Childrens' books to read when not doin' so great!

[Iolanthe]

My favourite reading to the grandchildren book - they like it too!

[Tefazipipo]

Hi Tefazipio. Welcome to the Watch. Thats a beautiful valley of trees - is it a Japanese location or elsewhere? Whenever I see a picture like that I get a yearning for a time long past when a person's life (nasty, brutish and short as it may have been) could be spent ranging around in places like that! Haven't heard of the book you mention but now it is 'in situ' if I ever spot it in a shop I will give it a whirl. Such is the influence of a 'Watcher' .

Heh, it's a very short book and short on text. *smile* I snapped that photo. It's up in Nikko, of the landscape away from Edo Mura, which is an amusement attraction where a bunch of people work all dressed up like folks from the Edo period. They don't go too out of their way, for the most part. Wigs instead of real hair and so forth, but it's fun and often great hilarity ensues. A friend and I were there once during holidays, when lots of families were up visiting, and little kids signed up to dress up as constabulary and chase a robber through town. It was so funny!

[aliantha]

"The Missing Piece" by Shel Silverstein. For a child, charming fun. For an adult, a rather pointed piece on the search for a significant other.

His "The Giving Tree" was like that, too. I guess for kids, it's a comforting message about being taken care of -- but for me as a parent, it sounded like, "You give and you give and you give until you die."

[Orlion]

Now I think I should re-read)

And I won't really blame or wish ill for trying to write something even in the hack fan fiction style - it may be just out of wishing to get closer to the admired work, and failing to reach so high is hardly a crime.

Depends on the situation. If there is a 'blessing' of the estate, perhaps, though I still tend to ignore such things. If the author specifically prepared the way for someone to finish his work (for example, like with the Wheel of Time), it's fine. If there is not intention of the author to ever continue the story and someone decides to write and publish a sequel merely because they 'can't believe that Toad could have possibly changed', that goes beyond imitation and (for me) enters the realm of disrespecting the original author. At that point, you are essentially saying you know better than the author. Reminds me of Giovanni telling Jorge Luis Borges that his translations were much better than the original work.

[peter]

I'm also very wary of follow on's that take over where a classic of literature (childrens or otherwise) left off. Of late we have had 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Gone With the Wind', 'The Wind in the Willows' to name but a few. The main problem for me is that few of the authors of these classic inspired works can cut it against the originals. They produce pale imitations of great works that leave you feeling cheated and empty. You are reading the books for no other reason than the seeing of those names on the page reminding you of the pleasure you took when first reading the original. It might be possible for the creation of a follow on work to achieve the same dizzy heights of literature as the originals whose backs they ride upon - but I have yet to see it done.

[Lefdmae Deemalr Effaeldm]

Orlion, I think the estate may have an idea on what is good or not, but far not necessarily. It's sometimes hard even for the author to say if something really ended or not, what can be said about the guesses the others may make? This, I think, also answers about preparing the way. And the new writer may be really disrespectful, but even the most radical continuations could be written with love and admiration to the original author. It may be one of the ways a creative mind works, through looking at things differently, no matter how right the original point of view could be.

peter, even if most do fail to achieve the heights - does it mean people shouldn't try? Moreover so that some readers may get pleasure out of the continuations no matter how bad they are. And the ones not eager to read the failures may, well, not read them.

[Linna Heartbooger]

"The Missing Piece" by Shel Silverstein. For a child, charming fun. For an adult, a rather pointed piece on the search for a significant other.

His "The Giving Tree" was like that, too. I guess for kids, it's a comforting message about being taken care of -- but for me as a parent, it sounded like, "You give and you give and you give until you die."

Oh boy, you cracked me up...
(although.. I'm thinking it was probably not 100% funny for you at the time!)

[aliantha]

"The Missing Piece" by Shel Silverstein. For a child, charming fun. For an adult, a rather pointed piece on the search for a significant other.

His "The Giving Tree" was like that, too. I guess for kids, it's a comforting message about being taken care of -- but for me as a parent, it sounded like, "You give and you give and you give until you die."

Oh boy, you cracked me up...
(although.. I'm thinking it was probably not 100% funny for you at the time!)

Not exactly, no. And I wasn't sure I wanted to foster that kind of thinking in my kids, either!

[Tefazipipo]

Linna, don't forget that after you die they sit on you!

[Linna Heartbooger]

Tefazipipo- I did not know!

Just read another one that is AWESOME...
"Kia the Gull."
A gull gets tangled in some twine; can't fly far, but also can't free itself from the bailing twine.
...but of course, it's afraid to let any human close.

Don't know if the book's currently in print, though.

[Lady Revel]

Tamora Pierce - The Song of the Lioness series
John Christopher - The Tripod trilogy
DJ MacHale - The Pendragon series
Garth Nix - The Abhorsen trilogy
Any and all Oz books

These all transport me to better places.

[Avatar]

John Christopher - The Tripod trilogy

I love those. You know there's a prequel, right? The Day The Tripods Came.

--A

[Lady Revel]

Yes, I know about the prequel. It didn't have as much magic for me, though, as the main trilogy. Perhaps I should give it another try.

Have a trippy day!

[lorin]

"The Missing Piece" by Shel Silverstein. For a child, charming fun. For an adult, a rather pointed piece on the search for a significant other.

His "The Giving Tree" was like that, too. I guess for kids, it's a comforting message about being taken care of -- but for me as a parent, it sounded like, "You give and you give and you give until you die."

I just wanted to beat the crap out of that little boy.

Once, there was a tree…
And she loved a little boy.
And every day the boy would come
And he would gather her leaves
And make them into crowns and play king of the forest.
He would climb up her trunk
And swing from her branches
And eat apples
And they would play hide-and-go-seek.
And when he was tired, he would sleep in her shade.
And the boy loved the tree… very much…
And the tree was happy.
But time went by,
And the boy grew older.
And the tree was often alone.
Then, one day, the boy came to the tree and the tree said:
–”Come, Boy, come and climb up my trunk and swing from my branches and eat apples and play in my shade and be happy!”
–”I am too big to climb and play” said the boy. “I want to buy thing and have fun. I want some money.
Can you give me some money?”
–”I’m sorry”, said the tree,”but I have no money. I have only leaves and apples. Take my apples, Boy, and sell them in city. Then you will have money and you’ll be happy.”
And so the boy climbed up the tree and gathered her apples and carried them away.
And the tree was happy…
But the boy stayed away for a long time… and the tree was sad.
And then one day the boy came back, and the tree shook with joy, and she said:
–”Come, Boy come and climb up my trunk and swing from my branches and eat apples and play in my shade and be happy.”
–”I am too busy to climb trees,” said the boy. “I want a house to keep me warm”, he said. “I and want a wife and I want children, and so I need a house. Can you give me a house?”
–”I have no house”, said the tree. “The forest is my house”, said the tree. “But you may cut off my branches and build a house. Then you will be happy”.
And so the boy cut off her branches and carried them away to build his house. And the tree was happy.
But the boy stayed away for a long time…
And when he came back, the tree was so happy she could hardly speak.
–”Come, Boy” she whispered, “Come and play”.
–”I am too old and sad to play”, said the boy. “I want a boat that will take me away from here. Can you give me a boat?”
–”Cut down my trunk and make a boat”, said the tree. “Then you can sail away… and be happy”.
And so the boy cut down her trunk
And made a boat and sailed away.
And the tree was happy…
But not really.
And after a long time the boy came back again.
–”I am sorry, Boy”, said the tree, “but I have nothing left to give you – My apples are gone”.
–”My teeth are too weak for apples”, said the boy.
–”My branches are gone”, said the tree. “You cannot swing on them”.
–”I am too old to swing on branches”, said the boy.
–”My trunk is gone”, said the tree. “You cannot climb”.
–”I am too tired to climb”, said the boy.
–”I am sorry” sighed the tree. “I wish that I could give you something… but I have nothing left. I am just an old stump. I am sorry…”
–”I don’t need very much now”, said the boy. “Just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired”.
–”Well”, said the tree, straightening herself up as much as she could, “well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, Boy, sit down… sit down and rest”.
And the boy did.
And the tree was happy…
The end.

[Avatar]

Yes, I know about the prequel. It didn't have as much magic for me, though, as the main trilogy. Perhaps I should give it another try.

Have a trippy day!

Yes, it was different. Two things I guess...one is it was meant to be...it was a contemporary world, with contemporary thoughts/attitudes. The other is that IIRC, it was written much later. Which only makes the contemporary nature of it more apparent.

--A

[Linna Heartbooger]

I just wanted to beat the crap out of that little boy.

He does seem a little bit self-serving, huh?

Love your new avatar... crocuses! heralding spring!

[aliantha]

"The Missing Piece" by Shel Silverstein. For a child, charming fun. For an adult, a rather pointed piece on the search for a significant other.

His "The Giving Tree" was like that, too. I guess for kids, it's a comforting message about being taken care of -- but for me as a parent, it sounded like, "You give and you give and you give until you die."

I just wanted to beat the crap out of that little boy.

"And the tree was happy." Yeesh....

[Linna Heartbooger]

Just found another one... the Ramona books.

Also, Alice through the Looking Glass.
Such a game little heroine, always considerate, willing to try to have a conversation and play her part...
...even with these people and situations (not to mention puddings!) that are shockingly unreasonable (provoking!) in every direction you never think of.
So much fun.

[peter]

Did anyone mention The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

[Iolanthe]

Did anyone mention The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Surprisingly, no, but I'm sure it's been mentioned somewhere on the Watch. I came by it as a free gift from a book club and have loved it ever since.

Deer mentioned Green Eggs and Ham (Dr. Seuss) which I've just bought for one of my great nieces for Christmas. I had to read it first of course - what a good book it is! I also bought When we were very young (A. A. Milne) for my great nephew, and The BFG (Dahl) for another great niece. I vividly remember Bill Oddy reading that on Jackanory.