Alice in Wonderland

When I first found out that Alice in Wonderland would be one of the stories that we would be reading this semester for children's literature I was excited. When I read the first six chapters it was a fairly easy read, enjoyable for the most part, and brought back childhood memories. I never read this story as a child, but I did see the movie at least once or twice. After reading the last six chapters of the story, I found it much harder to read and understand all what was going on. And when I got to the end and found out that it was all a dream (or was it real?), I was disappointed. However, it did kind of make since for Wonderland to be all part of a dream because so much nonsense and peculiar things occurred. After discussing all the different aspects, ideas, symbols, motifs, etc. found in this story; I felt like the story of Alice and Wonderland I knew as a child became diminished. In fact, I don't really care for the story so much anymore.

Heather, Belle of the Ball

When I found this book in my room at home a couple of weeks ago it brought back many childhood memories. This book is part of a series of the Magic Attick Club books that I read when I was in elementary school. I even owned one of the dolls, Heather, who just so happened to be the main character of the book. I don't remember reading this one when I was little because to tell you the truth I don't think I really read any of them.... haha. Anyways, this book is a typical "girl" book. It's about a girl, Heather, who is faced with the choice of whether to attend the "cool/popular" girl's party, or hang out with her friends who weren't invited and who decided to have their own party. She ends up getting into an argument with her friends and runs off to a neighbor's house who has a magical attic with a trunk full of outfits and a mirror that transports you into a different place, usually in a different time period. Heather finds a beautiful pink gown and accessories, and is immediately taken to the turn of the century in England where she ends up going to a charity ball. While at the ball Heather is confronted with somewhat of the same issue she was dealing with at home with her friends, only now it's between her cousin and her cousin's friends or her orphanage friend Lisbeth. Just like in most children's books and fairy tales, the story ends happily as Heather realizes who her true friends are. She ends up having a better time at her mom's benefit dinner with her friends than she would have had at her so called friend Tiffany's party. I think any young girl could relate to this story and the issues faced in it: whether or not to worry about impressing and becoming friends with the cool kids or spending time with your true friends who like you no matter what. Also the part about dressing up and traveling to an unkown place and feeling like the Cinderella of the ball is many girl's dreams when they are young. It's the magic attic, the adventures each girl takes and the lasting friendships that makes the Magic Attic Club books so enjoyable for young children, especially young girls.

Oh Alice...

As I started reading the first six chapters of "Alice In Wonderland" I began to just laugh and roll my eyes as I went through the story. Alice is a very curious, spunky, playful character. From the very beginning we see her peeping over her sister's shoulder curious as to what she is reading. Then, almost immediately she notices a white rabbit and is suddently drawn to what he is doing, what he is wearing, and where he is off to. Another thing I found quite amusing about Alice is that she thinks she is quite intelligent when she, in fact, is not intelligent at all. As she is falling down the well, she starts talking about how deep the Earth is and wonders where she is pertaining to latitude and longitude. As I was reading I also noticed that Alice loves to talk and always seems like she has something to say about everything, whether she be talking to herself or to some other character. It's also commical how she cries a lot when she doesn't know what to do, but not a second later she is telling herself there is no use in crying. It almost seems that Alice is what we would call "ADD." She's always talking, or crying, or thinking about things. She also tries to talk or help others and ends up making things worse most of the time. I think she is a fun, cute, "ditsy" character so far. And I'm sure many children could relate to her because they are a lot like her. In fact, many people see children just as Alice is: hyper, talkative, curious, etc.

What is fantasy?

The definition of fantasy in the dictionary is 1: imagination, fancy 2: a product of the imagination : Illusion 3: fantasia. This is probably the same words that come to my mind when I hear the word "fantasy." I also think of things like Harry Potter, Cinderella, magic, wizards, enchantment, happy things, etc. Different people have their own view of fantasy, whether it be positive or negative. In fact, in class today we had four or five students who didn't really care for fantasy because they thought it was hard to follow, not believable, and didn't really make since. Most of the class, on the other hand, enjoyed fantasy because they believed it brought excitement, imagination, and a world that they would like to live in but know they never could. Russell defines "fantasy" in a very broad sense saying it's "any story of the impossible" (194). There is no actual definition of "fantasy." It's defined differently by everybody; it's basically the definition a person's imagination creates for him or her.

Walt Disney

The famous Walter Elias Disney (Dec. 1901- Dec. 1966), otherwise known as Walt Disney, had accomplished many things throughout his life. Many of these things dealt with "fantasy" so to say. Disney was an Academy Award-winning American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entreprenaur, and philanthropist. Being known as "one of the most innovative figures in the entertainment field during the 20th century," he was known for creating many fictional characters such as the famous Mickey Mouse, and was also credited and was the namesake for Disneyland and Walt Disney World. It's crazy how one man is responsible for being a part of so many children's lives; from movies, to cartoons, to books, and to two of the most famous theme parks in the world. What would we have done without the great Walt Disney? What would our childhood have been like without him?

Writing, oh what fun!

Writing papers is probably one of the most things I dislike when it comes to schoolwork. One of the main reasons I don't really like it is because I don't consider myself the best writer. When I sit down to write a paper it usually takes me quite some time to get started, unless it's a topic that interests me or that I love to talk/write about. After I've taken time to read over, get suggestions from teachers and friends, and really put time into it my paper usually turns out pretty good. I remember my junior year we did a big research paper that was a two or three month process. When we got our grades back (which were like 2 major grades and 4 or 5 daily grades) I was the only one in my class that got A's for both of the major grades. I was extremely surprised, but very proud of myself at the same time, and I had a pretty tough teacher too. I know the papers I write for this class won't be graded and checked for each part of it, but I hope to do well on them and hopefully impress whoever reads them as well.

What do Children think?

After taking the test today and after studying over my notes last night I really began to think; we have discussed several different images and ideas in class that authors have created in their fairy tale versions. A few of these points we've discussed were somewhat surprising to me. I probably never would have thought about them if we hadn't talked about them in class. I'm usually not one to deeply anaylze what I read because I guess I don't really have that analytical mind, but I feel like I've kind of "grown" more or less in really thinking about what the author is trying to convey as I continue to read more things. If I don't really see these points of the authors at first as I'm reading, then what do children think about as they read these fairy tales? Do do they just see them as pure entertainment, or entertainment with some insight to it? I would think that most children read these fairy tales for enjoyment, so why do authors convey so many messages, themes, symbols, ideas, etc. Are these fairy tales really for children, or are they more for the parents of these children who are usually reading them to their children? It seems as though most authors are trying to relay messages to the parents in order to teach their children. The authors could even be pointing these messages just to the parents themselves.