evil King of the North. The story also imparts important lessons of cooperation and responsibility."   Mary Jacobs, Editor/reviewer Bookhounds  

We have free reader copies of the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians and teachers...simply send us an email at planeto[email protected] and we will send you the books.  

Here's a link to read sample chapters of Snow Valley Heroes

The illustration from Snow Valley Heroes is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.

 

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Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won’t make it white.  Bing Crosby

The photo of Darcy and Caboose is by Richard Bradley.

 

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November 2021 -- From Adam and Eve to the Apocalypse and the Book of Dust

 

The painting above is of Urizen created by William Blake as part of an illustrated book of his own creation mythology. "Urizen represents alienated reason as the source of oppression." Blake also rebelled at the abuse of power by organized religion. Philip Pullman was inspired by William Blake. Oppression by the powerful Magisterium underlies all of Pullman's Lyra books.

The Rise and Fall Of Adam and Eve -- Believers Endured

Adam and Eve is a story from the sacred books of three religions that told of God, the beginning of the world, the first man and woman, good and evil and sin. And for centuries it was believed to be literally true by religious authorities, scholars, rulers, and common people. Stephen Greenblatt, scholar, historian, and author of several insightful, prize winning, and very original books, has now written about the phenomenal history of Adam and Eve. The book, The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve, is researched through the centuries, and raises a multitude of questions about the credulity of humanity and the power of dogma. Here are excerpts from the book.

"Pious men and women struggled to make good on a theological proposition attempting to treat the tale of naked man and woman and a talking snake as a strictly accurate account of the events that initiated life as we know it . . . Authorities of church and State reacted harshly to skeptics."

For centuries, arguing with organized religion could cost you your life. With time, culture changed and so did thinking. As Michael  Schaub wrote in his excellent NPR review: "Literal belief in the Adam and Eve story fell out of favor in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Greenblatt credits Voltaire and Charles Darwin, along with the discovery of ancient fossils, with the now-popular belief that the story is an allegory. 'Dinosaurs helped to destroy the Garden of Eden,' he writes. 'Paradise was not lost; it had never existed.' "

The illustration is by Julius Schnorr von Carlsfeld. 

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  "We tell our selves stories in order to live."

   Joan Didion

 

 

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                                     Philip Pullman's Inspiration

Philip Pullman had an epiphany at the age of 16 when he came to know the works  -- both poetry and visual art -- of William Blake. With time, we all grow and change. Yet the work of Blake has endured and still resonates with Pullman. The excerpts that follow are from an incredible Philip Pullman article from the Guardian entitled William Blake and Me.

"Sometimes we find a poet, or a painter, or a musician who functions like a key that unlocks a part of ourselves we never knew was there. The experience is not like learning to appreciate something that we once
found difficult or rebarbative . . .  It’s a more visceral, physical sensation than that, and it comes most powerfully when we’re young. Something awakes that was asleep, doors open that were closed, lights come on in all the windows of a palace inside us, the existence of which we never suspected . . . 
My mind and my body reacted to certain lines . . . with the joyful immediacy of a flame leaping to meet a gas jet. What these things meant I didn’t quite know then, and I’m not sure I fully know now. There was no sober period of reflection, consideration, comparison, analysis: I didn’t have to work anything out. I knew they were true in the way I knew that I was alive. I had stumbled into a country in which I was not a stranger, whose language I spoke by instinct . . ."

 

The illustration is by William Blake
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What Did Philip Pullman Mean When He Said, "The Lyra Books Were Inspired by Milton's Paradise Lost."

Personally, I found the Lyra Trilogies, His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust (we wait for book three), very engrossing, unlike anything else I have encountered. And I have great respect for the fact that over 17.5 million readers in 40 languages have read these books. Therefore, I was very curious about what Pullman meant when he said that he was, "Inspired by Milton's Paradise Lost". I have now done research and found illuminating insights into what he meant. 

The excerpt that follows below is from an introduction to Paradise Lost, and was written by Pullman for the British Library website. While reading, I followed his suggestions (below) for reading aloud and experiencing Milton. I found the article brilliant.

The photo of Lyra, played by Dafne Keen, is from the BBC TV version of His Dark Materials.

Pullman on Milton's Paradise Lost

"The experience of reading poetry aloud when you don't fully understand it is a curious and complicated one. It's like suddenly discovering that you can play the organ. Rolling swells and peals of sound, powerful rhythms and rich harmonies are at your command; and as you utter them you begin to realise that the sound you're releasing from the words as you speak is part of the reason they're there. The sound is part of the meaning and that part only comes alive when you speak it. So at this stage it doesn't matter that you don't fully understand everything: you're already far closer to the poem than someone who sits there in silence looking up meanings and references and making assiduous notes."


The illustration from Paradise Lost is by John Martin.

 

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“There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children’s book.” -- Philip Pullman

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Then War Broke Out In Heaven

 "Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him."

Excerpt: Paradise Lost in The Book of Revelation 12: 7-12, in the New Testament (the Christian Bible).

The illustration is a page from the 15th century Cologne Bible.

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The Magisterium

 

Underlying Philip Pullman's books is the power of the Magisterium, his parallel universe version of the powerful Roman Catholic Church prior to Martin Luther. Luther would change the history of Christianity and create an enormous power shift in the Western world. As of this date, we do not know if the Magisterium's fear of Lyra and her powerful influence will prove to be the undoing of their absolute power.

 

The illustration of Lyra from His Dark Materials is by Chris Wormell.

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The Book of Dust

"The quest to understand, use and destroy Dust is central to His Dark Materials. But as well as being analogous to dark matter, Pullman has said that it is a metaphor for the original story, which he based upon Milton’s Paradise Lost. In His Dark Materials, the Magisterium regards it as evidence of original sin, which must be destroyed before children emerge from puberty into adulthood when their daemons, the animal familiars that represent their spirits, take their final form.

Dust is an analogy of consciousness, and consciousness is this extraordinary property we have as human beings,” Pullman told the Today programme."

The excerpt above was written by Danuta Kean for the Guardian Book of Dust Announcement.  

 

The book Cover illustration is by Chris Wormell.

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"I think, therefore I am" --  Rene Descartes, Discourse on Method, 1637  ..................................................................................................................................................................

 

Fantasy

 

“In fantasy stories we learn to understand the differences of others, we learn compassion for those things we cannot fathom, we learn the importance of keeping our sense of wonder. The strange worlds that exist in the pages of fantastic literature teach us a tolerance of other people and places and engender an openness toward new experience. Fantasy puts the world into perspective in a way that 'realistic' literature rarely does. It is not so much an escape from the here-and-now as an expansion of each reader's horizons."  Jane Yolen, Touch Magic: Fantasy, Faerie & Folklore in the Literature of Childhood

 

 

The illustration from The Book of Dust is by Chris Wormell.

 

 

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Exceptional Independent Animation

 

The Bigger Picture 

 

 

 

Surreal family life, humor

Written and Created by Daisy Jacobs, Producer Chris Hees 

Music Huw Bunford, Sound Jonas Andreas Jensen, Props Chris Wilder

National Film and TV School

 

 

Link to The Bigger Picture Time 7.25

 

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Trash Cat

 

 

Cat has an IT adventure.

Director Kelsey Goldych

Producer Cameron Butler.

Sound Design/Music Zack Bogucki.

Presented by SCAD -- a Student Film.

 

 

Link to Trash Cat Time: 1.53

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Palm Rot 

Tropical Sci-fi fantasy. 
Ryan Gillis Creator/director.
Music Waylon Thornton, Sound Design Owen Granich-Young.
USC School of Cinematic Art, Adobe.
Link to Palm Rot Time 7.28

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Saving Buried Books -- The Battle of Britain and Meaningful Children's Books

"We are cultural excavators. Some of our biggest political and moral challenges have been addressed by voices long lost to history. We will unbury neglected authors and books from the twentieth century, before we are buried." — From the Little Mole & Honey Bear Press mission statement

During WW2, for over a year, London was under a ceaseless all out air attack.  In the midst of destruction from the bombs. multitudes of children were evacuated to the countryside, separating children from their families. It was a very difficult and painful time.  

Dorothy Burroughes, a very accomplished writer and artist of children's books -- forgotten in our current era -- created a delightful book entitled. Teddy, The Little Refugee Mouse.  

"In Teddy, The Little Refugee Mouse, Burroughes alludes to the difficult conditions faced by the British people during World War II by transforming them into animals and thus estranging young readers so that they would not possibly suffer anguish while reading her books. Indeed, one of the difficulties for British children at that time was accepting the fact that they had to move from cities to the countryside to escape the Nazi bombings. The adjustment to country life was always a problem on both sides – the city dwellers and the rural people. Thus, Teddy, an immigrant, so to speak, shows unusual courage when faced with a life style that is very strange. Burroughes depicts the mouse as courageous and talented. It is his art, . . that is, his playing the flute that enables all the animals at the farm eventually to make peace with their enemy, the cat. Implicit in this hopeful story is a critique of how animals resolve their conflicts better than humans. Instead, the refugee mouse shares his talents to defeat an oppressor, while the animals welcome the cat into their community despite previous animosity. In this regard, Burroughes’ startling color illustrations celebrate the joy of pacifism." Jack Zipes

The illustration is by Dorothy Burroughes.

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Biddy Mason Speaks Up Video

Biddy Mason began life as a slave in the south and ended up, after struggle, a freed, single mother of three children in 19th century California. This is an amazing true life story of courage and fortitude. Ultimately, she became wealthy through wise real estate investments.This condensed video of 4.5 minutes, 'The Biddy Mason Story' is adapted from "Biddy Mason Speaks Up", an installment of the Fighting for Justice book series, written by Arisa White and Laura Atkins, illustrations by Laura Freeman. This video is part of a larger project entitled "Gold Chains: The Hidden History of Slavery in California" (goldchainsca.org). Produced by the No.Cal. ACLU.

The Illustration is by Laura Freeman.

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Therapy Dogs Changing Lives.

PGI = Paws Giving Independence, was founded and is sustained by people coming from the heart. PGI is based in and has become part of the culture in Peoria, Ilinois -- and beyond.

"The objective of PGI is to train service dogs to assist people with a variety of different disabilities while providing support to encourage independence. PGI educates the public to the benefits of service dogs and encourages animal rescue by obtaining many of our animals from shelters and rescue groups...Mobility Service Dogs help by performing functions for a person who is limited by a disability...

Non-profit, all volunteer.

Here is a link to the PGI website.

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When Does It Stop ?

More than half of all police-involved killings in the US go unreported with the majority of victims being Black, according to a new study published in the Lancet, a peer reviewed journal. Link: Guardian

Photo credit Barbershop Books

 

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Why Am I ?

 

Jack Zipes says that Why Am I ? is "fabulous. I think every family in America should have a copy of this book".

 

Floyd is a happy dog with many friends. One day, someone asked Floyd why he was yellow. Floyd had never thought about it. He did not know the answer. He wasn't a lemon. He wasn't a banana. He was a dog. "Why am I yellow?" he wondered. Join Floyd on his adventures to find the answer to his question, and meet many of his friends and other animals along the way. A great family conversation starter and bedtime read.

For ages 4 and up with an adult's help, or 6 and up for beginning readers. 

The publisher is Freedom ChaserBooks:       Website:          https://www.whochainsyou.com/

 

 

All the illustrations and story are by Ari Wulff.

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How the Snow Valley Heroes Saved Christmas

Two of Santa's incredible flying reindeer had been kidnapped. Never again would there be Christmas. The King of the North has secretly captured the reindeer and hidden them away in his Ice Castle.

No one knew what to do. Not Santa, nor the elves, nor the Tundra Town Traders

Help came from the Planet Of The Dogs. And from Daisy and Bean, a sister and brother who knew the dogs.

Many dogs came to help: brave dogs, clever dogs, and winter dogs. Even small dogs. 

The dogs later became know as the Snow Valley Heroes.

To Read More: Here is a link to Sample Chapters and other books in the Planet Of The Dogs series.

 

We have free reader copies of the Planet Of The Dog Series for therapy dog organizations, therapy dog owners, librarians and teachers. Simply send us an email at [email protected] and we will send you the books.

 

 

The illustration from Snow Valley Heroes is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.

 

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"Labradors make lousy watchdogs. They usually bark when there is a stranger about, but it is an unmitigated expression of joy at the chance to meet somebody new, not a warning." -Norman Strung

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October 2021 - Storms of Fear, Religion, and Your Mother is a Witch

                                                     The illustration is by Rima Staines

Madness Prevailed 

"Why is it that early modern Europe had such a fervor for witch hunting? Between 1400 to 1782, when Switzerland tried and executed Europe’s last supposed witch, between 40,000 and 60,000 people were put to death for witchcraft, according to historical consensus. The epicenter of the witch hunts was Europe’s German-speaking heartland, an area that makes up Germany, Switzerland, and northeastern France."     Gwen Guilford - Quartz  

The illustration is by Hieronamus Bosch.

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The Turning Point  

 

The competition for souls accelerated as did the torture and  brutal execution of witches with Martin Luther's 95 Points in 1517. If you were an older woman, a widow or unmarried, and a neighbor, or even a stranger called you a witch, you were in deep trouble. This was especially so if you walked with a limp, had wrinkles or bad skin, or owned a black cat. Equally dangerous was having a garden of herbs. Witches were in league with Satan. Satan caused famine, disease, and drought.

 

 

 

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The Reformation: Lutherans and Catholics Competed

The Economic Journal of the Royal Economic Society, posits an explanation for the witch hunts based on considerable research and data that documented the way fears spread, followed by outrageous, brutal, injustice against women and massacres of those from the other church. Here are excerpts:

"This . . . theory comes down to market competition—between churches. In early modern Europe, Protestantism emerged as the first truly viable challenger to the Catholic church’s hold on the population. The study views the Catholic and Protestant churches as competing firms, each in the business of supplying a valuable service: Salvation. . . . Among both Catholics and Protestants, witch-hunting became a prime service for attracting and appeasing the masses by demonstrating their Satan-fighting prowess. . . Analyses of new data covering more than 43,000 people tried for witchcraft across 21 European countries over a period of five-and-a-half centuries and more than 400 early modern European Catholic–Protestant conflicts support our theory. More intense religious-market contestation led to more intense witch-trial activity. And compared to religious-market contestation, the factors that existing hypotheses claim were important for witch-trial activity – weather, income and state capacity – were not."

Here is a link to read the entire article and proof of the thesis by Peter T. Leeson and Jacob Russ: Competing to Fight Satan

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The Earth Revolves Around the Sun -- Johannes Kepler

 

During the era of witchcraft hysteria, from the land that gave us the Grimm fairy tales, there came a great mathematician, astronomer, and naturalist philosopher -- Johannes Kepler. He was mentored by Tycho Brahe and many of the great minds of his generation. He is best known today for his proof that the earth revolves around the sun. His work was fundamental to advances in physics made by Isaac Newton. 

 

Kepler interrupted his brilliant scientific career to defend his mother, Katharina Kepler, a widow in her 70s, from a false charge of witchcraft. He succeeded, after many months, in disproving the charges. A year later, having spent a year chained to the floor in a prison, his mother died.

 

 

Portrait of Johannes Keppler, by an artist unknown.

 

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The Astronomer and the Witch: Johannes Kepler's Fight for His Mother

"Local records for the small town in which Katharina Kepler lived are abundant. There is no evidence that she was brought up by an aunt who was burnt for witchcraft – this was one of the charges which her enemies invented. There is no evidence either that she made a living from healing – she simply mixed herbal drinks for herself and sometimes offered her help to others, like anyone else. A woman in her late 70s, Katharina Kepler withstood a trial and final imprisonment, during which she was chained to the floor for more than a year.

Kepler’s defence was a rhetorical masterpiece. He was able to dismantle the inconsistencies in the prosecution case, and show that the “magical” illnesses for which they blamed his mother could be explained using medical knowledge and common sense. In the autumn of 1621, Katharina was finally set free."

Ulinka Rublack,  Professor of History, University of Cambridge, wrote the definitive biography of Kepler's mother in 2015: The Astronomer and the Witch: Johannes Kepler's Fight for His Mother. The two paragraphs above are excerpted from Rublack's post in The Conversation. 

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We Know Your Mother Is a Witch by Riva Galchen

 

This rather incredible book takes you back to the outrageous era of the early Reformation and the beginning of the 30 Years War. Institutions of government and laws were abused by the powerful, and innocent women were accused of witchcraft, tortured for confessions, and horribly executed.

Katharina Kepler, a hard working widower, is accused of witchcraft through absurd and scurrilous accusations and rumors. The story is told through the voices of Katharina and a panoply of people, including testimonials by many of the would be accusers. Katharina undergoes false accusations, financial ruin, brutal behavior, and being chained to a wall during lengthy imprisonment.

 

The book is fiction, but all based on research and historical records. One question asked many times by prosecutors or their assistants follows and is taken from records verbatim: 
 "Do you understand that any false testimony you knowingly give, will provoke God's anger in your earthly life and will deliver your soul to Satan upon your death?"

 

Prize winning author Riva Galchen credits Ulinka Rublack's book (see above) as a major source of inspiration. The question lingers about the outcome of the trial had not her brilliant son, Johannes -- mathematician to the ruling family -- won her trial. I am very touched by Katharina's years of chained imprisonment, and her sad death after one month of freedom.

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Miracles in the 16th Century

 

Miracles :"The Catholic Church believes miracles are works of God, either directly, or through the prayers and intercessions of a specific saint or saints". . . Wikipedia

 

"Saint Francis of Paola:After his nephew died, the boy's mother—Francis' own sister—appealed to Francis for comfort, and filled his apartment with lamentations. After the Mass and divine office had been said for the repose of his soul, Francis ordered the corpse to be carried from the church into his cell, where he continued praying until, to her great astonishment, the boy's life was restored and Francis presented him to his mother in perfect health." The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints by Rev Alban Butler.

 

 

The painting of St, Francis of Paola is by Jean Bourdichon,1517.

 

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The Very Sad Witch

I found myself caring about a witch who was unable to undo a curse she had placed on a baby seventeen years ago. Before she became a witch, she was a beautiful young woman. However, as a peasant shopkeeper, she was powerless in the face of royalty; she had been exploited, used and abused by a man. That man was the King.

 

I also cared about Alice, the cursed princess as well. Marked by the curse, she had been scorned and belittled all her life. She was a child when her mother died, and had grown up without love. A sensitive girl, she loved poetry and romantic literature. She was sad, but not bitter. And so it was, that on her seventeenth birthday, she secretly and quietly stole up the tower stairs to confront her fate.

 

The story continues on, bringing the mysteries of the past up to the present. In both content and form, The Rose in Twelve Petals is a masterful and original retelling by Theodora Goss of the traditional Sleeping Beauty legends.  Here is a very condensed excerpt of events when Alice reaches the top of the tower and finds the Witch and a beautiful spinning wheel:

 

"The Witch nods and sunlight catches the silver cross suspended from a chain around her neck. She says, 'I'm sorry' ". . .

 

"Why didn't you remove the curse then?"

 

" 'Magic doesn't work that way.' The Witch's voice is sad. Alice turns around and sees that her cheeks are wet with tears."

 

The illustration is by Trina Schart Hyman.

The photographer of the castle tower is unknown.

 

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Hoping

 

"The more one knows fairy tales the less fantastical they appear; they can be vehicles of the grimmest realism, expressing hope against all the odds with gritted teeth.”  Marina Warner

 

 

The illustration is by Laurent Lavender.

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Exceptional Independent Animation

 

Tracks

 

Perfect for Kids, soothing for Adults.

 

Created by Corrie Francis Parks.

 

Original music by Iguewa Ni Mbia.

 

Here is the link:Tracks Time 2.06.

 

 

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The Darkest Valentine

 

Ironies of loving, light and darkness.

 

Directed by Kathrin Steinbacher, Script by Alain de Botton.

 

Animation and design Emily Downe, Flora Coultun, and Hannah Mcnally.

 

Music by Tom Rosenthal, Produced for The School of Life.

 

Here is the link: The Darkest Valentine Time 2.25.

 

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What Is Beauty

 

Celebrating the diversity of the female form through time.

Created by Anna Gindburg.

Music by father, Production by Strange Beast

 

A CNN Production; producer, Sarah-Grace Mankarious.

 

Here the link: What Is Beauty?  Time 02.44

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Daddy Played the Blues by Michael Garland

 

"Six-year-old Cassie squeezes into the backseat of her family’s old jalopy, holding Daddy’s precious guitar across her lap. The year is 1936, and the family is bound for a better life in Chica­go, where Daddy will work six days a week in the stockyards and fill his time off singing the blues. This fictional but histori­cally correct story is set during the Great Migration, a period when thousands of African Americans left the southern states in search of a better life away from share cropping and Jim Crow laws. It is a tribute to the rich tradition of the blues, particularly the Chicago Blues style. The story is interjected with blues lyr­ics, which are accompanied by illustrated interpretations of the songs. . .  An eight-page, fully illustrated author’s note adds con­text for the story and provides information about blues history and the popularization of the genre. Back matter includes song credits, a map depicting the Great Migration, and short bios and portraits for 11 pioneers of the Chicago blues style."-- Sarah Jo Zaharako, Head Royce School, BayViews: The Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California -- See this book, page by wonderfully illustrated page: Daddy Played The Blues

 

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Born Without a Tail Amazon review by Comma

"What a well written, enjoyable book.
This is a book I had for several years before reading it. As much as I enjoy a book about animals, I always find them heartbreaking as well. However, this book is such a celebration of these animals' lives, and their passing is gently passed over, that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The only tears I had were tears of laughter as the author described her unwilling, yet invaluable, help during a dog mating."

 

Here is a link to C.A. Wulff's  Born Without a Tail.

 

 

Cover design by C.A. Wulff.

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Why Am I ?  A  Yelodoggie Book 

 

This wonderful book has just been published by Freedom Chaser Books

Available at Amazon 

 

Floyd is a happy dog with many friends. One day, someone asked Floyd why he was yellow. Floyd had never thought about it. He did not know the answer. He wasn't a lemon. He wasn't a banana. He was a dog. "Why am I yellow?" he wondered. Join Floyd on his adventures to find the answer to his question, and meet many of his friends and other animals along the way. A great family conversation starter and bedtime read.

For ages 4 and up with an adult's help, or 6 and up for beginning readers.

The website for Freedom Chaser Books is: https://www.whochainsyou.com/

 

All the illustrations and story are by Ari Wulff.

 

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Over half of the world’s refugees are children. Many will spend their entire childhoods away from home, sometimes separated from their families. They may have witnessed or experienced violent acts and, in exile, are at risk of abuse, neglect, violence, exploitation, trafficking or military recruitment.

But children are incredibly resilient. By learning, playing and exploring their skills, they can find ways to cope, drawing strength from their families and communities.

UNHCR works with national authorities, other international and local organizations to assist, protect and find solutions for displaced children. We ensure that those who are unaccompanied or separated are cared for and have access to family tracing and reunification services, that new-borns are registered at birth and children with disabilities are supported. Through psychosocial support activities and education, we help children rebuild their lives. Here is a link: UNHCR. The photo of refugee children is by Muhammed Muheisen

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More Madness

 

 Gun violence the United States jumped nearly 30 percent last year, according to FBI data released Monday that indicates a growing number of gun-related slayings during the pandemic.

 

The photo is of Mourners at a memorial for the 10 people killed in a mass shooting at a Boulder, Colo., grocery store.  (Photo by Rachel Woolf for The Washington Post) Link: Washington Post

 

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This Event is Virtual instead of in-person. To attend, you must register either on the Magers & Quinn Facebook website or my website. It is now a virtual event. Unfortunately, it would be too dangerous to hold it in-person due to the pandemic.

7PM Central Standard Time.This is the link to RSVP to the event: Jack Zipes

 

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No One Had Ever seen a Dog

 Long, long ago...

There was plenty of space for people to settle and grow things. Many of the places where people lived were very beautiful. There were clear lakes and cool streams with lots of fish. There were fields and woods with game to hunt. And there were rolling hills and open plains with plants growing everywhere. Many people settled in these places of abundance and prospered.

 

And then, invaders came. Where once there had been harmony and friendship, there was now fear, anger, and unhappiness. Something had to be done -- but what could anybody do? No one knew it at that time, but help would come from the Planet of the Dogs..

 Read More: Sample Chapters of the Planet Of The Dogs series.

 

We have free reader copies of the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians and teachers...simply send us an email at planeto[email protected] and we will send you the books.  

 

The illustration from Planet Of The Dogs is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.

 

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“Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate.” — Sigmund Freud

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September .. Terry Pratchett, The Human Condition and Fantasy, Jack Zipes Discoveries.

                                     The Illustration of Discworld is by Jacob Proszowski.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) has had a huge and enthusiastic following for many years. I am a latecomer.

Ariel Wulff, a terrific author and part of our Barking Planet family, had urged me to write about Pratchett and his books some time ago. And now it's happening. I had to first find my balance after I learned that a major turning point in Pratchett's career was The Color of Magic (1983) , the first in a series of over 40  Discworld books that take place on the back of a turtle moving through space -- illustrated above.

I continued my journey into the world of Terry by watching him in many You Tube videos and reading  The Color of Magic. I simultaneously turned to factual information where I encountered more awesome surprises. Here are some of the  things that I learned:

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Prolific, Unpredictable, Fantasy Humor

"Pratchett,wrote over 70 books with more than 85 million books sold worldwide in 37 languages; he was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2009 and was knighted for services to literature. 

There are over 40 books in the Discworld series, of which four are written for children. The first of these children's books, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal.

Pratchett's earliest Discworld novels were written largely to parody classic sword-and-sorcery fiction (and occasionally science-fiction); as the series progressed, Pratchett dispensed with parody almost entirely, and the Discworld series evolved into straightforward (though still comedic) satire."    Courtesy of Wikipedia

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"Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can." Terry Pratchett

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Discworld

"Somewhere on the frontier between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a parallel time and place which might sound and smell very much like our own, but which looks completely different.

Particularly as it’s carried through space on the back of a giant turtle.

It plays by different rules. But then, some things are the same everywhere. The Disc’s very existence is about to be threatened by a strange new blight: the world’s first tourist, upon whose survival rests the peace and prosperity of the land.

Unfortunately, the person charged with maintaining that survival in the face of robbers, mercenaries and, well, Death, is a spectacularly inept wizard. . . "

The above sounds to me like it was written by Terry. It is from his Website.

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'I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.'  Terry Pratchett 
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The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

"Terry won the Carnegie Medal for his children’s book The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. Despite the many other awards, honorary degrees and knighthood that followed, he always said that this was the award he was most proud of."

The story follows Maurice, a streetwise cat, who has the perfect money-making scam. He finds a dumb-looking kid who plays a pipe and has his very own horde of rats, who are strangely literate and articulate (IMDB).

An animated movie, featuring the voices of Emelia Clarke, Hugh Laurie, Gemma Arterton, Himesh Patsi, and David Thewlis is now in production and scheduled for release in 2020. An illustration of Maurice is on the left, above.

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A non-Discworld book, Good Omens, his 1990 collaboration with Neil Gaiman, has been a longtime bestseller and was reissued in hardcover by William Morrow in early 2006.

 

Gaiman has said that Pratchett's best Discworld book is Nightwatch.

Here is a link to Michael Chanbon's interview of Neil Gaiman's tribute to Terry Pratchett.

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"Pratchett uses his other world to hold up a distorting mirror to our own . . . he is a satirist of enormous talent." The Times
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Terry 2007 Alzheimer's 

"Terry was diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer’s, Posterior Cortical Atrophy. He decided to tell the world, and began his campaign to raise awareness of the disease, donating a million dollars to Alzheimer’s research the following year."

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Terry kept writing to the end. His passion for story telling never diminished. His talent remained intact. He had made many delightful videos (You Tube) over the years. After his diagnoses he made videos tracking his life, and raising awareness by sharing his experience. The video mentioned below, the Dimbleby Lecture, is quite extraordinary. Here is the link : Shaking Hands With Death

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Shaking Hands With Death

In 2011, Terry delivered the annual Dimbleby Lecture on BBC1, with the help of his friend Tony Robinson, who presented his speech for him. In a piece entitled Shaking Hands With Death, Terry was candid about his struggle with Alzheimer’s and his campaign to reform the law on assisted dying. The lecture attracted a record TV audience, the highest there had ever been for a Dimbleby Lecture.

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“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.”  Terry Pratchett

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Fantasy

 

"Fantasy is a different approach to reality, an alternative technique for apprehending and coping with existence. It is not antirational, but pararational; not realistic but surrealistic, a heightening of reality. . . . Fantasy is nearer to poetry, to mysticism, and to insanity than naturalistic fiction is. It is a wilderness, and those who go there should not feel too safe."   Ursula K. Le Guin

“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

 

The illustration for the cover of Terry Pratchett's The Colour Of Magic is by Josh Kirby.

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Magic Realism 

"Magic realism often refers to literature in particular, with magical or supernatural phenomena presented in an otherwise real-world or mundane setting . . .while fantasy stories are often separated from reality." Wikipedia

The Floating Reality Club

"I joined the Floating Reality Club and so did Selma, my old classmate, I have been asked why I wanted to join an association with such a strange name. I used to reply that it was just a momentary whim, but it really was not that simple. . .

As Selma and I walked home from that first meeting of the club, she said to me, 'I don't know why this club makes any sense. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't be a member of the floating reality club.'

'How so?' I asked.

'There simply isn't anyone whose reality doesn't doesn't change, twist and turn, and not just once, but over and over again.'

Selma was right. There are people whose reality changes slowly, imperceptibly at first, but soon accelerating in an irrevocable manner.

As I got ready to retire that evening, it occurred to me that Night, that strips away norms, habits, routines, also is another reality. Activity has ceased, the hand does not grasp, the foot is at rest, the eye sees only its own dreams, and human activities sink into night as if they had never happened. . .

No one, not even the most dreamless, the most afflicted, can endlessly resist the call of the dreams."

Excerpted from the Bee Pavilion, A Story About Swarms, by Leena Krohn.

The painting is by Andrea Kowch.

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Tales of Wonder

"It is the celebration of wonder that constitutes its major appeal. No matter what the plot may be, this type of tale calls forth our capacity as readers and potential transmitters of its signs and meanings to wonder. We do not want to know the exact resolution, the "happily ever after," of a tale - that is, what it is actually like. . . We want to be given opportunities to change, and ultimately we want to be told that we can become kings and queens, or lords of our own destinies. We remember wonder tales and fairy tales to keep our sense of wonderment alive and to nurture our hope that we can seize possibilities and opportunities to transform ourselves and our worlds.” ― 

Jack Zipes, Spells of Enchantment: The Wondrous Fairy Tales of Western Culture

The illustration of Alice at the tea party is by John Tenniel.

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Jack ZIpes New Mission  -- Little Mole and Honey Bear Publishing Lost Children's Books

Jack Zipes is on a mission to breathe new life into old fairy tales that deliver important messages. I have posted, in the past, about many of the books uncovered by Zipes and published by Little Mole and Honey Bear, the publishing company he recently founded. Zipes' discoveries of meaningful lost books have ranged from Keedle the Great and Yussuf the Ostrich (both books relevant to WW2), to the Giant Ohl and Tiny Tim.

He recently uncovered and published two delightful books for young kids, Teddy, The Little Refugee Mouse, and The Magic Herb. Both books are written and profusely illustrated by a formerly highly regarded, gifted illustrator, Dorothy Burroughes. Teddy, The Little Refugee Mouse, which related to children's lives in Europe in WW2, is timeless. The Magic Herb is the story of a badger family's urgent and dangerous quest to find the cure for their sick child. They must cross the sea to an enchanted island and find their way through magic spells that protect the herb.

 

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On Writing

"There are certain things where the only way to feel like you don’t miss the point entirely is by shifting the story into another register, another world." -- Rivka Galchen author of the acclaimed book Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch.

The photo of the raven is by Greg Rosenke.
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Vivo

A musical film to delight young kids and set their feet a-tapping with Latin inspired music. This is an animated musical with excellent songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, that features top notch animation, a kinkajou, a quest, and an upbeat ending. From Sony and Netflix.

"A warm, colourful, family-friendly tribute to all things Cuban directed by Kirk DeMicco."--Nicholas Barber BBC

Link to see the trailer and visit a musical world: Vivo.

 

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Exceptional Independent Animation

Alfred Fauchet

Surreal humanity, a smile, original.

Created by Mathieu Georis

Produced at: Atelier de La Cambre

Here is a link to: Alfred Fauchet, adroit, agauche Time 6.34

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Our Fractal Brains

Fractal dream, surreal.

Brilliant alternate reality.

Created by Julius Horsthuis

Music by Patrick O'Hearn

Here is a link to Our Fractal Brains Time 3.41

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Terms of Surrender

 

Music inspired images.

Directed and animated by Cady Buche and Travis Barron of Unlimited Time Only.

Official music video for "Terms of Surrender" by Conditioner.

Here is a link to :Terms of Surrender  Time 3.31

 

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Born Without a Tail

C.A. Wulff is a lifetime animal advocate. Her books focus primarily on her caring relationships with dogs and the rewards that she receives in turn. Born Without a Tail ranges from her youth through maturity. A compelling memoir, it speaks to both children and adults. Here is a review:

An energetic page-turner that catches the reader by surprise. What seems, at first, to be a simple memoir about pets becomes an astounding love story about commitment and responsibility in the face of insurmountable obstacles. Ironically, Cayr Ariel Wulff's riveting adventures with animals - some hilarious, some heartbreaking - become lessons in what it means to be truly human. -- Amazon reader Review by Marse  

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One of the great needs of Negro children is to have books about themselves and their lives that can help them be proud. Langston Hughes
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I Believe I Can

I believe that this is a book that the great poet Langston Hughes would appreciate as a book that would indeed make Negro children proud. 

Grace Byers has created a wonderful rhyming book that entertains, surprises, and embodies pride and confidence for all children. Keturah A. Bobo has created colorful and imaginative illustrations for every page. You can see them in this delightful book as well as in a video where the book is very nicely read by Sankofa.

 

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Refugee Children -- Afghanistan

This is a humanitarian disaster unfolding in front of the world’s eyes,” said Christopher Nyamandi, country director for Save the Children in Afghanistan. “Families already living in Kabul have brought the food they could spare to help the displaced, but there’s just not enough. And more families are arriving every hour. We will start to see children going hungry or even sliding into malnutrition very soon.”

“People are drinking water from dirty containers, the circumstances are unhygienic. We’re one step away from a disease outbreak.”

“The people of Afghanistan not only need the world’s attention, they need the world’s help to get through this. These are families with children, old people. . ."

The message above is an excerpt from Save The Children They, and other NGO's, offer at least some assistance in an overwhelming, desperate world. 

The photo is by Muhammed Muheisen, AP.

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The Planet Of The Dogs series...Long ago there were no dogs on planet earth.

A time came when invaders were taking over farmlands, villages and towns. 
Dogs, who were living in peace and happiness on their own planet, came to earth to help people find peace.

Here is an excerpt from a review:

"There are so many stories about battles between good and evil, and at times it’s hard to know who’s on which side, when so many lives are lost. So it’s a breath of fresh air to see a book presenting a peaceful resolution. Planet Of The Dogs may be a fairy tale, but it gives us hope that peace may someday be restored on earth through kinder and gentler means. Dog lovers and those who love a nice story will really enjoy this book." 
Reviewer: Alice Berger, Berger's Book Reviews

We have free reader copies of the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians and teachers...simply send us an email at planeto[email protected] and we will send you the books.  

The illustration from Planet Of The Dogs is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty

 

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“Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail.” – Kinky Friedman

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August -- Humanizing Royalty and Power, Resilience in Darkness

                                              The illustration of the Little King is by Michael Sowa.

Most of the great works of juvenile literature are subversive in one way or another: they express ideas and emotions not generally approved of or even recognized at the time; they make fun of honored figures and piously held beliefs; and they view social pretenses with clear-eyed directness, remarking - as in Andersen's famous tale - that the emperor has no clothes. Alison Lurie

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Tales of Wonder and Kings

Power and painful events often went together, and for centuries, people found some relief in tales of wonder that humanized the king. Here are three tales that range from centuries long passed to a metaphor for today.

 

The photo of the King Arthur sculpture is by Emily Whitfield.
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Sharing Life With a King

The narrator of the book Little King December (1993), by Axel Hacke, lives alone, works in an office, and gets occasional visits from the Little -- about three inches tall -- King. They have conversations about their different worlds. The King has experiences, insights, and questions about life. -- Here is an excerpt: 

"'What do you keep in those boxes?' I asked.
'My dreams,' said King December.
'Your dreams?'
'All my dreams. One dream per box.'
'But how do you dream your dreams if you close them up in boxes?'
'In the evening, when I'm going to sleep,' said the king,' I take a box from the shelves, put it by my bed and take the lid off. Then I go to sleep and I dream. In the morning when I wake up I stay in bed for a bit and think about the night. Then I put the dream back in the box and put it back on the shelf. What did you dream about last night?' he asked. . . ."

All those from the world of the Little King, including royalty, are born small, and with time become even smaller until they can no longer be seen. When a king is born, they can write, have high mathematical ability, and have a very good memory. With each day these faculties decrease and they no longer remember or worry about past problems.

The illustration is by Michael Sowa.

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The Emperor's New Clothes

The folly and arrogance of royalty, and the fear of the ruled to speak up, has never been better demonstrated than in Hans Christian Andersen's wonderful story of The Emperor's New Clothes. 

"The emperor marched in the procession under the beautiful canopy, and all who saw him in the street and out of the windows exclaimed: 'Indeed, the emperor’s new suit is incomparable' . . .'But he has nothing on at all,' said a little child at last. 'Good heavens! Listen to the voice of an innocent child,' said the father, and one whispered to the other what the child had said. 'But he has nothing on at all,' cried at last the whole people."

As Maria Tatar wrote, Andersen's story is timeless, universal, and enchanting.

The illustration is by Edmund Dulac

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Children and Adults Alike

 "Andersen combined humor, Christian sentiments, folklore, and original plots to form tales which amused and instructed old and young readers at the same time. More than any other writer of the 19th century, he fulfilled what Perrault had begun: to write tales such as 'The Ugly Duckling', 'The Little Mermaid', and the 'Princess and the Pea' which could be readily grasped by children and adults alike." 
                                          Jack Zipes... Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales  
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The King Was Fooled by a Cat

The Marquis de Carabas, a creation of a boot wearing trickster cat, has been reinvented by Neil Gaiman as a major character in his novel, Neverwhere.  In this world, created by Gaiman, the Marquis is the ultimate trickster and a major player with amplified characteristics of the cat known as Puss in Boots. The concept of the master trickster is centuries old. The mythic character Puss in Boots was the original creator of the Marquis de Carabas.

A written version of the story of Puss in Boots was first published in sixteenth century Italy by Giovanni Straparola in his collection of stories, The Facetious Nights (1553). Many other versions have appeared, most notably, in collections by Giambattista Basile (1639), and Charles Perrault (1697). 

I think of people in time gone by, in a largely rural world, hearing the story of Puss in Boots, embellished for local consumption by storytellers in taverns, farmhouses, and the many gathering places of people in early times. Their difficult lives were ruled -- often cruelly --  by people with power: kings, nobles, clergy, and tax collectors. Puss in Boots was a story where a cat -- who could manipulate royal power through imagination, bravado, and words -- provided an occasion where even the peasant farmer,  had an opportunity to laugh at the powerful.

The illustration is by PJ Lynch.
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A Profound Resonance

 

"Whether or not you believe in Bettelheim’s Freudian take on storytelling, it is unquestionable that the best stories have a profound resonance within our subconscious minds. Some of the Grimm tales transparently address our darkest fears, but in a sense, all mythic storytelling is about addressing uncertainties and anxieties." Tim Lott The Guardian

 

 

The illustration of an Elf House is by Jean Baptiste Monge.

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My Return to Elizabeth Hand -- Resilience in Darkness

 

I have come back to Elizabeth Hand after being disturbed by the wild ride and conflicting thoughts I experienced from reading her novel Waking the Moon (2094). I am glad that I came back.

Waking the Moon involves the reader in visions, transformations, vendettas, bloody mayhem, spiritual chaos, fear, chilling awakenings and more. Hand is an exceptional writer, but I wasn't ready for this book. I also felt that there were sections that were over written. However, the writing was terrific.

I had previously read some terrific short stories and a novella with interesting characters in very real settings, where something was amiss. At some point, the fantastic became real. I was aware of something erie and dark revealing itself. 

 

I was initially guided in large part by Hand’s many awards. In fact, my introduction to Elizabeth Hand was the Nebula and World Fantasy Award winning, Last Summer at Mars Hill (1994). The protagonists are all well written and interesting and two of them are facing death. Mars Hill is a very old, weathered, spiritual colony and summer retreat on the coast of Maine. And there are sometimes apparitions. The reader is fully engaged by events and Hand's ability to give them life.

 

"I'm very interested in exploring the edge And I'm interested in people and artists who live on that Edge." Elizabeth Hand

 

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Prose Poet of the Fantastic 

Elizabeth Hand is one of American literature's finest prose poets of the fantastic. Her novels are powerfully lyrical, suffused with visionary agony and dreamlike eroticism; in her hands, myth reattains the nightmare energy of its origins, staining the present and the future with atavistic hues of blood. Nick Gevers in "Apocalypse Descending" (2002)

 

 

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Patti Smith

Patti Smith had a huge influence on Elizabeth Hand and her writing. From the extraordinary short story, The Erl King to the Cass Neary series, the heyday of Rock and Roll and Metal music plays a major role.  

Here is a link to Patti Smith singing Because the Night at her induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

 

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Balance

I try to maintain a balance between having a vision of the world that many readers do not experience for themselves, trying to give them enough grounding in the world we are all familiar with, so they don't feel that they are completely lost in Faerie. From an Interview by Cheryl Morgan. 

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The Fierce Quality of Elizabeth Hand's Writing

Below is an excerpt from an excellent review of Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand, the first in a series of well-received turning point novels for Hand. There are now four successful books in the series revolving around the life journey of Cass Neary, a middle-aged noir antiheroine.

I am currently reading Generation Loss. Elizabeth hand won't let go. Graham Joyce (below) explains:

"Cass (Scary) Neary is a casualty of the punk rock generation, one of the minor figures in the vital but dangerous explosion of energy that characterized the New York scene in the late '70s. Some people played at punk while others lived it. Cass lived it and barely limped out of it. . . . Cass is a deeply unsympathetic principal character, a sour anti-hero who weeps without even acknowledging it to herself. That you don't want to give up on this unsavory and resistible figure is a testament to the fierce quality of Hand's writing. Her precise observations and eye for movement in the shadows are what make Cass worth watching; the desperate and declining trajectory of the burnt-out protagonist's soul keeps us rooted."

Excerpted from a review by Graham Joyce, The Washington Post

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Good Writing and the Unconscious

"When it comes to writing fiction, I think the unconscious and subconscious parts of our selves are smarter than the more conscious controlling parts—because that front brain, the conscious brain, is constantly trying to please people (or, if you're a different kind of person, trying to bother people), and so the front of the brain is like a fatigued hostess. . . It’s addled. So you have to get past that part of the brain. And then you can get on to something a little less self-solacing and less deformed by what you want to see and want to hear. One has to move past the stage of writing a comfort blankie for one’s self—although writing itself can be, in a serious and not easy way, a kind of comfort."

Author Riva Galchen interviewed by  Hermione Hoby in Aesop,

Photo courtesy of Columbia News.

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“A mermaid has not an immortal soul, nor can she obtain one unless she wins the love of a human being. On the power of another hangs her eternal destiny.” ― Hans Christian Andersen

Illustration of the Little Mermaid is by Eddie J Andrews.

 

 

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A Contemporary Classic in Children's Literature -- Brown Girl Dreaming

"No one believes a whole book could ever come
from something as simple as

butterflies that (don't even), my brother says
live that long.
But on paper, things can live forever.

On paper, a butterfly
never dies."

Here is a link to the wonderful book Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming.

Here is a brief, insightful visit with Jacqueline Woodson. 

 

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Exceptional Independent Animation

 

Hot Potato

 

Imagination from the other side

 

Created by India Hogan

 

Music: Ring of Fire sung by Johnny Cash

 

Here is a link to : Hot Potato  Time 1:04

 

 

 

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Heads Together (trailer)

 

Wonderfully Inventive. Long version also on Vimeo

Three friends exchange heads by accident

 

Created by Job, Joris & Marieke

 

Produced by Viking

 

Link to Heads Together Time 48 seconds

 

 

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The Spirit of Peacock

 

Imagination and beauty from another world

 

Story and animation by Feng Huang

 

A gifted Chinese animation student

 

Link to The Spirit of Peacock Time: 2 minutes

 

 

 

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An 11 Year Old Refugee Girl Starts Over in the world's largest refugee camp

This brief video is an awesome story of incredible resilience --  thanks in part to UNICEF.

"UNICEF's ongoing response to the global child refugee crisis spans four continents. From the Middle East to Southeast Asia to Northern Africa, UNICEF delivers lifesaving supplies to help children and families who are on the move stay safe and healthy. UNICEF provides safe water, medicine and nutrition. UNICEF also creates safe spaces for children to learn and play."  Link to the video: MYANMAR Escape

 

The photo os the Rohinga camp in Bangladesh is by Suzauddin Rubel/AFP/Getty

 

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Where Does the Madness End?

"A Utah company has stopped selling a kit that encases Glock handguns in Lego blocks, amid uproar and after the Danish toymaker demanded it cease and desist. . . demanding it stop producing the Block19.

Marketing the “Block19” as a “a childhood dream come to life”, Culper Precision introduced it on Instagram, saying: “We wanted the second amendment to simply be too painful to tread on, so there was only one logical solution.”

Red, yellow and blue blocks made the original weapon barely visible, disguising it as a child’s toy.

Selling the kits for $549 to $765, the company enticed adult gun users to buy the gun “made out of the Legos you got from Santa. . . According to a report from the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, the period from March to December 2020 saw a 31% increase in unintentional shooting deaths by children of themselves or others, compared with the same period in 2019.  Read it all in the Guardian

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How To Change The World in Thirty Seconds      An Audacious Title -- What Does It Mean?

"If you love animals and are dismayed when you see stories of animal abuse and cruelty in the news; if you ever wished you could do something about it, but you just didn't know where to start, this book has you covered. Just 30 seconds a day on the Internet can not only make a difference, but can also change the world. . . . for novices as well as experienced animal rescuers.  Combining case histories with practical tips, this guide demonstrates how to use the Internet to advocate for dogs; from simple clicks to more advanced methods."

The above is from Amazon; the excerpt that follows is from an Amazon review: "While there is a focus on animal rights activism, the information provided extends to various causes and campaigns. Despite being an online activist for a long time, I found so many new resources and websites to use! Well-worth reading."

The cover design is by the author, C.A. Wulff

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 Fences for Fido - Unchained. . . one dog at a time

"Fences for Fido is an award-winning, non-profit organization that builds donor-funded fences free of charge for families who keep their dogs on chains, tethers and in small enclosures. We also provide:

• A warm, insulated dog house
• Spay/neuter services
• Critical vet care

 Fences For Fido has unchained over 2,200 dogs in NW Oregon, central Oregon and SW Washington!"

Here is a link to a terrific video of happy dogs -- and owners --after a visit from Fences for Fido.

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Talking Dog -- A Dog Lover's Video

Here is an affectionate, but not cloying, dog montage described as an "Ode to dogs of Maine by their human companions." Dog lovers will understand and like the caring simplicity. Voice overs by dog owners are well done. A somehow touching, understated, video of the human-canine bond. 

Director/Editor-- Matt Cascella; Camera -- Nathan Golan; Composer -- Sam Kyzinat

Here is a link to Talking Dog  Time 4:45

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Castle In The Mist is the second book in the Planet Of The Dogs Series  -

"...Castle in the Mist is full of the same elements I enjoyed in Planet of the Dogs and Snow Valley Heroes: beautiful, detailed, soft, mood setting drawings; the fun and antics of the dogs, and the people who are discovering them for the first time; encroaching danger and suspense; the lovely fantasy of a planet of dogs who are so concerned with the people of earth; and the forgiveness, unconditional love and loyalty that the dogs are able to subtly impart."- Excerpt from a 5 star Amazon review by Lisa Harvey, Book Thoughts by Lisa...

We have free reader copies of all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians, teachers and independent bookstores. Email us with a postal address to [email protected] and we will send you the books. 

To read sample chapters of any book in the series, visit PlanetOfTheDogs 

The Planet Of The Dogs series, including Castle In The Mist and Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, is available from many Internet sources and through independent bookstores of all sizes. 

The illustration of The Castle In The Mist is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.

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"Dear God

We dogs can understand  human verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, clickers, beepers, scent IDs, electromagnetic energy fields, and Frisbee flight paths  … what exactly do humans understand?" -- Nancy Houser, A Dog's Conversation with God on her Way Cool Dogs blog.

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July -- Forests, Transformations, New Hopes

     

                                The photo of an ancient forest in Germany is by Thomas Stephan, Wiener Weg 12

Dark Forests 

"To know the woods and to love the woods is to embrace it all, the light and the dark -- the sun dappled glens and the rank, damp hollows; beech trees and bluebells and also the deadly fungi and poison oak. The dark of the woods represents the moon side of life: traumas and trials, failures and secrets, illness and other calamities. The things that change us, temper us, shape us; that if we're not careful defeat or destroy us...but if we pass through that dark place bravely, stubbornly, wisely, turn us all into heroes. . . The sense of secrets, silence, surprises, good and bad, is fundamental to forests and informs their literatures. . ."                            Excerpted from  Sara Maitland   -- Gossip from the Forest. 

The photo is of the ancient Tarkine Forest

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Gossip from the Forest 

Sara Maitland cherishes solitude. She lives alone, in her own way, on the moors of Scotland. She is fully aware of the human experience, and through her writing generously shares her experiences and perceptions. Her wonderfully unique book, Gossip from the Forest, encompasses a vast domain and give the reader access and insights into the realm of the forest, both past and present. The book is both private and revealing. 

She camps overnight, along with a knowledgeable companion, experiencing each unique woodland.  She also researches each one, often involving a broad swath of history. Much of the forest land in England has disappeared, often cleared for farmland. Trees have also been used for furniture making, construction, shipbuilding. farm implements -- plows, fences, carts -- and for heating and cooking. But much remains. Maitland finds inspiration in each one. 

In her book, Sara visits 12  of the remaining UK forests, one for every month in a year. And for each forest, she rewrites a fairy tale. 

Maitland's passion for forests lies in her love of nature, but also in her deep belief that the forest was the primary source and inspiration for the oral tales passed on for centuries and known to us as wonder (or fairy) tales. Here is another excerpt from Gossip from the Forest:

"“Forests to the [early] Northern European peoples were dangerous and generous, domestic and wild, beautiful and terrible. And the forests were the terrain out of which fairy stories, one of our earliest and most vital cultural forms, evolved. The mysterious secrets and silences, gifts and perils of the forest are both the background to and source of these tales."

The photo of Sara Maitland is by Robert Perry.

The photo is of an ancient Caledonian pine forest.

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The Forest Boundary

The forest offers an antithesis to the town. In ancient times when Europe was greatly covered by woodland, the forest represented the boundary of civilization. The forest was literally a wild place, the village or town merely a place where man had cleared a settlement. There were many who found refuge in the forest, not just criminals, and those in exile, but shamans, holy men and women, poets, freethinkers and of course trolls, elves and fairies. Justine Gaunt 

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Large, Immense, Great, and Mysterious -- The Source

“Inevitably they find their way into the forest. It is there that they lose and find themselves. It is there that they gain a sense of what is to be done. The forest is always large, immense, great and mysterious. No one ever gains power over the forest, but the forest posseses the power to change lives and alter destinies.”                                                                                       Jack Zipes, The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World

 

The forest photo is by Julia Ivantsova.

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Three Wonder Tales

Versions of Little Red Riding Hood and her experiences in the  deep forest go far back, more than 1000 years. The stories vary, but in most, an innocent young girl is sent out in the forest to deliver food to her grandmother.

"She ran off the path into the woods looking for flowers. Each time she picked one she thought that she could see an even more beautiful one a little way off, and she ran after it, going further and further into the woods…"
– Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Little Red Cap (1812)

 

 
The illustration of Little Red Riding Hood on the forest road is by Jason Nathaniel.

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Treebeard

JRR Tolkien was an extraordinary and brilliant man. His mental dexterity and imagination were dazzling. Forests had great meaning for him and reached across his creation -- Middle Earth. He wrote a detailed history, spanning thousands of years, giving each ancient forest a story and a presence of its own. . . The oldest trees were found in the Forest of Fangorn, named after a giant walking tree who is over 17,000 years of age and speaks; Fangorn is also known as Treebeard. He is a great leader of the Ents, an ancient species who closely resemble trees. In Tolkien's saga, Treebeard would lead the Ents in battle.

There was a silence, for suddenly the dark and unknown forest, so near at hand, made itself felt as a great brooding presence, full of secret purpose. – JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers (1954)

Click this link to visit the trailer for Lord Of The Rings

The illustration of Treebeard is by Stephen Hickman.

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The Forest Continues

"The Forbidden Forest, also known as the Dark Forest, borders the edges of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry grounds. The forest is a very old place that holds many secrets and houses many creatures, some dark and dangerous, others friendly. The trees in the forest are considered ancient, they are dense and rough looking from years of exposure to the elements. The Forest is out of bounds to any student unaccompanied by Hogwarts staff."   The Harry Potter Wiki

"They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the Forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. Harry thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker..."– JK Rowling, Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone (1997)

The illustration is from the film, Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone.

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Looking Past the Tumult

The mystical life is at the centre of all that I do and all that I think and all that I write. -- W.B. Yeats

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The Word for World is Forest

by  Ursala Le Guin 

Ursula Le Quin said that the Vietnam War was her primary motivation in writing this book. .  . On another planet world, (Atshea), a civilization of sentient beings, smaller than homo sapiens, has evolved. They are intelligent, sensitive and totally attuned to the natural world. Their planet is covered by enormous trees. The forests of giant trees also provide homes and sustenance for the Atsheans (called Creechies by invaders from earth). 

Their forest world has been invaded by people from earth. Earth has decimated all their own forests and has a basic need for wood. Led by the military and bureaucrats, soldiers and loggers from earth are cutting all the forests of giant trees. In doing so, they are also ravaging and destroying the land. Whole forests of trees are sent back to earth on giant cargo ships. The Creechies are being enslaved, and a barbaric genocide is taking place. 

Key people amongst the invaders disdain the unique culture of the locals. They consider them a lower life form, and treat them with barbaric cruelty. Ultimately, the Creechies rebel. Readers will find many parallels with colonialism and the slave trade.

". . . The Atsheans were not slaves at all except in fact; they were voluntary Autochthonous Labor Personnel. Lybonuv was not even reprimanded (for helping a brutalized Creechi whose wife had been raped and murdered). But the regular officers distrusted him totally from then on. . . Even his colleagues in the Special Services let him know that he had been irrational, quixotic, or stupid. . .You know that the people you're studying are going to be plowed under, and probably wiped out. It's the way things are. It's human nature, and you must know you can't change that."

The Word for World is Forest was published in 1972 by Tom Doherty Associates. It won the Hugo Award and was nominated for the Nebula and Locus Awards; and was a National Book Award Finalist in 1976.

 

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. Transformations

"And yet, despite all the fairy tale warnings, sometimes we're compelled to run to the dark of the woods, away from all that is safe and familiar -- driven by desperation, perhaps, or the lure of danger, or the need for change. Young heroes stray from the safe, well-trodden path through foolishness or despair. . .but perhaps also by canny premeditation, knowing that venturing into the great unknown is how lives are transformed."   Terri Windling, Myth and Moor 

 

The photo is of the ancient Bialowieza Forest, Poland/Belarus.

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Movies

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The Ancient Woods

 

The Ancient Woods is an immersive film journey into an unspoiled Old Growth forest in Lithuania. Filmed and directed by biologist Mindaugaus Survila, The Ancient Woods is the winner of many prizes; it can be seen in theaters where the larger scale images can transform the viewing experience. 

 

The Ancient Woods has an almost meditative quality to it. Time is clearly not an issue here, as everything unfolds almost beyond it, with seasons seamlessly blending into one another "  Marta Balaga CineEuropa

The image of the owl is from the film. Here is a link to the trailer: The Ancient Woods

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Luca

 

I haven't seen Luca, but the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are quite favorable.

 

"It's not in the same league as such Pixar classics as 'WALL-E' and 'Toy Story,' but there's no denying the pure enchantment of the visual, comic and subtextual dazzle in this tale of two sea monsters trying to pass for human boys in 1960's Italy."

 

Full Review Peter Travers ABCNews

Here is a link to the trailer: Luca

 

 

 

 

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Tove -- A Movie about the Moomins Creator.

 

Anthony Lane is enthusiastc about Tove. Here is an excerpt from his New Yorker Review:

 

"Whereas 'Cruella' sent me back to Dodie Smith, as a blessed escape from what Disney has done to her creations, 'Tove' dispatched me down a rabbit hole, or through a Moomin door. I recommend the trip. You will meet some hulking biographies of Jansson along the way, as well as her own memoir, “Sculptor’s Daughter,” its recollections as sharp as pine needles. ('Underneath the Christmas tree, Christmas is vast. It is a green jungle with red apples.') "

 

Here is a link to read Lane's entire article: Tove, Here is a link to the trailer: Tove

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Exceptional Independent Animation

Drift 

A delight For all Small girls

presented by NoBudge

created by Hemali Vadalia; song by Kori Pop

Link: Drift  Scroll down the link page to find Drift Time:3.23

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Pattern Language

People worlds become digital worlds

Esoteric algorithms NYC  

Created by Peter Burr, Programming Mark Fingerhut, Additional Graphics by Brenna Murphy

Presented by Times Square Arts with Clocktowet Productions

Link: Pattern Language  Scroll down the Link page to find Pattern Lanquage  Time: 1:29

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In Plain Sight

Stylized, Perceptions. insightful

Sex trafficking in London

By Emily Downe, a very motivated young UK animator. 

Here is the Link: In Plain Sight Time 1:22

 

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Gun Violence Continues Unchecked

"The upbeat mood at an album release party at El Mula Banquet Hall in Miami-Dade County was shattered when three men in ski masks jumped out of a stolen white Nissan S.U.V. and fired randomly into the crowd early Sunday.

Some revelers fired back. The whole encounter unrolled in about 10 seconds, leaving two people dead and 21 others injured. . .

 'Were it not for the proliferation of firearms through our society and in our big cities, we would not have seen these big jumps in homicide,' said Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist at the University of Missouri in St. Louis. . ."

By Neil MacFarquhar NYTimes  

Photo by Lynne Sladky/AP

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Save The Children

"Through Save the Children’s work – every second of every day – a hungry child is fed, a sick child gets care, a young mind is learning, a vulnerable child is protected, or a family gains tools to overcome poverty.

Together, we reached more than 197 million children, including 1.1 million here in America. "

Photo courtesy Afghan Khaama Press.

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Delightful Books of Trees and Forest Wonders for Kids

Trees, forests, A sense of wonder, and delightful, immersive illustrations are at the core of these three outstanding books. They are diverse and for different ages. Yet each book, will touch the imagination of the young in wonderful ways.

Growing Pains  by Alison McLennan; Illustrated by Melissa Jones; Published by EKBooks. For Young Kids

"They had planted the tree yesterday and now Finn was worried. 

 What if it was freezing but couldn't tell anyone because it couldn't talk?

He rummaged through his drawers until he found the wooly scarf he was looking for.

This would keep his tree warm. . . "

 

Little Sap  by Jan Hughes; illustrated by Ruth Hengeveld; Published by Cameron+Company, For Young Kids

Both Jan Hughes and Ruth Hengefeld (inspired illustrations) have a sense of awe in the great forest and the symbiotic world of life that takes place as a young sapling grows into a giant tree.

"Little Sap lives with her family deep in the heart of a very old forest. She grows near Mother Tree, the tallest and wisest tree in the grove. Little sap can't wait to be a mother tree.

In spring, when bluebells carpet the woodlands, Little Sap shows off her newly budding leaves, glistening like jewels in the sunlight."

 

 

Tree Beings by Raymond Huber; illustrated by Sandra Severgnini; Exile Publishing

This wonderful book should become a classic for both early readers and YA readers.  It is a celebration of concepts and images that evokes the wonder of forests and the natural world. Jane Goodall contributes both an introduction and a chapter on Living in the Jungle.  The content varies from trees eating sunlight to trees and the spirit of the forest. 

"Trees don't have brains yet they can communicate with each other. One way they do this is by sending chemical messages through the air.. . . Nearby trees will 'smell' the message with their leaves and start to produce an insect repellent."

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Ariel Wulff's Misfits

"I was belly laughing on the first page. Lammy Lamb is a compulsive foot licker! This short book is so full of love and creative, tender animal care that I forgot I was reading a book. I felt like I was in the house with the dogs, at the Halloween Costume Contest and in every other scene. That's great writing, and great content too. The pictures are adorable."

Amazon review by MaryAnn Fry, Author of Going Naked Being Seen

Here is link to Parade Of Misfits

 

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J.K. Rowling and Lumos

LUMOS is part of J.K. Rowling's effort to make the world a better place. Her focus is on children and poverty. She is the founder of Lumos, one of several charities she supports. Here are excerpts from the Lumos website:. . .

"Lumos has a single, simple goal: to end the institutionalization of children worldwide by 2050. This is ambitious, but achievable. It is also essential. Eight million voiceless children are currently suffering globally under a system that, according to all credible research, is indefensible. We owe them far, far better. We owe them families." 

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Turning Back the Stone City Warriors from Invading Green Valley.

An Excerpt from Planet of the Dogs

“What’s going on here?” demanded Bik. At that moment huge, ancient tall trees crashed to the ground with a thunderous noise, blocking the road just ahead.

Howling, barking, and growling sounds filled the air as dogs rushed from hiding places and ran toward the warriors and their horses. More huge trees crashed down, warriors were thrown to the ground, and dogs were running and jumping everywhere. Riders were crashing into each other as they tried to control their frightened horses and retreat to a safe area. . ."

We have free reader copies of all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians, teachers and independent bookstores. . . email us with a postal address at [email protected] and we will send you the books. 

To read sample chapters or to read reviews of any book in the series, visit PlanetOfTheDogs 

The map from the Planet of the Dogs is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty-

 

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"Ever wonder where you'd end up if you took your dog for a walk and never once pulled back on the leash?" -- Robert Brault

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