What odd creatures...

This book has been very hard for me to read and to get into. I am not into this kind of fantasy whatsoever. Goblins, trolls and hobbits are just kind of odd and "freaky" to me. For one thing, they don't seem like the most attractive, nice creatures at all and they are basically animals; well, at least I see them this way. It's interesting how many stories and movies from the past and the present include these odd creatures. I've always wondered what brought them about in all these children stories. I would think that many children would be afraid of these type of creatures(I mean, like I said earlier, they're freaky), yet I guess they're not too afraid of them considering many movies and books today are extrememly popular with young children.

The Ghost of Fossil Glen

This awesome book by Cynthia Defelice is my all time favorite book that I read when I was in elementary school. In my school it was required we read a certain number of Bluebonnet Award books, so I chose this one. I was either in fourth or fifth grade when I first read this book. I wasn't big on reading and still aren't, but I absolutely loved this one. I'm really into the whole ghost story, mystery books and movies so it was no wonder I liked this one so much. But it wasn't your normal ghost story, it actually "left you hanging on the edge of your seat," as they say, dying to know what happens next. It's about an 11 year-old girl named Allie who is searching for fossils one day and next thing you know finds herself hanging from Fossil Glen. Scared to death, she doesn't know what to do and then hears a voice talking to her. Wondering who the voice was and where it came from, Allie discovers it belongs to a girl who died named Lucy Stiles. From here, Allie receives her diary and learns all about her life right before she died and learns who killed her as well. This is a great story and I enjoyed reading it again after all these years.

Enchanted!

Disney's newest movie Enchanted starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey is probably one of my newest favorite movies. It's about a innocent princess who is tricked by an evil witch and pushed into a magical wishing well that brings her to the real world of New York City. There she must learn all about real life and forget about the easy, happy, magical fairy tale life she came from. And just like in any fairy tale/romantic comedy, she falls in love with a prince, but not the fairy tale one. When I first went to see this movie in theaters I was a little skeptical on whether it would be a good movie or not, but me my mom and my sister ended up loving it! It was happy, sad, and funny all at the same time. The music was pretty good too. I know this is weird, but I did ask for the soundtrack for Christmas...haha. Now I feel like a kid again when I watch it because I sing along with the movie my family bought for Easter. It's a great movie and I'd recommend it to anybody who hasn't seen it.

Rossetti's Sing-Song

As I read Christina G. Rossetti's sing-song nursery rhyme book, I noticed it was a lot different than Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verses." Stevenson's children verses were happy, imaginative, adventerous, and "feel good;" while Rossetti's nursery rhymes weren't. I was very lost and confused as I read Rossetti's collection of nursery rhymes. None of them had titles so I never could tell if they coincided with the one on the next page or if it was just by itself. Also, Rossetti's book contained topics that weren't so happy and that dealt more with adults as opposed to young children. I also liked the illustrations in Stevenson's book a lot better too. Overall the main things discussed in her book were marriage, babies (birth), death, seasons, and women. I definately enjoyed Stevenson's writings much more than Rossetti's.

"Make Way for Ducklings"

As I was looking through childhood books with my friend at her house, I thought this would be the best because it kind of relates to Easter in the since that the ducks are the main characters and because the story is about them. This book by Robert McCloskey was awarded the Caldecott Medal as "The most distinguished American picture book for children" in the year it was published according to the title page. The illustrations were pretty impressive indeed. The pictures were black and white, antique looking, and very simple yet very detailed. I imagine the pictures were black and white because most t.v and movies were in black and white at the time the book was published. I liked this story a lot. It was cute how the parents made sure they had a nice, safe home for their children before even laying the eggs. And once they were born, they took care of them and taught them many things just like any good parents would. I thought it was also kind of interesting how the father duck wasn't as involved and present in the story as the mother duck (like we have seen in most of the fairy tales we've read). However, in the end the father not being there through a majority of the story is somewhat forgotten because he is waiting for the mother duck and the baby ducks on the little island.

"A Child's Garden of Verses"

This book is quite enjoyable. As I was reading it, I kind of remembered my childhood days. This book brings out the imaginative mind that most people have as children. It was a very happy and "feel good" collection of verses. These verses were separated into four different sections: the first one didn't really have a name, the second was entitled "The Child Alone," and the third was entitled "Garden Days," and the fourth one was entitled "Envoys" which he dedicated to people in his family. I don't really understand why the collection was called "A Child's Garden of Verses," but I guess it has to do with the image of children young and innocent playing in a garden, using their imagination to create whatever, and to explore and take adventures as well. The use of the word garden in the title and in one of the section titles could also refer to the innocence and growth of children just like life in a garden. I think its interesting how he incorporates so many stories and aspects of his childhood into the poems he writes. It seems that writing about his own life basically was an easy thing to do, but he was clever in creating themes and other figurative devices at the same time.

Easter time!

Easter time is usually a pretty, happy, as well as a religious time of the year for my family and I. This year, however, is a little different. Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of my Aunt's death, so this time of year isn't as joyous as usual. I love remembering the great times I've had with her, but it still is sad knowing she isn't here with us.

Easter not only reminds me of the religious side to it, but it reminds me also of Spring and happy children... as funny as that may sound. And indeed, thats what it seems like every Easter we go to Louisiana. All the little cousins go on a Easter egg hunt, we eat crawfish on the porch outside in the nice weather, and everyone enjoys everybody's company. I remember when I was a little kid and loved taking pictures with the Easter bunny at the mall and then waking up Easter morning to see what he had left me in my basket. My mom still fixes me and my sister little Easter baskets with candy and stuff, but it's not the same. I love being in college and older now, but it would be nice to go back in time and be a child again sometimes.