I finished re-reading The Woman in White yesterday and am happy to say that my fond memories were justified. I'll review it later, but Wilkie Collins had a mind for details, organization, and tying up loose ends.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Oh, how many years since I read Pirsig? Reading the article makes me want to revisit this one.
Time for another trip to the library, and one book that I want is Marking Time, the Vol. 2 in the Cazalet Chronicles...before all of those characters begin to fade from my mind.
Finished all but one of the books on my list for the Stacks Challenge. The one book unread is The Haunted Bookshop - which I included in my Stacks list because it was ordered in September, and I counted it as "in my stacks." However, Amazon eventually shipped all of the other books...with this one exception, although I continue to get email updates, I do not have the book.
Watched Disc 2 of Firefly Sunday night. :) Now awaiting Discs 3 & 4, and the movie; love that Netflix que!
Showing posts with label stacks challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stacks challenge. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Five on a Treasure Island - From the Stacks Challenge
I read Five on a Treasure Island for one of my From the Stacks Challenge books. Enid Blyton had cropped up on so many lists of Beloved Children's Books that I ordered the first in the Famous Five series and The Faraway Tree to get a taste of Blyton.
Unfortunately, I don't have that special feeling that envelopes a book that you've read and loved in your own childhood. (For me that would include L.M. Montgomery's Ann books, Pippi Longstocking, The Borrowers, The Five Little Peppers, etc.) Fortunately, I discovered these and can pass them on to my grandchildren. The book is, as is often the case from this earlier time period, a potent mixture of innocence and adventure. The characters are thinly drawn, there are didactic messages of the importance of friendship, loyalty, and sharing, and there is remarkable freedom from parental supervision. Add a dash of deserted island, the ruins of a castle, the mystery of hidden gold, some bad guys, and the creative resourcefulness of children and voila: a perfect confection for early readers.
The freedom from parental supervision is a common theme in children's books, and is even more evident in light of current practices. How many parents today would allow their children the freedom at 9, 10, and 11 years old to row out to the island, negotiate the danger of the rocky coast, and not be particularly worried when a bad storm develops? No life jackets. And those are the minimal skills of these children, who think fast and take decisive action to defeat the adults who would steal the gold and who threaten to shoot the beloved dog Tim.
Unfortunately, I don't have that special feeling that envelopes a book that you've read and loved in your own childhood. (For me that would include L.M. Montgomery's Ann books, Pippi Longstocking, The Borrowers, The Five Little Peppers, etc.) Fortunately, I discovered these and can pass them on to my grandchildren. The book is, as is often the case from this earlier time period, a potent mixture of innocence and adventure. The characters are thinly drawn, there are didactic messages of the importance of friendship, loyalty, and sharing, and there is remarkable freedom from parental supervision. Add a dash of deserted island, the ruins of a castle, the mystery of hidden gold, some bad guys, and the creative resourcefulness of children and voila: a perfect confection for early readers.
The freedom from parental supervision is a common theme in children's books, and is even more evident in light of current practices. How many parents today would allow their children the freedom at 9, 10, and 11 years old to row out to the island, negotiate the danger of the rocky coast, and not be particularly worried when a bad storm develops? No life jackets. And those are the minimal skills of these children, who think fast and take decisive action to defeat the adults who would steal the gold and who threaten to shoot the beloved dog Tim.
My daughter and I have discussed the changes in the area of freedom in children's lives before--the freedom my parents had as children, the freedom of my own childhood, the more circumscribed life of my children, and the even more closely supervised lives of children today. Easy to see the appeal of children who are allowed the independence of the Famous Five (or the Boxcar Children or Pippi).
Since Five on a Treasure Island is the first in this series, some time is committed to the circumstances in which Julian, Dick, and Ann meet their cousin George (Georgina), develop their friendship, and bond with George's dog Tim. I imagine the rest of the series falls more quickly into the mystery/adventure narrative.
Since Five on a Treasure Island is the first in this series, some time is committed to the circumstances in which Julian, Dick, and Ann meet their cousin George (Georgina), develop their friendship, and bond with George's dog Tim. I imagine the rest of the series falls more quickly into the mystery/adventure narrative.
The books are for very young readers or (one of the things I loved beyond telling when my children were young) for the reading of a parent to the child. What a great way to end the day, one chapter at a time.
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