July 2004
Wiliam's Doll
By Charlotte Zolotow
Publisher:
If you have a son, this book, about a boy who longs for a doll despite being teased by his brother and belittled by his father, is a must-read, for your child and you. Grandmother's words in the end really strike a chord with me, and will too with every woman, man and child who has a tender and loving father; as well as with those who have always longed for one.
A friend sent me the link to an interesting article about how children’s and young adult books are getting raunchier, angrier and more violent by the minute. Check it out for yourself here.
I agree in part with what the writer says. Some books do sound like they’ve been written to appeal to as wide an age group as possible – including adults. But when it comes to authors like Philip Pullman or Melvin Burgess, the sincerity and honesty comes through and it’s obvious that they are merely intent on telling a good story. Violence or sex is essential to the plot and the character development. It’s not included just to titillate.
Books have a lot to compete with these days, even where children are concerned. Thanks to TV, computer games and movies, kids have come to expect, if not sex, then certainly explosions, fights, blood and gore. And they are also into quick fixes – gratification has to be immediate. No one has the time or patience for 200 page novels with complex characters and multiple plotlines. This is why, kids would rather read Mister Midnight than Treasure Island despite the latter being superior in all ways - no argument!
Still, you may think that there's no excuse for sex and violence in a children's book. In many cases, I'm not sure how realistic it is to leave it out though. This is the 21st century and real life may not be any uglier than it was in the 18th century, but, thanks to the media and the Internet, people are definitely more exposed to it. If books are supposed to reflect life than it would be weird to leave out things like sex and violence which, whether we like it or not, are very much part of life.
What do you think? Should children be exposed to sex and violence in books?
From 21 July till 31 July 2004, purchase up to RM50 (in a single receipt) of Dr Seuss books at Kinokuniya Bookstore in KLCC Suria and get the Cat in the Hat's hat (see above)!!!
This is what you'll look like in it ... sort of ...
Hmm ... well, don't know about you, but I'm rushing out and getting myself one!
The reason for the long silence is I've been absolutely swamped. I was on "leave" for two weeks, but I ended up, as usual, running errand after errand and so the blog was somewhat neglected ... Well, nevermind. Here I am, back again.
The worst of being so busy was that I did not even get to gorge on books as I'd planned. I did, however, re-read Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising Sequence, which a friend borrowed a couple of years ago and finally returned just before my leave began. I read those books (five in the sequence) every year or so - they're on my comfort-list even though some of the imagery is pretty nightmarish! I think they were my first proper introduction to fantasy literature, although fans of Tolkien and David Eddings and the like would probably call a couple of the titles "children's adventure stories with fantasy elements" and not "real" fantasy. Well, whatever. I think they're great.
I also read The Princess Bride, The Diamond in the Window and Grim Tuesday by Garth Nix, re-read Judy Blume's Forever and have started Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell, which I found in MPH, Midvalley (the trilogy for RM47)! (More about those books later.) Then yesterday, I was reunited with a book I'd first read when I was about seven or eight. It's called The Children in the Square and I have been looking for it for years now and finally tracked it down via an Australian private book-dealer. Well, I received it last night via a friend of a friend who's in Malaysia on holiday, and have started reading it - it's as good as I remembered and I'm pretty amazed at how much of the story I recall from my first reading! This is the book that first introduced me to The Serpentine!
Anyway, welcome back to me! :-)
Will be frantically trying to update the blog over the next few days so do bear with me. In the meantime, why not write and tell me all your latest book news.
Poems, in the form of nursery rhymes, were, for many of us, our introduction to stories. From now on, I will post a favourite poem each week. Email me your favourite poems and I will post them too.
This week's poem was sent to me via email by Marisa Misron, who often drops in on this blog (Thanks, Marisa!). Actually she sent in three, but I'm saving the other two. Here's what she wrote in her email:
"I'm not sure why but my fave poems are mostly sad or melancholic; a bit depressing! One of my absolute favourite poets is Polish Nobel Laureate, wis³awa szymborska. I also love works by Tagore, Gibran, Auden and Browning."
Vietnam
"Woman, what's your name?""I don't know."
"How old are you? Where are you from?"
"I don't know."
"Why did you dig that burrow?"
"I don't know."
"How long have you been hiding?"
"I don't know."
"Why did you bite my finger?"
"I don't know."
"Don't you know that we won't hurt you?"
"I don't know."
"Whose side are you on?"
"I don't know."
"This is war, you've got to choose."
"I don't know."
"Does your village still exist?"
"I don't know."
"Are those your children?"
"Yes."
Wis³awa Szymborska
Poems, in the form of nursery rhymes, were, for many of us, our introduction to stories. From now on, I will post a favourite poem each week. Email me your favourite poems and I will post them too.
This week's poem is by W. B. Yeats. I love it for the pictures it conjures up of a magical, fairytale world, glowing with beautiful sights: star-filled skies, sun-kissed glades, and the sun and moon rendered as shiny fruit.
The Song of Wandering AengusI went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.
When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire aflame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.W.B. Yeats
I've been silent for a while because I've been in Singapore - still am, back to KL and the boys tomorrow. Martin and I came to attend a friend's wedding and we extended our stay, calling this trip our Second Honeymoon! In fact, we've spent our time meeting up with old friends, shopping for CDs and books, and eating! It's been quite wonderful actually, just to have some time to do stuff that's nothing to do with the office and work!
To cap it off, Martin found all these rare music albums by obscure progressive rock acts, plus an Ursula Le Guin book he's been looking for for a while now; and I bought quite a few books and a couple of CDs too.
Kinokuniya here has a very impressive range of Young Adult and Children titles. I didn't want to leave!
Anyway, here's what I bought:
1. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
I've wanted to read this book for the longest time. Eoin Colfer told me recently that it's his favourite "comfort reading".
2. The Hall Family Chronicles: The Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton
A week ago, I was searching for another title on Amazon when I came across this one. The reviews were all good and made me long to read it. There are five other books in this series.
3. The Keys to the Kingdom: Grim Tuesday by Garth Nix
At last! The second book about Arthur Penhaligon's adventures. Next up: Drowned Wednesday ...
4. Forever by Judy Blume
I lost my original copy years ago and thought I'd get a replacement to lend my nieces. It's a rather coy story about first love and adolescent sex, but although it can be rather cringeworthy in places, its heart is in the right place.
5. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
A very, very funny book. If you've always wondered about DiscWorld, this one gives you a taste of that universe without leaving you too bewildered.
(6. Martin's book was The Birthday of the World by Ursula Le Guin)
This put a big smile on Martin's face. He's now completed his Le Guin colection.
I tried looking for the book by Ian Ogilvy, but it looks like it has not arived on these shores, nor in Malaysia. If I'd not left the bookstore when I did, I would have bought three times the number I did. Well, there's always today ...
Poems, in the form of nursery rhymes, were, for many of us, our introduction to stories. From now on, I will post a favourite poem each week. Email me your favourite poems and I will post them too.
This week's poem is by John Keats, my favourite of all the Romantic poets (you'll be seeing lots of his poems here). I think Keats paints a really vivid picture of his friend's pet and I suspect he was rather fond of it.
To Mrs. Reynolds' CatCat! who hast pass'd thy grand climacteric,
How many mice and rats hast in thy days
Destroy'd? -- How many tit bits stolen? Gaze
With those bright languid segments green, and prick
Those velvet ears -- but pr'ythee do not stick
Thy latent talons in me -- and upraise
Thy gentle mew -- and tell me all thy frays
Of fish and mice, and rats and tender chick.
Nay, look not down, nor lick thy dainty wrists --
For all the wheezy asthma, -- and for all
Thy tail's tip is nick'd off -- and though the fists
Of many a maid have given thee many a maul,
Still is that fur as soft as when the lists
In youth thou enter'dst on glass-bottled wall.
John Keats
Paula Danziger, author of The Cat Ate My Gymsuit, Can You Sue Your Parents for Malpractice? and many more books, died on 8 July 2004.
Read her obituary here.
Remember the TV series about a suave secret service agent nicknamed "The Saint"? His name was really Simon Templar and he was played first by Roger Moore (who went on to play James Bond) and then by Ian Ogilvy (in a new version of the original The Saint series, called The Return of the Saint).
Well, Ian Ogilvy did not have a very successful film or TV career after his series ended. However, he is now enjoying a revival, so to speak, as the writer of children's books. His debut novel, Measle and the Wrathmonk is getting rave reviews and the film rights have been bought by Roger Zemeckis (Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?).
Find out more here!
I haven't read the book yet but I will report on it as soon as I have.
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