Snow White and Rose Red

Santa bought Tara this beautiful book for Christmas which we are just reading today. I think it must have reminded Santa of someone he knew. Devoted sisters and forever friends, Snow White and Rose Red are as lovely and sweet as the delicate flowers that inspired their names. Reminds me of two other devoted sisters and friends that I know - Tara Lily and Erin Rose perhaps!!! Well, they do fight sometimes, but you can fight best with those you love - because they love you no matter what!

People sometimes comment that they worry that fairytales are far too violent for children. I think this is a real shame as fairytales are really a rich portrayal of the inner life of the human being - when a child listens to a fairytale the darker characters become ways to work out the darker aspects of their own life - their fears, their feelings or difficulties that they have no control over. Fairytales can be incredibly healing. Some very good articles are available on this blog: http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/rrtransf.html

The Tale of Despereaux!

Last week our family went to catch the movie adaptation of one of our favourite children’s books of all time – The Tale of Despereaux. What a disappointment! The movie so lacked the subtleties and depth of character of the book. However, we used it as an opportunity to discuss the creative process of movie making with our kids and how they thought it could have been done better – they did say they thought Miggery Sow’s character was just how they imagined her!

If you haven’t read the book, then I can’t highly recommend it enough – a really great read out aloud book for children 6-10 years of age. The book opens with these words: "The world is dark, and light is precious. Come closer, dear reader. You must trust me. I am telling you a story", and it never looks back. It truly is a tremendous tale about love and courage, betrayal and friendship, darkness and light. The characters are rich and many-layered with great voices. My two girls and I would read it together on the bed every night and it was very hard to keep just to one chapter – we all adored it and of course I cried!!!

Kate DiCamillo is quickly becoming one of our best-loved writers and we will be stocking all her books in our stores: Miraculous Journey of Edward Tullane and Because of Winn Dixie – both of which we have also read and thoroughly enjoyed!!!