Robert McCarty's Blog, page 4

October -- Lords, Ladies, and Peasants, Dark Presences, Faith

 

                                                                    A Hard Life . . .  

 

Stories Were Told

"Both the oral and literary forms of the fairy tale are grounded in history: The fairy tale sets out to conquer the concrete terror that emanates from specific struggles to humanize bestial and barbaric forces, which have terrorized our minds and communities in concrete ways, threatening to destroy free will and human compassion. The fairy tail sets out to conquer this concrete terror through metaphors."            Jack Zipes -- Spells of Enchantment

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A Mother Fails Her Daughter and a Fantastic Elf Saves a Life 

 

 

Rumpelstiltskin is many centuries old. As this and other stories were told over time, they evolved, a reflection of both the story tellers and the life they knew. Written tales followed oral tales and in rewriting these tales, writers made them  more relevant to changing times.

The most stunning version of Rumpelstiltskin that I have read was Words Like Pale Stones by Nancy Kress. True naming and  the power of words remain very important in this story. The narrator is a courageous and resilient young woman named Ludie. She is the oppressed protagonist, a victim of failed parents and a brutal despot. She lives in a time when lives were controlled by a cruel King.

As in the traditional Grimm's version, the King offers life and marriage to Ludie if she can spin straw into gold. If she fails, he promises a slow and painful death. Krees adds another dimension to the king, one that will run through the entire story.. . ."He only smiled, for of course, he was not mortal.The old blood ran somewhere in his veins, mixed  but there. 'Fevered and tainted', some said. Only the glimmerings of magic were there, and glimmerings without mastery were what made the cruelty."

Weaving straw into gold and the magic power of the Old People carry the early part of this legend made fresh. And then comes the chilling revelation that Ludie bears a son who has inherited .the dark side from his father, the King. The surprising (to me) resolution was just right. The writing of Nancy Kress creates a dark momentum that flows through all of this outstanding tale.

The top illustration is by Walter Crane.
The bottom illustration is by H.J Ford.

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A Fantastic Witch House of Confection and a Dark Tale of Famine

Amidst eons of uncertainty, tales were passed on that reflected many facets of the world, from the adventures of poor peasants, to the dilemmas of  Royal ladies of the Court. They were fueled by imagination. They dealt with poverty, fear, and brutality. They satirized the powerful, amused listeners, and usually gave hope.

Hansel and Gretel is a very dark tale and disturbing tale. The central characters are children who must deal with war, famine, fear, abandonment, cannibalism, a witch, dark forces and death in a rather overwhelming confluence. The story began to evolve with the famines of the late Middle ages (1250-1500); the following centuries that led up to the Grimm's version of the story (1812) were fraught with war, poverty, and chaos.

Warfare, Violence, Everyday Life

"Warfare was a near-constant preoccupation for medieval Europe's governing elites. . . Medieval European society tolerated very high levels of violence as a fact of everyday life. Men (and some women) resorted to force without much compunction in order to achieve their goals, and highly personal motivations could lead up to war.. . . And at all stages in its evolution, medieval European warfare  found it easy to accommodate the very personal reasons that lead human beings to inflict pain on each other."
Hywel Williams -- A History of the Middle Ages.

 

Hunger and Chaos

 

The Great Famine: "In some regions of Europe, the Great Famine of 1315-17 killed a tenth of the population, shattering social norms and local economies. Villages were abandoned, religious houses were dispersed, and minor feudal lords pawned their land to whoever could pay. Peasants and the urban poor were left to fend for themselves."  *The Great Famine was followed by other famines (until 1322 ); the Black Death (1347) and the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). Amy Davidson Sorkin .. The New Yorker

The painting of a peasant woman sitting in her cottage is by Jozef Israels.
The etching of the dancing skeletons is by Michael Wolgenut (1493).

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Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel was rewritten and brought to life by Neil Gaiman. Here is an excerpt:

"The woodcutter's family was never certain who was fighting whom, nor why they were fighting, nor what they were fighting about. But beyond the forest, fields of crops were burned and barley fields became battlefields, and the farmers were killed, or made into soldiers in their turn and marched away. And soon enough the miller had no grain to mill into flour, the butcher had no animals to kill and hang in the window, and they said you could name your own price for a rabbit."   

 

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Here is an excerpt from the excellent review of Gaiman's book by Maria Russo in the NY Times: "Written with a devastating spareness by Neil Gaiman and fearsomely illustrated in shades of black by Lorenzo Mattotti, the newest version of ���Hansel and Gretel��� astonishes from start to finish. . .Their rendition brings a freshness and even a feeling of majesty to the little tale. Some great, roiling essence of the human condition ��� our fate of shuttling between the darkness and the light ��� seems to inhabit its pages. . . In Gaiman���s hands, the humble woodcutter���s decision to abandon his children speaks not just to the cruelty that surfaces during desperate times, but to the needless suffering and waste of war."

The illustrations are by Lorenzo Mattotti.

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���There is something else which has the power to awaken us to the truth. It is the works of writers of genius. They give us, in the guise of fiction, something equivalent to the actual density of the real, that density which life offers us every day but which we are unable to grasp because we are amusing ourselves with lies.���
��� Simone Weil

 

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Inspired by the Essence of Beauty and the Beast

Angela Carter wrote, "My intention was not to do "versions". . .but to extract the latent content from the traditional stories and to use it as the beginnings of new stories." To her friend Robert Coover, she wrote, "I really do believe that a fiction absolutely self-conscious of itself as a different form of human experience than reality (that is, not a logbook of events) can help to translate reality itself."

Angela Carter wrote a fresh and compelling  new story, The Courtship of Mr. Lyon, inspired by the 17th century  version of Beauty and the Beast written by Madame Le Prince de Beaumont. Their are many variations in several  languages of this centuries-old tale. It is said that Madame Le Prince de Beaumont wrote this tale as a warning metaphor for young women, preparation for the very real possibility of an arranged and loveless marriage.

Carter's story is fresh from beginning to end. When certain events are recounted --  such as the father stealing the Rose for his daughter -- they have been recreated with great imagination. They come to life. Carter's descriptive powers and woven detail is brilliant. Here is an excerpt, a passage that takes us into another dimension, the dimension of magic realism as we, and Beauty's father, enter the world of Mr. Lyon:

"The door behind him closed as silently as it had opened, yet this time, he felt no fear, although he knew by the pervasive atmosphere of a suspension of reality that he had entered a place of privilege where all the laws of the world he knew need not necessarily apply . . . "

Here is one more excerpt. It is the turning point that takes place when the father leaves the Beast's mansion:

"Great wreaths of snow now precariously curded the rose trees and, when he brushed against a stem on his way to the gate, a chill armful softly thudded to the ground to reveal, as if miraculously preserved beneath it, one last, single, perfect rose that might have been the last rose living in all the white winter, and of so intense yet delicate a fragrance it seemed to ring like a dulcimer on the frozen air.

How could his host, so mysterious, so kind, deny beauty her present?"

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This story was first published in 1979 in The Bloody Chamber, a collection of ten exceptional stories by Angela Carter. They were inspired by ten classic wonder tales, including Bluebeard, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty.

I have read several versions of the Beauty and the Beast story with detachment. In reading them, I didn't relate to the characters or the final transformation. In Carter's story all the character's, even the dog, came alive, and I cared about them. And for the first time, I was moved at the conclusion. Angela Carter was truly a gifted writer. 

The illustration of Beauty and Mr. Lyon is by Hazel Fisher, Deviant Art.
The Rose is from a BBC announcement.
The photo of Angela Carter (1988) is by John Mahler, Toronto Star.

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New Initiatives by Jack Zipes 

Jack Zipes  is still filled with energy, purpose, and commitment to make a positive difference. Here is the opening greeting from his new website:https://jackzipes.com/

For years I have tried to intervene in politics through critical theory, work with university students and children, storytelling, theater, and artwork. Throughout all my projects, fairy tales have played a major role because they offer a utopian alternative to the deplorable real conditions of our times. Consequently, my website is my endeavor to share my work with readers interested in changing the world, that is, democratizing democracy and fostering social justice. Keywords in everything I have done and continue to do are ��� truth and hope in keeping with Herbert Marcuse���s concept of the Great Refusal. I believe we must all reject and resist the degradation of humanity, and so I���ll conclude my brief welcome with a call for all power to the imagination and compassion for all living creatures on this earth!

Zipes has a new publishing partner, Little Mole and Honey Bear  (https://www.littlemolehoneybear.com/); and two rediscovered, anti-fascist children's books: Keedle and Yussuf the Ostrich. Both books just launched through Minneapolis Bookstore, Magers and Quinn (https://www.magersandquinn.com/)

The above illustration is from Keedle. Here is an Excerpt about Keedle from Amazon: "In 1940, two young people decided to publish a strange book with the title KeedleTto give Americans hope that the world can overcome dictatorships. To them, Keedle represented more than just Hitler. Indeed, Keedle represented all the dictators in the world then and now."

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Imagination

Though I personally will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp, I have learned to value imagination in a much broader sense. Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared.

J.K.Rowling Harvard Commencement Speech 2008

The photo of J.K. Rowling is by Deborah Hurford Brown

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Carterhaugh School Retellings.

Brittany and Sara, the imaginative ladies of the on-line Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic have continued to offer innovative workshops and seminars throughout the Corona era. I am on their mailing list and receive ongoing emails that are far-ranging and fascinating. A recent blog featured this headline: Cinnamon Rolls and Crystal Chokers: Six of Our favorite Fairy -Tale Retellings. Here is the link to this divers and imaginative blog.post.

The photo is of Brittany and Sara.

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Movies and Animation

Netflix is now showing Studio Ghibli Films, including all of the wonderful films by the extraordinary Hayao Miyazaki. My NeighborTotoro is a celebration of childhood, innocence, and wonder. This is a film of childhood and the imagination that stands alone. 

 

Independent Animation

Extraordinary animation is appearing from around the world. The techniques and subject matter vary with the many talented creators, giving us many wonderful moments. Below are three imaginative animated films.

The illustration is from the animated film Passage Des Oiseaux by Florence Miailhe

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Rhapsodie pour un Pot-au-feu (French beef stew)

A delightful, fun, imaginative, musical treat.

Centered around a crowded eccentric hungry family and a non-stop beef stew preparation

By Charlotte Cambon,  with Soizic Mouton, St��phanie Mercier and Marion Roussel.

Link to Rhapsodie pour un Pot-au-feu Time 3 minutes

 

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French 79 - The Remedy

A fantasy of design and color

A boy visits an abandoned fairground

Created by Daniel Stanker  Album Joshua Out

Link to French 79 - The Remedy Time 4.20

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Selfish

An Animated Awakening

A Meaningful Surprise

Award Winner by Po Chien Chen

Link to Selfish Time 2.27

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More Movies

Mulan .. War, Destruction, and Disney

The trailer seems to tell the story: Visually excellent, simplified version of an oft-told tale, dating back to the fourth to sixth centuries, with an awareness of today's feminism. Here is an excerpt from Manohla Dargis' review in the NY Times. "Set jointly in the Old World and in that newer mythic realm of happily-ever-after female empowerment, this live-action ���Mulan,��� directed by Niki Caro, is pretty much what happens when a legend meets Disney���s global bottom-line."

Link to the trailer: Mulan

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Children of the Sea 

Critics Consensus: "An animated adventure perhaps best appreciated as a visual experience, Children of the Sea is strikingly lovely if less than satisfying on a narrative level. -- RottenTomatoes

Link to trailer: Children of the Sea

 

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The Tortoise or the Hare book by  Toni Morrison & Slade Morrison

This classic story has been retold many times since the days of Aesop. Toni and Slade Morrison add dimension and twists to the classic story with questions about the meaning of winning and loosing. The book is fun to read and the illustrations by Joe Cepeda are wonderful, adding to the overall reading experience: Both of the main characters, Jimi Hare and Jamie Tortoise, are a delight for the reader if not for all their neighbors. Here is an excerpt describing Jamie Tortoise.:
"Everyone in the neighborhood avoided him.
Because he was so smart, they said he had no heart.
They called him 
   stuck-up show-off
   too rough, too soft,
   stupid know-it-all 
   selfish do-it-all. 
   so slick, too quick,
   a trick! A trick! 

  So Jamey studied alone."

The illustration of Jamie Tortoise is by Joe Cepeda.

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Guion the Lion

Guion the Lion, by Rebecca Macsovits, is an imaginative, colorful, fun fantasy adventure for young children. It teaches tolerance in perception of others. And, it is a labor of love. The exuberant, playful illustrations are by Milena Kirkova. Here is an excerpt from their website:

"Rebecca Macsovits is a Colorado mother of three, including her oldest son, Guion, who happens to have Down syndrome. He inspired her to create the world of Guion the Lion, which shows readers that understanding those different from us doesn't have to be difficult; it just takes a little curiosity to begin a new adventure."

Rae, the Bushbaby, learns from Guin to use her imagination and see things in different ways as Guin takes them through a world of animals and fantasy.. Additional pages offer ideas for play including Story Questions, Scribble Games, and Spy in the clouds, scribble games, all to stimulate thoughts about perceptions and the way we see others,

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Ariel

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This Unicef video of Refugee Kids Gave Me Hope

Profiles of 4 refugee children who are all moving to reading and possibilities.

Unicef supports refugees in multiple ways

Here is the Link: Refugee Children  (2.07 minutes)

 

 

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PGI -- Paws Giving Independence 

 PGI���s service dogs benefit individuals with spinal cord injury, muscular dystrophy, arthritis, developmental delays, cerebral palsy, balance problems, and more. PGI is run exclusively on public donations and endowments.

PGI places its dogs free of charge. . . Most of PGI's dogs are rescued dogs. They are trained specifically for an individual's needs. The training process for each individual takes more than a year. The bonus is unconditional love.

PGI. . . Paws Giving Independence has been growing and helping people in need since 2008, over ten years!   
Congratulations to this wonderful non-profit, volunteer therapy service dog organization that began at Bradley College (Peoria,Illinois) with two dog-loving nursing students. The young girl in the photo is going home with her PGI dog, Monty. Here is the website link: PGI

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Saving a Dog...an excerpt from C.A. Wulff's blog, Up On The Woof 

"There is nothing more joyous and grateful than a dog who has been saved. Dogs don���t keep those sorts of feelings to themselves, they want to share them. That dog becomes the most loving, faithful companion you can imagine. He will protect his new family in times of danger and comfort them in times of sadness. He will teach the children in the family to love and respect animals. Maybe knowing him will inspire a child to grow up to be a vet, or a zoologist. The dog will bring hours of laughter and joy to his people. He will keep them healthier in body, mind and spirit..."

 C.A. Wulff is a dog rescuer, advocate, artist and author. Her books range from How To Change the World in Thirty Seconds  to her memoir,  Circling the Waggins.  She is also the creator of  Yelodoggie. 
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Castle in the Mist -- the world of adventure and the human-canine connection.

"Do you think that it is possible for dogs to stop a war. . . I said in my review of McCarty's Planet of the Dogs (Volume I), 'Author Robert J. McCarty has created a charming fantasy-allegory that can be read and understood on at least two different levels. Children will enjoy the story about dogs who come from another planet to help people on earth. But under the surface are the important messages of friendship, love, loyalty, and how to overcome evil with good.' The same things are true as the story continues in Castle in the Mist. The book is well written and easy to read. It will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next, and, as with Volume I, leads to a satisfying conclusion."   Excerpted from a 5 Star Review Review By Wayne Walker in Stories for Children Magazine.

We have free reader copies of all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians, teachers and independent bookstores. Email us with a postal address to planetofthedogs@gmail.com and we will send you the books. 

To read sample chapters of any book in the series, visit PlanetOfTheDogs 

The Planet Of The Dogs series, including Castle In The Mist and Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, is available from many Internet sources and through independent bookstores of all sizes. 

The illustration is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.

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"The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world. the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog."-

Samuel Coleridge (Table-Talk 1830)

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September -- Alternate Reality, Fantasy, and Wonder Tales

                                                             Fantasy is everywhere

Another Reality

���You know very well you���re not real.���

���I am real!��� said Alice, and began to cry.

���You won���t make yourself a bit realler by crying,��� Tweedledee remarked: ���there���s nothing to cry about.���

���If I wasn���t real,��� Alice said���half laughing through her tears, it all seemed so ridiculous������I shouldn���t be able to cry.���

���I hope you don���t suppose those are real tears?��� Tweedledum interrupted in a tone of great contempt.

Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There -Lewis Carrol

Illustration by John Tenniel

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Crossing Over -- The Threshold Between Reality and Fantasy

Children's books weave spells of enchantment so powerful that readers cross over into fantasy worlds as effortlessly as Lyra and Will vanish from Oxford and emerge in Cittagazze in Philip Pullman's The Subtle Knife. Oz. Narnia, Wonderland, and Hogwarts all maintain their narrative coherence and become credible through the uncanny detail with which they are evoked. . .

Maria Tatar   -- Enchanted Hunters 

The illustration for Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials is by Peter Bailey for the Folio Society.

 

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Another World

���He dared to do what men and women don't even dare to think. And look what he's done already: he's torn open the sky, he's opened the way to another world. Who else has ever done that? Who else could think of it?��� ��� Philip Pullman, The Subtle Knife

The illustration is by Dan French, Cosmicstories, Deviant Art

 

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Masters of Crossover Books

I remember the surprise on the part of journalists, publishers, and booksellers at the number of adult book buyers when Harry Potter (and later, Hunger Games) proved to be so very popular.  As Maria Tatar, in the excerpt above, and others over the years have recognized, this was not a new phenomenon. The sheer volume of sales was unprecedented, but not the fact that so many adult readers were involved. Actually, adult readers had been finding and reading wonder tales and fantasy since Gulliver landed in the land of the Lilliputians -- if not before.

The illustration of Hogwarts is by Jim Kay..

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Never End ing Crossover

In addition to Lewis Carroll's Alice as a leader in nineteenth century crossover, there was Tolkien with his alternate world of wizards, elves,and dragons. Consider the strong appeal of Andersen and his many worlds ranging from Frozen and Match Girls to Ugly Ducklings and naked Emperors. And today, this ongoing fascination of adult readers with Wonder tales and fantasy ranges from Ursula Le Guin to Neil Gaiman and Philip Pullman. It is an integral part of of the world of books and reading.

The excerpt below on YA books, from Publisher's Weekly was part of the book world response that began with the the Harry Potter book explosion. It was published in September 2012.

 

The illustration of the Little Match Girl is by Liiga Klavina, Deviant Art.
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Adults Read YA Books

55% of YA (Young Adult) Books Readers are Older than 18: "More than half the consumers of books classified for young adults aren���t all that young. According to a new study, fully 55% of buyers of works that publishers designate for kids aged 12 to 17 -- known as YA books -- are 18 or older, with the largest segment aged 30 to 44, a group that alone accounted for 28% of YA sales. And adults aren���t just purchasing for others -- when asked about the intended recipient, they report that 78% of the time they are purchasing books for their own reading. The insights are courtesy of Understanding the Children���s Book Consumer in the Digital Age, an ongoing biannual study from Bowker Market Research that explores the changing nature of publishing for kids...."

Here's the link to read more of this article: publishersweekly

The illustration from the Philosopher's Stone is by Jim Kay.

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The Power of Love

���Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. Love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves it's own mark. To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever.���
��� J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

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Andersen . . . Stories for Children and Adults Alike

 "Andersen combined humor, Christian sentiments, folklore, and original plots to form tales which amused and instructed old and young readers at the same time. More than any other writer of the 19th century, he fulfilled what Perrault had begun: to write tales such as 'The Ugly Duckling', 'The Little Mermaid', and the 'Princess and the Pea' which could be readily grasped by children and adults alike." 

 -- Jack Zipes... Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales

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Dream

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Langston Hughes

Photo by Robert W. Kelly/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

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Leena Krohn

"Leena Krohn, one of Finland's greatest writers, is the kind of storyteller who rewires your brain.She forces you to adopt to her pace, her particular and unique ideas of urgency, and of characterization and plot . . .In her fiction, however, this philosophical quest is often entwined with the visceral -- her novels are not abstractions, but alive with details of character, and setting and situation that that display a keen eye for observation of the world around her."

Jeff VanderMeer, Introduction to Leena Krohn: Collected Fiction

Photo credit: Kauppalehti.fi.

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Transported Me The Furthest

I also found myself hypnotized by Leena Krohn , a Finnish writer whose collected stories and novels, rendered into English by many different translators, have just been published as a single volume, ��� Leena Krohn: Collected Fiction .��� Broadly speaking, Krohn is a speculative writer; one of the novels in the collection, for example, consists of thirty letters written from an insect city. (���It is summer and one can look at the flowers face to face.���) Krohn writes like a fantastical Lydia Davis, in short chapters the length of prose poems. Her characters often have a noirish toughness; one, explaining her approach to philosophy, says that when she asks an existential question, ���life answers. It is generally a long and thorough answer. . .  Looking back, I realize that my favorite books this year were those that drew me away from the ordinary social world and into very different spaces. I don���t know why that was the dominant theme, but I know that these books transported me the furthest.  ��� J oshua Rothman, The New Yorker

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Tainaron

This is the opening paragraph of Leena Krohn's Tainaron. . . . "First letter: How could I forget the spring when we walked in the University's botanical gardens: for there is such a park here in Tainaron, too, large and carefully tended. If you saw it you would be astonished, for it contains many plants that no one at home knows; even a species that flowers underground."

 

The photo by Katri Lassila is somewhere in Northern Finland.

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Cracking the Codes of Leena Krohn

This is the title of an insightful and enthusiastic New Yorker article by Peter Berbergal. In addition to  reflections on Krohn's work, it contains interviews. Here is an excerpt from his fascinating article

���Leena Krohn: Collected Fiction,��� published late last year by Cheeky Frawg Books. . . The collection is the most extensive English translation yet of work by the celebrated Finnish writer, who has been a finalist for the prestigious World Fantasy Award and is a winner of the Finlandia Prize, the country���s most important literary honor. The novels, novellas, excerpts, and short stories included in the Cheeky Frawg collection are not narratives in the traditional sense so much as a series of contextualized impressions. Plot is hard to come by. Instead, Krohn offers up the narrated inner lives of characters trying to make sense of their environments, and of the other people whom they encounter. Many of the works are set in cities, but the worlds that Krohn���s characters inhabit never feel concrete: everything is mediated through particular characters��� perceptions. The reader is left with the sense of having intruded on someone���s dream, in which symbols are revelations of intimate details.

The painting is by Andrea Kowch

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The Pelican's New Clothes -- A Children's Book
 
Leena Krohn writes about an intelligent pelican who wants to be human with all the accoutrements of city life. This is a wonderful children's book for YA and adults.

Adults see him and know him as the very well-dressed, well-spoken, Mr. Hendersen. Children see him as a pelican wearing clothes. His dream is to be human. After some time, he gets a job as a ticket taker and chorus singer at the Opera. He is particularly fond of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte. 

His tutor and best friend is a early adolescent boy, Emil, who is also new to city life, his life having been recently uprooted when his parents divorced.

As a reader, following the Pelican's journey, I was seeing humanity and human customs through fresh, naive, eyes. The experiences of this outsider trying to become one of us, ranged from quite poignant to humorous.

Here is an excerpted early conversation on the occasion when Emil and the Pelican first meet and the Pelican asks how Emil ". . .'how you came to discover my' (here he hesitated for a moment) 'my origins?'

"Oh for goodness sake!" The boy was amazed. "There was no discovering about it. It's obvious."

"Not to humans," the bird argued. "Humans have such special eyes that they can't see anything with them except what they think they see. . . " Because I wear human clothes, I am human. That is the general consensus."

The Pelican and Emil have many experinces together and on their own. The Pelican has a thirst for knowledge and he loves the arts, especially, music. He is deeply disturbed, after he learns how to read, when he learns in the newspaper about war and human brutality.

Ultimately, he is discovered to be a bird, a pelican at that, and taken to a cage in the zoo. Emil, his loyal friend, helps him and there is a rather lovely ending.

Above, cover of Finnish edition.

Lower Illustration: The Pelican and Emil say goodbye in the movie by Magda Osinska.

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Movies, Video, and Independent Animation

 

Netflix and Amazon Plus are now showing Studio Ghibli Films, including all of the wonderful films by the extraordinary Hayao Miyazaki.

The image on the left is from the wonderful Kiki's Delivery Service.  The story and the animation are terrific. Like wonder tales, survival or winning in Miyazaki films depends on endurance, courage, and using your wits. And there is hope at the end. Here is a link to the delightful trailer: Kiki 

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Exceptional Independent Animation: Fantasy lives in many forms. Here are 3 totally different, outstanding, animated videos.

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Marie Curie

Meaningful, Excellent Animation, Important

150 Years Marie Curie's remarkable legacy in 2 minutes

An homage to a great scientist

Link: Marie Curie 2 minutes

 

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A Single Life

 

Pia travels through time through music

Charming and poignant multiple prize winner

Created by Job, Joris, and Marieke

Link to A Single Life 2.18 minutes

 

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Meanwhile

4 People trapped in memories

Brilliant and ominous 

Many Prizes, presented by Royal College of Art with support by Blinkink

Directed by Stephen McNally, Score by Adam Cullen

Link to Meanwhile 5.13 minutes

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The New Secret Garden Movie -- Mixed Reception

Disney releases the new movie on the Internet. Audiences rate it highly. Critics are mixed. 

I have read mixed  several reviews of The Secret Garden after first being delighted by the promise of the trailer. There are several questions from reviewers about story revisions. However, there is great praise for Itxaso Moreno, who plays and reinvents the leading character, Mary Lennox. And the lush visuals of the land, the house, and the garden are well received and sometimes praised.. 

My own feeling is for a new young audience, seeing the film for the first time, plot and character digressions from the book that disturbed several critics are missing the point. Here are conclusions that do make sense to me, from a review by  Tomris Laffly writing in Roger Ebert : "The Secret Garden", as it always has, aims to open a gate for kids, a passage to a rejuvenating place that both validates and soothes adolescent fears too scary to handle unaccompanied. This essential version does exactly that when big minds trapped in little bodies might need it the most." 

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Niroz Is Remarkable

Niroz is a 10 year Syrian refugee girl who lives with her surviving family members in Domeez refugee camp in Kurdistan. Niroz appears in this 5 minute UNICEF video after one minute. She is unvanquished, articulate, very intelligent, and engaging. She likes her friends, school, and playing chess. Her dream is to become a cardiac surgeon. She is your guide to life in the camp. She is quite wonderful. This is an exceptional video.

Here is the YouTube video Link:  Niroz

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Compassion

���We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.��� 
Albert Schweitzer,The Philosophy of Civilization, Quoted in Real Cool Dogs

 

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Ariel Wulff Update

Ariel Wulff is a dog enthusiast, dog owner and advocate, artist, and author of several dog books. She has also been illustrating a variety of delightful children's books for Tamira Ci Thayne, founder of Who Chains You Publishing. Here are excerpts from Wulff's blog, Up On The Woof, with information about this humane endeavor:

Tamira Ci Thane is the founder and former CEO of the humane organization Dogs Deserve Better. . . When she left DDB, Tami founded Who Chains You Publishing in order to publish books for and about animal lovers, activists and rescuers���in all genres from children���s to fiction to autobiographies. The mission of Who Chains You is to amplify the voices of the animals through the empowerment of animal lovers, activists, and rescuers who write books elevating the status of animals in society . . . At the deepest level, WCY books explore which chains humans must break within ourselves in order to free the animals. Here is a link to: Who Chains You Publishing  Cover by Ariel Wulff.

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 Fences for Fido - Unchained - One Dog at a Time - All Volunteer

"Fences for Fido is an award-winning, non-profit organization that builds donor-funded fences free of charge for families who keep their dogs on chains, tethers and in small enclosures. We also provide: A warm, insulated dog house; Spay/neuter services; Critical vet care."

During Corona Virus, a modified Fences for Fido carries on their work.

"We were able to work with all of our Client Outreach team members to list our highest-need cases. Using the smallest possible crew with safety measures in place, we were able to visit those dogs and: Set up temporary panel fences if needed; Schedule urgent veterinary care as needed; Deliver dog houses or food as needed

AND MOST OF ALL, We're protecting OUR VOLUNTEERS: the most valuable part of this amazing, life-saving, kindness-spreading, hard-working machine we've created together.=

Here is a link to a terrific video montage of Joyous Dogs after a visit from Fences for Fido.

The photo is of Fences For Fido Central Oregon Volunteers, taken before the Corona Virus.

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Planet of the Dogs Book Series

"Our story begins long, long ago, before there were dogs on Planet Earth.

There was plenty of space in those days for people to settle and grow things. . .There were clear lakes and cool streams with lots of fish. There were fields and woods with game to hunt. . . Many people settled in these places of abundance and prospered. . .

And then there came a time when the abundance and happiness found on Planet Earth were threatened by people like the warrior tribes of Stone City. They had forgotten how to love. . .Their numbers began to grow and soon they were taking the homes, land, and farms where peaceful people lived. . .  Something had to be done -- but what could anybody do? No one knew it at that time, but help would come from far, far away, from the  Planet of the Dogs."

We have free reader copies of all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians, teachers and independent bookstores. Email us with a postal address to planetofthedogs@gmail.com and we will send you the books. 

To read sample chapters of any book in the series, visit PlanetOfTheDogs 

The Planet Of The Dogs series, including Castle In The Mist and Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, is available from many Internet sources and through independent bookstores of all sizes. 

The illustration of the Black Hawk Castle is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.

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Dogs

���Their lives are balancing acts between a humanized being and an older, wilder nature, Dogs are interstitial beings, not yet human, but no longer wolves. That is the unresolved paradox of doghood.��� Leena Krohn

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August 2020 . . . Storms, Hidden Doors, and The Rabbit Hole

The Book, Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, Combined Fantastic Adventure and Savage Satire.

Travels and Beyond

The shipwreck that landed Lemuel Gulliver in the land of very small people (Lilliputians) was the opening of a momentous book that became known as Gulliver's Travels. It combined fantastic adventures with a savage satire of the British  ruling class and politics. Written by the brilliant Anglo-Irish author, Jonathan Swift, it was published anonymously (1726) to avoid punishment and prison. It rocked the British establishment. It was a huge success, was widely read, and was one of the books that gave birth to the novel form. It has also proved popular with young adult readers and has never been out of print.

Gulliver was forced by circumstances to travel onward four times, to four very different lands, before he could return to England. He is condemned but escapes the Lillyputians; more misadventures occurred in the land of giants (Brobdingnag) and after many learned conversations, followed by trouble, he finds safety for some time in an  erudite civilization that exists on a floating land (Laputa); his travels then take him to an extraordinary country, ruled by very intelligent horses horses (the Land of the Houyhnhnms) They ruled over dirty, crude, hapless humans  who were called Yahoos. 
When he later returned home, Gulliver was so frustrated and despairing of people that he spent much of his time talking with his horses rather than the Yahoos he found in representing England in Dublin.

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Furious, Raging , Obscene

Robert McCrum writing in the Guardian , ranks the book number 3 in his appraisal of the 100 best novels written in English. Here is an excerpt from his article: "In its afterlife as a classic, Gulliver���s Travels works on many levels. First, it���s a masterpiece of sustained and savage indignation, 'furious, raging, obscene', according to Thackeray. Swift���s satirical fury is directed against almost every aspect of early 18th-century life: science, society, commerce and politics. Second, stripped of Swift���s dark vision, it becomes a wonderful travel fantasy for children, a perennial favourite that continues to inspire countless versions, in books and films."
 
During and after Swift's lifetime, the British establishment wielded its power, as they had for centuries, to subjugate and punish the Irish, most of whom were very poor, worked the land, and were Catholic. Poverty and periodic famines dominated their lives. The Anglo-Irish, although they owned much of the land taken from the Irish, were not considered the equal of the British establishment. those who wielded the power. Swift was a victim of this elitism. That he was also deeply moved by the painful lives of the Irish people is well illustrated in other writings directed at the elite British government responsible for the poverty and famine of the Irish.
 
Contempt for Heartless British Attitudes
 
In A Modest Proposal , a savage satire, he opens with a listing of the painful, joyless conditions of life oppressing the Irish. Here is an excellent, succinct summary of the article from Wikipedia:
"A Modest Proposal, is a Juvenalian satirical essay written and published anonymously by Jonathan Swift in 1729. The essay suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food to rich gentlemen and ladies. This satirical hyperbole mocked heartless attitudes towards the poor, as well as British policy toward the Irish in general."


Transit Points to an Alternate Reality
 


A storm and a shipwreck were transit vehicles for Jonathan Swift in the same way that C.S. Lewis used a wardrobe to take children to Narnia; or that Lewis Carroll had Alice going down the Rabbit hole to Wonderland , or, more recently, Neil Gaiman's  character, Door, in Neverwhere who was the very embodiment of a transit point.They were all transit phenomena that took characters in stories to an alternate reality, a world of fantasy. Fantasy, in the world of Gulliver's Travels provided Swift a way to attack the arrogance and ideas of the smug British establishment with a wide impact. It also became a wonderful crossover book for young readers.

 

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Old and Young

"Though now we think of fairy tales as stories intended for very young children, this is a relatively modern idea. In the oral tradition, magical stories were enjoyed by listeners young and old alike, while literary fairy tales (including most of the tales that are best known today) were published primarily for adult readers until the 19th century.���

Terri Windling -- Black Swan, White Raven

The illustration is by Knut Ekwall
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Who Are Called To Write Wonder Tales ? And Why?

The diversity of written tales is as extraordinary as the oral tales that developed over the centuries in cultures around the world. They embody unlimited imagination. As a reader, consider for a moment the images and stories that come to mind at just the mention of names like Gaiman, Tolkien, Carroll, Twain, Pullman, Le Guin, Rowling, Yolen, Barrie and many more.  Are there qualities, characteristics, that are common to all of them that propelled their creativity to the writing of wonderful books for the young, and often, books that also have great appeal for adults?

From talking trees and magic dust, to schools for wizards and talking dragons, despite very different personas, life experiences, and eras, they have one thing in common: all have written stories of wonder that resonate with readers. The answer probably lies in these words by Ursula Le Guin. "Fantasy is a different approach to reality, an alternative technique for apprehending and coping with existence. It is not antirational, but pararational; not realistic but surrealistic, a heightening of reality.  "

The illustration is from The Wizard of Earthsea.

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New Worlds in Wonder Tales

Jack Zipes has written extensively about how oral tales and written tales emanate  from and relate to real events in the lives of people.
"Fairy tales will continue to intrigue and influence their audience as long as they continue to ��� awaken our wonderment and enable us to project counter worlds to our present society, [fairy tales] will serve a meaningful social and aesthetic function, not just for compensation but for revelation.
Jack Zipes, When Dreams Came True, Classical Fairy Tales and Their Tradition.
Photo of Serbian Migrants by Marko Djurica/Reuters

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Magic happens on the threshold of the forbidden .. Maria Tatar

 

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Eduard Laboulaye, French Jurist, Wrote Wonderful Tales 

Eduard Laboulaye, an overlooked writer, wrote of a multitude of imaginative fairy tales for both children and adults. He lived in 19th century France during unsettled and difficult years of internal conflict, wars, and colonialism. Here is an excerpt from Jack Zipes regarding "the forgotten fairy tale genius of Edouard Laboulaye."

"Eduard Laboulaye, one of France���s foremost jurists and politicians of the 19th century, published highly unusual political fairy tales. . . Laboulaye was a great admirer of American democracy, supported the antislavery cause of the North, wrote several books on the history of the United States and American constitutional law, and played a key role in developing the plans for the Statue of Liberty. Some of his American contemporaries considered him America���s greatest friend.

His production of stories and novels is stunning in its variety. It includes three collections of tales, Contes bleus (Blue Tales, 1863), Nouveaux contes bleus (New Blue Tales, 1868), and Derniers contes bleus (Final Blue Tales, 1884); experimental works of fiction, such as the moralistic novel Abdallah, ou Le tr�� e �� quatre feuilles (Abdallah, or The Four-Leaf Clover, 1859), based on traditional Arabic folk tales; the time-travel fantasy novel Paris en Am��rique (Paris in America, 1862); and the fairy-tale novel Le prince-caniche (The Poodle Prince, 1867���68)."

The illustrations are by Edward G. McCandlish.

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Fairy Tales for His Children

Laboulaye's  children were treated to wonderful tales by a loving father with great imagination. I have been reading the excellent Project Gutenberg version of his nineteenth century Fairy Book. These tales are filled with magic, trials, quests, magic, miracles, and all the delights that wonder tales might offer.

There is the story a quest in the book by a boy to find the Castle of Life -- and the Fountain of Immortality -- wherein a magic bird, a loyal dog (Fido), and a courageous heart carry the boy onward despite hardships and temptations.  Mysteries, enchantments, and shape-shifting abound. At the core of everything is love.

And there is Dubrunka, in The Twelve Months, an orphan child with a cruel stepmother and crueler stepsister. "The poor child was obliged to do all the work of the house; she had to sweep, cook, wash, sew, spin, weave, cut the grass, and take care of the cow, while Katinka (her stepsister) lived like a princess���that is to say, did nothing." Dubrunka endures many hardships, including being lost, famished. and freezing in the snow filled woods. Ultimately, with her good heart and courage, she survives many trials.

"Dobrunka lived to a good old age, always virtuous and happy, having, according to the proverb, winter at the door, summer in the barn, autumn in the cellar, and spring in the heart."

One story deals with the idea of Destiny and unfairness. And each story, even the strange Noses, in some way, concludes on a note of hope. I found the variety and quality of the stories in this collection of ten tales to be delightful.

The illustrations from the Castle of Life and The Twelve Months are by Edward G. McClandish.

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The Truest and Sweetest Things in Life

The following was passed on by author Kate Douglas Wiggen (author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm ) in her Introduction to the 1926 English version of Laboulaye's Fairy Book. 

"In his preface to the first American edition Laboulaye writes a letter to Mlle. Gabrielle Laboulaye, aged two! In it he says: 'When you throw away this book with your doll, do not be too severe with your old grandfather for wasting his time on such trifles as fairy stories. Experience will teach you that the truest and sweetest things in life are not those which we see, but of which we dream.' Happy the children who have this philosophy set before them early in life." 

 

The illustration from Noses is by Edward G McClandish

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Movies, Video, and Independent Animation

Netflix and Amazon Plus are now showing Studio Ghibli Films, including all of the wonderful films by the extraordinary Hayao Miyazaki.

The image on the left is from the wonderful Porco Rosso.  The story and the animation are terrific. Like wonder tales, survival or winning in Miyazaki films depends on endurance, courage, and using your wits. And there is hope at the end. Here is a link to a brilliant montage (2:48) of Porco Rosso

 

Exceptional Independent Animation: Fantasy lives in many forms. Here are 3 totally different, outstanding, animated videos.

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White Birds Black Birds
 

 
A parable, elegant in its simplicity, and art
by Florence Miailhe
Good thoughts and bad, light and darkness
 
Producer Yves Billion, Music Denis Colin

Link to:White Birds and Black Birds (3:51)

 

 

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Autour de Minuit

This is a composite trailer, from cutting edge to top-drawer traditional animation of multiple diverse styles. 

Autour de Minuit is a Paris-based, multi-faceted and innovative, animation production and distribution company.

This film will give you a dynamic animation overview in a whirlwind 1 minute and 30 seconds.

 

Link to; Autour de Minuit

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Here Winter

A Journey of Wonder from Lee Kyutae

Timeless Abstract Fantasy 

Music by Shin Hyunmo

Link to:Here Winter 6:10

 

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A Miyazaki Movie Guide 

Nancy Coleman, in the NY Times, has written a laudatory Miyazaki/Ghibli Guide.

Here is an excerpt:

"Studio Ghibli has also, with impeccable consistency, struck a rare balance that most family-oriented movies struggle to achieve. These are undoubtedly children���s movies ��� but they also have a loyal following of adult fans, who devour their favorites over and over again."

 

The illustration is from My Neighbor Totoro.

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Squirmy Hermie's Heroics
 
"Snip, snip . . . snip, snip. . . Squirmy Hermie poked his head out of his pink and yellow-painted shell, peering out into the darkening room. Where was that noise coming from? The store had closed for the night; the only sounds this late came from his newfound crab friends as they began their nocturnal hunt for food and entertainment. . . And maybe a way out of here? The nagging hope slipped into his mind for the hundredth time since he���d arrived in this place only a few days earlier. . . Squirmy and his friend Hairy had been taken, along with many others, from their beach homes in the Caribbean islands. Why? Where were they now? And how could they free themselves from this cage and the toxic shells they'd been forced into?
 
This exceptional new children's book, Squirmy Hermie's Heroics , is the 4th volume in the wonderful Animal Protector series from author Tamira Thayne , with full color illustrations by C.A. Wulff. Available in Paperback and Kindle; coming in Audiobook.
 
 
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What Would Mickey Say About Families Taking Risks?

This is an excerpt from an article by Laura Bradley in the Daily Beast : 

"Disney World shut down in March due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. But over the weekend, as Florida set a record for new cases of the novel coronavirus in a single day���outpacing all of Europe combined���the park reopened the doors to its Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. . .  A new guide map for the Magic Kingdom includes a chilling warning for guests: ���By entering Walt Disney World, you voluntarily assume all risks related to COVID-19.���

Wow.

 
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Brigadoon Service Dogs

I have come to like very much Denise CoStanten. We have never met. However, I I have watched and listened to her in many  Brigadoon videos covering several years. She is a plain-spoken, caring, down to earth woman and the founder and developer of Brigadoon. They are community-based in Bellingham, WA, They are outstanding.

"Therapy dogs and the many volunteers who work with Brigadoon help children, adults, veterans, and even incarcerated people. The latter train dogs to help veterans with PTSD and other debilitating problems . .

We���ve trained dogs for children and adults with a variety of disabilities such as hearing or visual impairments, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, PTSD, other mental health diagnoses and people with medical conditions requiring dogs trained to alert to an impending crisis."

The man in the photo on the left is a veteran who was seriously wounded (IUD explosion, both legs severe damage, trauma) and suffered from PTSD. His Brigadoon therapy dog has changed his life in many good ways, as he testifies in this video. 

Here is the link to their website: Brigadoon

Here is a link to an early Brigadoon video

 
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Another World -- Refugee Children

 

"Devastating conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic has forced a million children to flee their homeland."

Amidst the chaos and pain there is hope. Take 2:43 and warm your heart with a video visit to the world of Aya an 8 year old Syrian refugee girl.

UNICF produced the film. They, and other non-profits like the IRC and Save the Children try to provide hope and the basic necessities of life.

 

The photo following a Syrian or Russian bomb attack is by Thaer Muhammed/AFP.
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 Castle In The Mist is the second book in the Planet Of The Dogs Series  -

 

"...Castle in the Mist is full of the same elements I enjoyed in Planet of the Dogs and Snow Valley Heroes: beautiful, detailed, soft, mood setting drawings; the fun and antics of the dogs, and the people who are discovering them for the first time; encroaching danger and suspense; the lovely fantasy of a planet of dogs who are so concerned with the people of earth; and the forgiveness, unconditional love and loyalty that the dogs are able to subtly impart."- Excerpt from a 5 star Amazon review by Lisa Harvey, Book Thoughts by Lisa...

 

We have free reader copies of all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians, teachers and independent bookstores. Email us with a postal address to planetofthedogs@gmail.com and we will send you the books. 

To read sample chapters of any book in the series, visit PlanetOfTheDogs 

The Planet Of The Dogs series, including Castle In The Mist and Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, is available from many Internet sources and through independent bookstores of all sizes. 

The illustration of Prince Uuko,leader of the Black Hawk tribes is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.

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���Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace.���
��� Milan Kundera

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July -- Imagination, Crossing Borders, Magic Realism

                                              

                                       

"The island of Gont, a single mountain that lifts its peak a mile above the storm-racked Northeast Sea, is a land famous for wizards." This is the opening line of Ursula Le Quin's book of fantasy and magic, The Wizard of Earthsea. She wrote a total of five books (1968.2001) set in the alternate reality of Earthsea. The illustration is by Ed Savage.
               
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Fantasy

"Fantasy is a different approach to reality, an alternative technique for apprehending and coping with existence. It is not antirational, but pararational; not realistic but surrealistic, a heightening of reality.  In Freud's terminology, it employs primary, not secondary process thinking. It employs archetypes, which, as Jung warned us, are dangerous things. Fantasy is nearer to poetry, to mysticism, and to insanity than naturalistic fiction is. It is a wilderness, and those who go there should not feel too safe."  

 - Ursula K. Le Guin

 

The illustration is by Ruth Robbins.
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Ponies, by Kij Johnson, Disturbed Me

I was not prepared for this story, nor the effect it would have on me. It moved me and saddened me. It also excited me to find an author, with the imagination and writing skills of Kij Johnson. I was a latecomer to the writing of Kij Johnson. I have since learned that she is an Associate Professor of Fiction Writing at the University of Kansas, and Assistant Director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction. She says,"One of our core premises is that science fiction is not so much a literature as it is an intellectual mode of inquiry that allows you to explore things in ways that nothing else does."

She has won numerous awards including Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon, World Fantasy and many others. In the past, she has worked in publishing, run bookstores, worked as a radio announcer and engineer, edited cryptic crosswords, and waitressed in a strip bar.

Here is an excerpt from the opening section of Ponies (2010).

"The invitation card has a Western theme. Along its margins, cartoon girls in cowboy hats chase a herd of wild Ponies. The Ponies are no taller than the girls, bright as butterflies, fat, with short round-tipped unicorn horns and small fluffy wings. At the bottom of the card, newly caught Ponies mill about in a corral.  . . 

If we like you, and if your Pony does okay, we���ll let you hang out with us. . . This is the way it���s always been, as long as there have been Ponies. All ponies have wings. All Ponies have horns. All Ponies can talk. Then all Ponies go to a cutting-out party, and they give up two of the three, because that���s what has to happen if a girl is going to fit in with The Other Girls. "

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"On an impulse,she walked into the bedroom and looked at herself in the pier mirror. A stranger infinitely familiar stared back: a stern-eyed woman in walking tweeds, with heavy laced boots and black-and-silver hair pulled away from her lined face. An old woman but not soft -- or, so she thought with a sudden inward laugh, perhaps not quite old, but also softer than she's been."

Kij Johnson, made the central character of the Dream-Quest of Vellit Boe (2017) a middle aged woman of courage, life-experience, and  resilient determination. Johnson, at the time of writing this book had recently, because of injury, given up rock climbing. She was 53, and a highly regarded author when the book was published in 2016.

The scene excerpted above takes place early in the book when Villitt Boe is preparing to leave on her arduous journey. If she survives the dangers, the journey will take her to the transit point between Ulthar, a planet in an alternate universe, and passage to earth. 

The cover illustration is by Victo Nagi.

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The Man Who Bridged the Mist (2012)

Kit Meinem of Atyar, engineer and architect, is sent to a remote area where he must build a bridge over a river of mist. The river runs through and divides the land on this parallel planet. However, the mist is not mist as we know it. It is corrosive, changes shape and density, and the water seems to flow beneath it. Crossing is difficult and dangerous. Here is an excerpt of the first time that Kit, sees this mist. He is guided by Rasali, a woman who is able, when conditions are right, to guide her boat through the mist and across to the other side. She is a fascinating and extraordinary woman whose family -- at their peril --  have been running boats through the mist for generation.

This excerpt is an account of Kit's introduction to the river and mist where he must bridge it:

"He looked up and nearly cried out as light lanced his suddenly tearing eyes. He fell back a step and shielded his face. What had blinded him was an immense band of light reflecting the morning sun. . . It was not water nor anything like. It formed somehow in the deep gorge of the great riverbed before him. . . After a moment the pain in Kit's eyes grew less and he opened them agai. The river was a quater mile across where they stood, a great gash of light between the levies. It seemed nearly featureless, blazing under the sun like a river of cream or of bleached silk, but as his eyes accustomed themselves, he saw that the surface was not smooth but heaped and hollowed, and that it shifted slowly, almost indiscernibly, as he watched."

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The River Bank (2017)

Kij Johnson wrote a sequel to The Wind in the Willows in order to introduce female characters to this Edwardian classic. I am currently reading and enjoying it Here is the review from goodreads.

"In this delightful dive into the bygone world of Kenneth Grahame���s The Wind in the Willows staunch Mole, sociable Water Rat, severe Badger, and troublesome and ebullient Toad of Toad Hall are joined by a young mole lady, Beryl, and her dear friend, Rabbit. There are adventures, kidnappings, lost letters, and family secrets���lavishly illustrated throughout by award-winning artist Kathleen Jennings."

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At The Mouth of the River of Bees Stories (2012)

In 2012, after many years of publishing a wide range of fantasy and sci-fi from her mercurial imagination in magazines, Kij Johnson published a provocative collection entitled At the Mouth of the River of Bees (Small Beer Press). The book includes several new stories and the wonderful novella The Man Who Bridged the Mist. 

Here are excerpts from comments by an NPR critic and two exceptional writers of YA, adult, and children's books:

���The title piece has that wonderful power we hope for in all fiction we read, the surprising imaginative leap that takes us to recognize the marvelous in the everyday.��� -- Alan Cheuse, NPR

���The variety is tremendous, exhilarating. ���26 Monkeys��� is as different from ���Chenting��� as ���Names for Water��� is from ���The Man Who Bridged the Mist,��� and each one is differently excellent.������Ursula K. Le Guin

���Nobody writes like Kij Johnson. Nobody. Nobody finds the interstices of a story the way she does. Nobody dives down into the deep pockets of a story, coming up with the change for the ending. Nobody.���
���Jane Yolen

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Crossing Borders with Kij Johnson

Crossing borders never ends with Kij Johnson.
Perhaps she lives on the border. The border of magic realism where fantasy adds dimension and depth to everyday reality. 
Her diversity is rather staggering.
Joy, mysteries, hope, and darkness. Wonder tales.

 
 
The photo is by Alec Stoddard.
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           Links

 

Here is a link to Ponies .
Here is a link to the Dream-Quest of Villitt Boe:
Here is a link to Spar: ClarkesWorldMagazine
Here is a link to a candid, comprehensive Kij Johnson Interview by Si-Fi critic David Barr Kirtley,: Lightspeed
 

The illustration from The Riverbank is by Kathleen Jennings
 
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Spells of Enchantment

The worlds portrayed by the best of our fairy tales are like magic spells
of enchantment that actually free us. Instead of petrifying our
minds, they arouse our imagination and compel us to realize how
we can fight terror and cunningly insert ourselves into our daily
struggles, turning the course of the world���s events in our favor.���11
 
Jack Zipes, When Dreams Came True


The illustration of The Goose Girl is by Paul Hey.

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Movies and Annimation

 

Miyazaki films are on Netflix. The image on the left is from the wonderful My Neighbor Tutoro.

Exceptional Independent Animation: Fantasy lives in many forms. Here are 3 totally different, outstanding, animated videos.

 

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The Gigantic Change

Saving Our Planet .. Extinction Rebellion

Art by Nicola Jane Francis

Narration: Whoopi Goldberg and Livia Nelson

Link: The Gigantic Change 3:08

 

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Passage des Oiseaux

by Florence Miailhe, Artist Film Maker in Paris

Dreamlike fantasy, lyrical, painterly, ominous

Here is a link: Passage des Oiseaux ength 3:45

  

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Bloeistraat 11/Flower Street

A lovely coming of age animated film about two young girls.

Very imaginative.  An international prize winner.

Directed by Nienke Deutz

Here is the link: Bloeistraat  9:39

 

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Save The Children -- Bombing of Schools -- Idlib Refugees

In response to the number of attacks on education, parents have asked Save the Children���s partners not open schools in certain areas because they are afraid of attracting violence. Instead, they have asked for education to be hidden away in sites like caves and basements or made harder to hit in mobile schools.

Wafaa*, 12, and her family have been sheltering in an overcrowded camp for around a month after escaping the violence. Their home was hit by an air strike while Wafaa* and her family were inside. They had to be pulled from the rubble. Wafaa���s* school was also hit and two of her classmates were killed.

 

Wafaa* said: ���We were in class with the teacher then an airstrike hit. They had to take us out from underneath the school. Everyone started crying. There is nothing worse than this crisis.���

To stop the conflict robbing children of their education, Save the Children and its partner Shafak have turned four buses into brightly painted mobile classrooms. The aid agencies take school to some of the 575,000 displaced children like Wafaa* at the heart of the crisis.

Wafaa* said: ���They���re teaching us everything. They���re teaching us how to read and write. The first step in life is that you need to learn, instead of wasting your whole life.��� Here is the link: SaveThe Children School Bombings

 

The top photo is by Muhammad Said.

The bottom photo is from the White Hemet Squad video.

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JK Rowling -- Update

1m pounds donated to UK charities during coronavirus outbreak.

JK Rowling is publishing a new children���s book, a fairy tale ���about truth and the abuse of power��� that she has kept in her attic for years, for free online for children in lockdown.

The Ickabog, which is set in an imaginary land unrelated to any of Rowling���s other works, will be serialised online in 34 daily, free installments. It will then be published as a book, ebook and audiobook in November, with Rowling���s royalties to go to projects assisting groups impacted by the pandemic.

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Books -- Black Lives Matter

Both Powell's Books and Amazon Books have responded to the crisis in the USA with wonderfully diverse selections of relevant books, ranging from the very young to adult readers. They are both endorsing change and unity.                         

Here is the link to Powell's Black Lives Matter

Here is the link to Amazon Black Lives Matter

Beverly Tatum is the the author of this landmark book.

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"Bookstores need to be supported. If coal plants are getting billion dollars in subsidies, I think we can spare a few million dollars to protect bookstores."    Ned Wang

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. Finding Fido

Like Wulff's "How to Change the World in 30 Seconds", this book is another practical handbook for helping pets. Easy to follow steps, important data, and insider info. . .  Many times the pet's people have no idea where, or how, to start looking for them. This guide spells it out with lots of helpful tips and advice. And all the sales go to charity - how great is that?! Cristina Kaine, Amazon Review

 

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Canine Therapy Corps, Inc.

Chicago based, Canine Therapy Corps. has reached  thousands of troubled people utilizing the potential of the human-canine bond and the amazing qualities of dogs. Here is an excerpt from describing their healing program for veterans at the JESSE BROWN VA MEDICAL CENTER:

This psychosocial program is for veterans being treated for a myriad of mental illnesses, such as chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, severe depression, and other mental illnesses, at the hospital's outpatient psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery center. Simply stated, participants' work with our dogs is empowering. There are infinite parallels between successful dog handling and coping with life's peaks and valleys. In order to build a strong bond with a dog, one must be patient, consistent, flexible, and perseverant, but also caring, understanding, respectful, and fair. Each participant works with one therapy dog throughout the curriculum, using obedience and agility exercises, as well as trick training, to cultivate their relationship. Typically, when participants begin, they do not fully comprehend the inextricable link between their own behavior and therapy dog compliance. As the curriculum progresses, so, too, does participant impulse control, confidence, and perspective - key recovery components.  Here is a link to the exceptional variety of Canine Therapy Corps Programs

The photo is of therapy dog Swindle at the VA Center.

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Bookstores Are Vital

���A civilization without retail bookstores is unimaginable. Like  shrines and other sacred meeting places, bookstores are essential artifacts of human nature. The feel of a book taken from the shelf and held in the hand is a magical experience, linking writer to reader.���
��� Jason Epstein

The photo is from the Guardian.

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Castle In The Mist -- Book two of The Planet of the dogs

 

The Stone City warriors had changed their way of life the year before, after the Day of the Dogs.  Bik, their warrior leader, had declared that there would be peace.  The warriors had put away their weapons and become farmers, tradesmen and craftsmen.

The kidnapping of the children changed everything. Bik sent messengers to former warriors across the countryside and throughout Stone City, Wood Town and the Hill Tribes.  The message they carried was simple:  My children have been taken by an unknown enemy.  The time of peace is over.  Return to Stone City.

Men were taking their weapons ��� swords, spears, bows and arrows ��� from hiding places in homes and barns everywhere that Stone City warriors had settled.  The weapons had been placed beneath floorboards, in spaces between walls, and high up in storage places for corn and hay, places where they would not be disturbed, places where they could quickly be found if needed.  This was one of those times. -- excerpted from Castle In The Mist

We have free reader copies of all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians, teachers and independent bookstores. Email us with a postal address to planetofthedogs@gmail.com and we will send you the books. 

To read sample chapters of any book in the series, visit PlanetOfTheDogs 

The Planet Of The Dogs series, including Castle In The Mist and Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, is available from Internet sources and through independent bookstores. The illustration from Planet Of The Dogs is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty

Here is an excerpt from Don Blankenshp's review of Planet Of The Dogs..."This story borders between reality, a dream world, fantasy, fiction, reality and wonderful imagination.   

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         "The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog." -- Mark Twain

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June -- Fantasy, from Dartmoor to Oz, from the Wood Wife to Dorothy

 

                   

                  The painting of Flying Penguins is by Michael Sowa.
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Stories of Real Life

���Why are so many of us enspelled by myths and folk stories in this modern age? Why do we continue to tell the same old tales, over and over again? I think it's because these stories are not just fantasy. They're about real life. We've all encountered wicked wolves, found fairy godmothers, and faced trial by fire. We've all set off into unknown woods at one point in life or another. We've all had to learn to tell friend from foe and to be kind to crones by the side of the road. . . .���
���  Terri Windling

The painting, Bird Girls, is by Terri Windling.

 

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Terri Windling --  The Lady of Myth and Moor

I first came to know Terri Windling through books she edited with Ellen Datlow. They were thoughtful collections of re-told wonder tales and fantasy that remained quite magical. I then read her wondrous and magical novel, The Wood Wife. At the same time, I discovered her amazing blog, Myth and Moor. I know of no other website like it. Her blog is a continuous journey through worlds of wonder, from the hills of Dartmoor and the natural world that surrounds her, to other authors, art, and the sounds of music from earlier times -- music that renews the heart. Myth and Moor is abundant, generous, and is clearly the voice of Terri Windling. Here is a link: Terri Windling

The photo is of Terri and her dog,Tilly, on Meldon Hill, Dartmoor.
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Time Shifts

"The calendar turns, the lock-down rolls on, and time is going funny on us. It feels like we've been in lock-down forever; and it also feels like it hasn't been long at all, surely not six weeks since the UK lock-down began on March 23rd.

I've been thinking about the way time warps in so many fairy stories and myths. When we enter a story, and enter enchantment, we are in a place of profound uncertainty where even the steady ticking of the clock is something we cannot take for granted."

Terri Windling -- Excerpted from Myth and Moor

The Avacado Tree Clock is by Rima Staines.

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A Mirror Held Up To The World I Knew

"I hungered for a narrative with which to make some sense of my life , but in schoolbooks and on television all I could find was the sugar water of Dick and Jane, Leave it to Beaver and the happy, wholesome Brady Bunch. Mine was not a Brady Bunch family; it was troubled, fractured, persistently violent, and I needed the stronger meat of wolves and witches, poisons and peril. In fairy tales, I had found a mirror held up to the world I knew ��� where adults were dangerous creatures, and Good and Evil were not abstract concepts. . . 

Through fairy tales, however, I understood my past in different terms: not as an illness or weakness, but as a hero narrative. It was a story, my story, beginning with birth and ending only with death. Difficult challenges and trials, even those that come at a tender young age, can make us wiser, stronger, and braver; they can serve to transform us, rather than sending us limping into the future.���

��� Terri Windling, excerpted from  Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales

 
The painting of Donkeyskin is by Terri Wildling.
 
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The Erasure of Safety and Comfort and Trust
 
"The reason that most people value fairy tales, I would say, is that they do not detain us with hope but simply validate what is. Even people who have never known hunger, let alone a murderous stepmother, still have a sense���from dreams, from books, from news broadcasts���of utter blackness, the erasure of safety and comfort and trust. Fairy tales tell us that such knowledge, or fear, is not fantastic but realistic. Maybe, after this life, we will go to Heaven, as the two little girls who starved to death hoped to. Or maybe not. Though Wilhelm tried to Christianize the tales, they still invoke nature, more than God, as life���s driving force, and nature is not kind."
Joan Acocella, Once Upon A Time, New Yorker
 
The illustration from Brother and Sister is by Alexander Zwick.
 
 
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The Wood Wife

Maggie, a woman poet of 40 years, journeys to the Rincon mountains of Arizona and enters another dimension. The Wood Wife is a very personal book, an intimate story, where reality shimmers in magic realism. The natural world and people Maggie meets are alive and vivid, often in unexpected ways for the spiritual realm is omnipresent. Reality has many levels in this mountain world and, as with shape shifting, many forms. Mysteries and shamanism abound as part of Maggie's daily journey of discovery. Here is an excerpt:

"Her heart seemed to beat to a rhythm that was pulsing in the stones, in the ground beneath her feet. The night was filled with scents and sounds that were strange to her, and heady. There was something primal about this land, a language spoken by the stones and the wind. What had Davis's letter said? The stars, the stones, the very trees reveal the language of the earth."  

I found that The Wood Wife had the ability to transport me from the actual, everyday world, to another --  a simultaneous realm of magic, without my being aware that it was happening. 

The late highly regarded  fantasy author, Robert Holdstock, described the book as "A wonderful, elegant fantasy -- sensuous, fascinating, and eerily spiritual."

The Wood Wife was published by Tor Books in 1996. It won the Mythopoeic Award for Novel of the Year.

The cover illustration of the Wood Wife is by Susan Seddon Boulet.

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The Carterhaugh School Featured The Wood Wife

I have long admired the Carterhaugh school and their post about The Wood Wife, with its insights, information, and passion has added to and reinforced my admiration. Here is an excerpt: 

"Our Carterhaugh Book Club selection for March is Terri Windling���s absolutely wonderful novel The Wood Wife! We are SO excited to dive into this one with you ��� it���s full of art, poetry, deep connection to place, and the subtle, soft magic we both love. . ."

A principle character in the book, a painter, Anna Naverra, is a major influence throughout the story because of both her persona and the work she left behind. Both the character and her art were inspired by the amazing Mexican surrealist painter, Remedios Vara.

"In honor of our new book club selection, we thought we would share a few of our favorite Remedios Varo pieces. One of the things we love most about her work is that each painting feels like a story in progress. We look at each piece and start imagining a whole fairy tale to go with it! You absolutely get this feeling from Windling���s descriptions of Anna���s paintings too (and obviously Davis is inspired to do just that!). . ."

Link:  CarterhaughWoodWife

The painting, The Ascension of Mount Analogue, is by Remedios Varo

 

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Fantasy Is. . . 

"Fantasy is a different approach to reality, an alternative technique for apprehending and coping with existence. It is not antirational, but pararational; not realistic but surrealistic, a heightening of reality.  In Freud's terminology, it employs primary, not secondary process thinking. It employs archetypes, which, as Jung warned us, are dangerous things. Fantasy is nearer to poetry, to mysticism, and to insanity than naturalistic fiction is. It is a wilderness, and those who go there should not feel too safe."        Ursula K. Le Guin

The illustration of the Dragons of Earthsea is by Shane Gallagher.
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Alice

���But I don���t want to go among mad people,��� Alice remarked.
���Oh, you can���t help that,��� said the Cat: ���we���re all mad here. I���m mad. You���re mad.���
���How do you know I���m mad?��� said Alice.
���You must be,��� said the Cat, ���or you wouldn���t have come here.���
Alice���s Adventures in Wonderland, ch. 6, by Lewis Carroll. 

The illustration of Alice and the Cheshire Cat is by John Tenniel.

 

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The Oz Books -- American Wonder Tales

Reading Alison Laurie's insights about the Oddness of Oz in her book, Boys and Girls Together, Children's Classics from Cinderella to Harry Potter, has motivated me to write again about the Oz books, and L. Frank Baum. I found there was much that I hadn't previously discovered

I knew that the Wonderful Wizard of Oz was an instant success, with great reviews, following the first printing in 1900. I also knew that the book had sold millions of copies over the years; sparked 13 successful sequels; inspired many stage and film productions; and was translated into a very large number of foreign languages.

However, what I did not know until I read Alison Laurie, was that the Wonderful Wizard of Oz was looked down upon by the entire literary establishment.

All of the illustrations from the book are by W.W. Denslow

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Subversive Message

Alison Laurie provides insights into the "official" literary establishment position:

"Yes, you can escape from your dreary domestic life into fairy land, Baum's books say: you can have exciting but safe adventures, make new friends, live in a castle, never have to do housework or homework,  and, maybe most important of all -- never grow up.

This subversive message may be one of the reasons that the Oz books took so long to become accepted as classics. For more than half a century after L. Frank Baum discovered it in 1900, the Land of Oz had a curious reputation. American children by the thousands went there happily, but authorities in the field of juvenile literature, like suspicious and conservative travel agents, refused to recommend it or even to handle tickets. Librarians would not buy the Oz books, schoolteachers would not let you write reports on them, and the best known histories of children's books made no reference to their existence. In the 1930s and 1940s they were actually removed from many schools and libraries."

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Far Ahead Of Their Time

Early in her observations, Laurie points points out unique qualities about The Wizard of Oz that have escaped notice by many:

"Those who recall the story only from childhood reading, or from the MGM film, have perhaps never realized how strange the original book and its sequels are.

For one thing, the Oz books are far ahead of their time both scientifically and politically. They are full of inventions that would not appear on the market for most of the century, among them a robot man, an artificial heart and limbs, a television monitoring system,  anti-gravity devices, and a computer-type news service. . . "  

All illustrations from the book are by W.W. Denslow

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Early Feminism

Laurie also points out that Baum's books are quite feminist in several regards:

" Dorothy like Matilda (Baum's wife) and Maud Gage(Baum's mother -in-law, a very active feminist and influential suffragette), is clearly a New Woman. Her virtues are those of a Victorian hero rather than a Victorian heroine: she is brave, active, independent, sensible, and willing to confront authority."

Alison Laurie provides many other insights and examples of how the OZ books were innovative and ahead of their time. This included Baum's symbiotic relationship with the talented illustrator, W.W. Denslow.
Alison Laurie is professor emerita of English Literature and Children's Literature at Cornell University. Her books include many well received novels, excellent non-fiction (articles and criticism), and children's literature. She received a Pulitzer Prize for her delightful novel, Foreign Affairs.

A fearless Dorothy confronts the flying monkeys in this illustration by W.W. Denslow.

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The Library of Congress has named The Wizard of Oz as "America's greatest and best- loved homegrown fairy tale."
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A Visionary Landscape

���In Oz, turn- of- the- Century America,( be it Chicago or California) becomes a visionary landscape, and at the same time the visionary is made commonplace. In Oz, a familiar thing like a scarecrow is magically a person, and at the same time, a magical person like the wizard is actually a balloonist from Omaha.��� -Jerry Griswold, Audacious Children

 

The Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893, above, a celebration of America, drew over 27 million visitors. 

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A Buried Universal Note

Insights into The Wizard of Oz Movie by Roger Ebert . . .

"We study all of these details, I think, because 'The Wizard of Oz' fills such a large space in our imagination. It somehow seems real and important in a way most movies don't. Is that because we see it first when we���re young? Or simply because it is a wonderful movie? Or because it sounds some buried universal note, some archetype or deeply felt myth?

I lean toward the third possibility, that the elements in ���The Wizard of Oz��� powerfully fill a void that exists inside many children. For kids of a certain age, home is everything, the center of the world. But over the rainbow, dimly guessed at, is the wide earth, fascinating and terrifying. There is a deep fundamental fear that events might conspire to transport the child from the safety of home and strand him far away in a strange land. And what would he hope to find there? Why, new friends, to advise and protect him. And Toto, of course, because children have such a strong symbiotic relationship with their pets that they assume they would get lost together.

This deep universal appeal explains why so many different people from many backgrounds have a compartment of their memory reserved for 'The Wizard of Oz.' "

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Movies and Video

 

Miyazaki is on Netflix. The image on the left is from the wonderful Castle In The Sky

Exceptional Independent Animation: Fantasy lives in many forms. Here are 3 totally different, outstanding, animated videos.

 

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How To Float

Imaginative, provocative, fantasy. . . 

An evocative fantasy of moving design on the cutting edge of imagination from the Toronto based Good Form Studios formed by partners Julian Ablaza and Dylan Carquez.

4:25 flowing minutes.

Link; How To Float

 

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Bendito Machine V Pull the Trigger

Exceptional Sci-fi drama. . . "an acute commentary on humans and their weaknesses, their machines, their dreams and the mysteries of the universe." Producer/creator Jossie Malis, Zumbakamera Films

"The 5th installment of the machine's saga! " 'An exotic traveler from far away. An unexplored territory. A turbulent conflict. The storm will pass.' "

Link: Pull The Trigger Time: 12:28 wondrous minutes

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About a Mother

Totally different in concept, art , and style. 

Produced as a student film in Moscow by Dina Velikovskaya, this film is fun and imaginative.

Follow the link and smile: About a Mother   Time 7:15 minutes 

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Yelodoggie  Covid Face Masks by C. A. Wulff are available on Fine Art America 

 

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Do Young Readers Play Video Games?

Perhaps I underestimate the value of video games. I know that there are some good "educational" games. However, I  read descriptions and look at video segments that lead me to believe that most video games are cotton candy for the mind. I also read that video games, for vast numbers of young people, are obsessive and time consuming.

There are 2.5 billion gamers world-wide and revenues currently exceed $50 billion!

Last month I posted this: "Opening a new front in the campaign to dominate digital entertainment, Amazon is investing hundreds of millions of dollars into becoming a leading creator and distributor of video games.The Internet giant said it intended to release its first original big-budget game, an ambitious science-fiction shooter called Crucible, in May." Excerpted from a NY Times article by Steve Schiesel. 

The illustration is from the game.

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Animal Crossings/New Horizons 

Since writing the above about Amazon's major investment in the video game industry, I have read about a new version of a Nintendo Game, Animal Crossing/New Horizons, that is selling, in a short time, well over 11 million games: 

"Animal Crossing has been a thing for almost 20 years, but this year it has exploded. You cannot scroll through any social media feed without seeing one of its benign, big-headed characters in a screenshot or video showing off someone���s beautifully tended desert island. . . People who���ve rarely played games before have been picking it up as a lockdown distraction . . . Since the latest game, New Horizons, came out on 20 March. . . it���s been setting new records, selling 11m copies by the end of March! "   

Excerpted from an article in the Guardian by Keza MacDonald. Here's a link to the game trailer: Nintendo

Keza MacDonald's article casts a benign glow on this game and the phenomenal sales it has engendered. I'm not so sure about it. She is a highly educated woman with 12 years of experience playing games. Perhaps the gamer point of view is limited to gamers and their ever-growing universe. I hope the gamer kids are also reading.

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A Smile

A Funny Video of a Dog Having Dinner.

Perhaps your dog has good manners when she or he eats.

But only Mariele eats dinner in a fine restaurant with elegant manners.

Here is the Link: Mariele

 
 
 
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Brigadoon Service Dogs -- The Human-Canine Bond

Bellingham, in the beautiful North Western area of Washington State, is the home of Brigadoon Service Dogs, a wonderful volunteer organization that provides vital help to the daily lives of many people. 

"Brigadoon Service Dogs is a unique organization. Our mission is to provide trained service dogs for combat veterans, children, and adults with physical, developmental, and behavioral health disabilities to promote a more independent and enriched life. We change lives one partnership at a time. . . 

Brigadoon is one of the few training facilities that trains dogs for children under the age of 16. We train with the child and their entire family to ensure the service dog is a good fit in the home."

The photo was taken at Brigadoon's Volunteer Center of Whatcom County. Visit their website at: Brigadoon.

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Save the Children

Millions of refugee children. Their plight is staggering. Will they live? Will they ever find a home?

"Many Syrian children have lost a close relative or have a parent or sibling, and thousands have been orphaned or separated from their families in the chaos of war. Many have missed years of education, with 2.1 million children in Syria currently out of school. The conflict has devastated the lives of a generation of young people."

Here is the the link: Save The Children

 

The photo of the Syrian refugee girl is by Muhammed Muheisen AP.

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The Planet Of The Dogs Series

Castle in the Mist, is very exciting. . . I really recommend these books to all kids looking for some good summer reading. . , Thomas Jarvis (10), The Magic Bookshelf

We have free reader copies of all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians, teachers and independent bookstores. Email us with a postal address to planetofthedogs@gmail.com and we will send you the books. 

To read sample chapters of any book in the series, visit PlanetOfTheDogs 

The Planet Of The Dogs series, including Castle In The Mist and Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, is available from many Internet sources and through independent bookstores. 

The illustration from Castle In The Mist is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.

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There is no doubt that every healthy, normal boy...should own a dog at some time in his life, preferably between the ages of forty-five and fifty. -- Robert Benchley

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May .. Passages, Darkness and Light

                                 The photo was taken in the Medieval Church in Inkoo, Finland.

The Great Plagues -- A Time of Great Fear

There were many time periods, over the centuries, where religion brought some comfort during difficult times of drought, famine, and war. Religion had answers to the mysteries of life.

The great plagues, however, presented devastating problems that religion could not solve. 

The Black Death of the fourteenth century moved, at great speed, across Asia,the Silk Road, Africa, and Europe.  There are no exact figures but scholars estimate that some 200 million people died including 30 to 60 per cent of Europe's population. At that time, nine out of 10 people eked out a living from the earth; peasant farmers and the poor of the cities were the hardest hit. 

Most people believed that the Black Death and the overwhelming events that followed it were caused by God who was punishing people for their sinfulness. For many, it was seen as the coming of the Apocalypse.

The end of the world was near. Fear, chaos and death were everywhere. Especially with the poor. . ." the story of apocalypse is an old one, one of the oldest humans tell. In ancient religious traditions beyond Christianity ��� including Judaism, Islam and Buddhism ��� it is a common narrative that arises in moments of social and political crisis, as people try to process unprecedented or shocking events."-- Elizabeth Dias in the NY Times.

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A Poignant Witness

In Sienna, Agnolo di Tura survived the devastation, and wrote a moving account of his devastating experiences. Here is an excerpt: "The mortality in Siena began in May. It was a cruel and horrible thing. . . . It seemed that almost everyone became stupefied seeing the pain. . .   The victims died almost immediately. . . Father abandoned child, wife husband, one brother another; for this illness seemed to strike through breath and sight. And so they died. None could be found to bury the dead  . . .Members of a household brought their dead to a ditch as best they could, without priest, without divine offices. . . And they died by the hundreds, both day and night, and all were thrown in those ditches and covered with earth. . .  I, Agnolo di Tura . . . buried my five children with my own hands. . . . And so many died that all believed it was the end of the world."

 

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The Book of Revelations and The Apocalypse

The Book of Revelations is the final part pf the New Testament. Today, controversy surrounds virtually every aspect of Revelations, from the author, the meaning, the timeline, to its religious significance. The book of Revelations was written based on visions of a prophet named John. For a modern reader, the ecstatic style and hallucinogenic content are difficult to relate to.

However, in the time of the fourteenth century plague, a world of chaos, fear, and death, where Saints were known to raise the dead and perform other miracles, the prophesies of apocalyptic events made sense.

The Apocalypse

In this excerpt from Revelations 6:7-8, published in the The New American Standard Bible, is the vision of Death, The Pale Rider, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The other horsemen are War, Famine, and Pestilence.

"When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.���"

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Wonder Tales Survived and Gave Hope

 

How did people endure, for centuries, the dark times of plague, famine, drought and war?

Life was short and often brutal. Courage, endurance, and using your wits could mean the difference between life and death. 

Wonder tales were often tales of becoming, tales of overcoming the great hardships of life, even under dangerous circumstances.

 

 

 

 

Donkeyskin is a tale of a royal young woman escaping incest, using her wits -- royal beauty hidden by a grotesque disguise -- and having courage to endure hardships, and, in the end, triumphing. This ancient story was told for many centuries where women seldom had rights and abuse was common.

 

 

In the tale of Puss In Boots, even an animal can prevail. Puss uses his wits and manipulates everyone from the king to an ogre. His cleverness and courage extends to tricking an ogre into becoming a mouse -- and therefore an edible snack for a cat. His cleverness ultimately allows Puss to gain a fine castle with servants and all the trappings for his simple master -- and for himself.

 

 

In Little Thumb, once again the underdog -- the smallest of seven brothers -- wins, even escaping death. In a time of famine and despair,Tom manages to save his family, including his brothers. He demonstrates that his small size doesn't matter if you have courage and can keep your wits about you. He tricks an ogre, charms his wife (who saves the lives of all the boys), steals the ogre's magic Seven League boots; and finally, tricks the ogre's wife into giving him the ogre's gold.

 

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Wonder Tales -- The Most Vital Connection

���For most of human history, 'literature,' both fiction and poetry, has been narrated, not written ��� heard, not read. So fairy tales, folk tales, stories from the oral tradition, are all of them the most vital connection we have with the imaginations of the ordinary men and women whose labor created our world.��� -- Angela Carter

 

The illustration for Red Riding Hood is by Vanya Nastanieva.

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The Second Coming 

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,             
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

This poem (excerpted) by W.B.Yeats was written between the slaughter of WW 1 and the beginning of the Irish uprising for Independence. Both of these events were like a man-made plague, bringing pain, brutality , chaos, and death.

The illustration is by Gustave Dore.
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Here is a link to Liam Clancy reading The Second Coming.

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MOVIES

Theaters are closed. The pandemic is here. Most of the openings for new films are delayed indefinitely or being released on video.Video rentals and streaming videos abound.

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The Good News:

Netflix is now showing Studio Ghibli Films, including all the of the wonderful films by the extraordinary Hayao Miyazaki. Like wonder tales, survival or winning in Miyazaki films depends on endurance, courage, and using your wits. 

One of my favorites, Howl's Moving Castle, revolves around exactly those qualities -- and love. Inspired  by a book by Diana Wynne Jones, the film soars with magic, imagination, and a suspenseful story.

In the first ten minutes of the film, Sophie, a lovely young girl, is bewitched and becomes the old lady seen in the illustration at the left. She is trying to reach Howl's Moving Castle at the top of the hill where she hopes to find Howl, the wonderful good wizard. 

The witch who cast the spell is part of the evil empire whose army has taken over the city. There are parallels in this film with events that led to World War 2. However, the film is also filled with hope

Here is the trailer: Howl's Moving Castle

 

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Dolittle

Dolittle opened in Jauary with the wonderful Robert Downey Jr. Critics gave it bad reviews and it lost a lot of money.  The film version is not true to the original story. Reading reviews and comments suggests that this is a fatal flaw.

However, looking at the trailer, I think that young kids would like it. 

Take a look. Here is the trailer: Dolittle 

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Animation

Individual animators and small studios around the world continue to create wonderful films and videos.

Here's an imaginative animated student film (1:26) by Raship Trikkha, Sherman College, Canada: Pit Stop

 

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Other Ways of Being

"I think hard times are coming when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now and can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, and even imagine some real grounds for hope. We will need writers who can remember freedom. Poets, visionaries, the realists of a larger reality." -- Excerpted from Ursula  Le Guin's acceptance speech, 2014 National Book Foundation, Lifetime Achivement Award.

The photo is by Lamoma Ash.

 

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Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night -- Dylan Thomas 

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

The photo is courtesy of the Nation.Cymru news service, Wales. 

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Bellen Woodard and the Missing Colors

Bellen Woodward is a special fourth grader in Virginia: she influenced Crayola and there are now colors in their crayon box for multi-racial children. The link below will take you to the CBS news coverage of the story, to Bellen in her own world, and to the crayons for children of the world.

 Link:  Bellen W oodard

The photo of Bellem and her teacher is by Byron Woodard.
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"Paws 4 Autism trains service dogs for those challenged by neurodiversity or PTSD.  We also train professional therapy dogs for schools, facilities, counselors and therapists."

"Haley was diagnosed with autoimmune Juvenile Poly-Arthritis in 2016 at age 14. . . Nikko came into our lives at a low point for Haley. She is on multiple medications, 2 of which are weekly shots, with awful side effects. Nikko immediately bonded with Haley. What does he do for her? He gives her unconditional love, he snuggles with her on days she must stay in bed or on the couch. He sleeps beside her and keeps her warm because the cold makes her joints hurt. He absorbs her pain and anxiety and he calms and comforts her in a way we cannot. He has no agenda, no ideas for a cure, no judgement, no pity and no disbelief in her condition. These are things she must deal with from family and the public, but not with Nikko. In public situations, Nikko is focused on Haley and taking care of her. This is a huge comfort to her. He accompanies her to her many physician and clinic appointments and buries his head in her lap to ease her anxiety and pain. . .As parents, we thank God every day for Nikko and the amazing organization of volunteers who train these amazing animals. "

Visit the Paws 4 Autism website to learn more. 

The Photo is of Haley and Nikko.

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Circling the Waggins

"The second book, following Born without a Tail, is if possible better than the first. The author brings alive the small pleasures and also the pain of those who live with a pack. Rescue people have some of the most extraordinary stories to tell and this book tells them well. The pain of loss and the unexpected beauties of life are shared in this book and I'm the richer for the reading. I have a pack myself and I could empathize with the author and feel as though I'd recognize the dogs and cats if I saw them! The author has spent a lifetime in exploration of the terrain where human and non human lives intersect and left us this treasure map. Read it, you'll be glad you did."

Written by a verified Amazon Reviewer.

The cover design is by Wulff.

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Kidlitosphere

"The 'KidLitosphere' is a community of reviewers, librarians, teachers, authors, illustrators, publishers, parents, and other book enthusiasts who blog about children���s and young adult literature."  Here is a link to their website: KidLitosphere

The illustration from Through The Looking Glass is by John Tenniel.

 

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What Happened to this Family Seeking Asylum ?

A Honduran refugee family seeking asylum in the United States was arrested and this little boy was taken away from his mother.

" Almost immediately after President Trump took office, his administration began weighing what for years had been regarded as the nuclear option in the effort to discourage immigrants from unlawfully entering the United States.

Children would be separated from their parents if the families had been apprehended entering the country illegally, . .  'in order to deter more movement along this terribly dangerous network. . . ' " By Julie Hirschfield Davis and Michael D. Schear, NY Times

 

The photo is by John Moore/Getty

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Buying My First Gun in the Dark Heart of America

This is the title of an insightful article by R.J. Young that takes the reader into a world of its own -- Oklahoma's enormous Wanenmacher Tulsa Arms Show. 

"In Oklahoma, there���s a gun show almost every weekend of the year, which is right in line with the national trend. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimates there are more than 2,000 gun shows held in the United States annually. But the National Association of Arms Show puts that figure closer to 5,200, or 100 gun shows every weekend of the year.

Wanenmacher���s Tulsa Arms Show occurs twice a year. . .  located at the Tulsa Fairgrounds, covers 11 acres and boasts more than 4,200 tables and 7,000 vendors. Nearly 40,000 people visit the show on a given weekend." 

Excerpted from from Let It Bang, A Young Black Man's Reluctant Odyssey into Guns.

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Amazon Opens new Gaming Enterprise -- Relentless Studios

There are multitudes of young people (mostly) deeply involved in gaming fantasy worlds. And now. . .

Opening a new front in the campaign to dominate digital entertainment, Amazon is investing hundreds of millions of dollars into becoming a leading creator and distributor of video games. The internet giant said it intended to release its first original big-budget game, an ambitious science-fiction shooter called Crucible, in May after several coronavirus-related delays. It is also developing a full-fledged cloud gaming platform under the code name Project Tempo. And it is working on new casual games that broadcasters on its popular Twitch streaming service can play alongside viewers in real time. . .  Gaming is expected to generate more than $160 billion in revenue in 2020, making the business more than twice the size of the global recorded music industry (around $19 billion) and worldwide film box office (around $43 billion) combined.

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Michelle Obama Is Reading to Kids

Michelle Obama does a warm and animated reading of books to kids on Mondays with Michelle. I enjoyed watching and listening to her read the a delightful book, The Gruffalo, .by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. In the true wonder tales tradition, a brave little mouse,in the deep, dark forest, uses his wits to escape being eaten -- several times. If you click the link, you can enjoy the book and the reading on PBS Kids. Link: Michelle Obama.

 

 

 

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Castle in the Mist -- the world of adventure and the human-canine connection

"Do you think that it is possible for dogs to stop a war. . . I said in my review of McCarty's Planet of the Dogs (Volume I), 'Author Robert J. McCarty has created a charming fantasy-allegory that can be read and understood on at least two different levels. Children will enjoy the story about dogs who come from another planet to help people on earth. But under the surface are the important messages of friendship, love, loyalty, and how to overcome evil with good.' The same things are true as the story continues in Castle in the Mist. The book is well written and easy to read. It will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next, and, as with Volume I, leads to a satisfying conclusion."  Excerpted from a 5 Star Review Review By Wayne Walker in Stories for Children Magazine.

We have free reader copies of all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians, teachers and independent bookstores. Email us with a postal address to planetofthedogs@gmail.com and we will send you the books. 

To read sample chapters of any book in the series, visit PlanetOfTheDogs 

The Planet Of The Dogs series, including Castle In The Mist and Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, is available from many Internet sources and through independent bookstores of all sizes. 

The illustration is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.

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"Every dog should have a man of his own. There is nothing like a well-behaved person around the house to spread the dogs blanket for him, or bring him his supper when he comes home man-tired at night." -- C orey Ford (1902-1969)

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April -- New Worlds from Peter Rabbit to Burning Man

These people are taking part in the annual Burning Man Festival, a living fantasy world for 80,000 people camping in the very hot Black Rock Desert of Nevada.

Wonder Tales brought fantasy to the world and over time opened doors of the imagination for children. Books followed the books. Imagination and the mysteries of existence opened adult's minds even more. Writers ranging from Lewis Carrol to Ursula Le Guin, and from J.K. Rowling to Neil Gaiman continued the traditions of fantasy, creating new worlds and new possibilities. 

From books to ballet and modern dance, and from Stravinsky to Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the creative arts have gone beyond the old horizons.  Traditions are still respected and appreciated, while choices have become endless. And like the Wonder Tales that were told for thousands of years, the creative arts continue to  open the doors of fantasy and imagination.

The people in the photo above will witness the final event, the burning of the towering burning man statue.

Both of the above photos are from an annotated collection created by Nikki Gloudeman and Sara Kluta: Far and Wide.

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A Woman Speaks

"For after all, as great scientists have said and as all children know, it is above all by the imagination that we achieve perception, and compassion, and hope."
- Ursula Le Guin

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Imagination and Tales of Other Worlds by Three Women

Beatrix Potter, Angela Carter, and Ursula Le Guin all created other worlds. Very different worlds. All were breakthroughs. And each helped open the way for other women writers.

Beatrix Potter broke away from her staid, narrow Victorian family and wrote and illustrated books of another world where the lives of animals, and especially rabbits, awakened the minds of the young to her fantasy world. Potter had always loved the natural world and the rolling green hills of the Lake District. She was drawing and painting animals and nature from an early age. And the stories flowed from her imagination. Her magic continues today, over 100 years later, with two million Beatrix Potter books sold across the world every year. 

The illustration of Pete r Rabbit is by Beatrix Potter.

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Angela Carter and her legacy have been most eloquently described by Marina Warner in her wonderful book, Once Upon a Time, A Short History of Fairy Tale:

"The most incandescent work to arise from the feminist explosion is undoubtedly The   Bloody Chamber  by Angela Carter, a stretch of virtuoso imaginative writing and potent critique. . .  The Bloody Chamber has become the founding charter of modern fairy tale, and the catalyst of a million awakenings for readers (especially girls) coming upon it for the first time." 

The impact of Angela Carter's courage and creativity continues to this day. The Bloody Chamber book contains ten tales, rewritten from the early, traditional versions. They are dark tales, but the women protaganists are now empowered. 

                       

The illustration for The Bloody Chamber is by Benedict Mayer for the Folio Competion.

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Many years ago a friend introduced me to Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, and Arthur Clarke's The City and the Stars. I was in an amazing whirl. Here was a new genre of wonderful literature. I then learned that Le Guin had also recently written Earthsea, an alternate world fantasy for kids. 

Two years after The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guinn published a fantasy adult crossover novel that dealt with  power, dreams and the subconcioious, metaphysical issues and more. The Lathe of Heaven created a stir of contoversy, won the Locus Award for best Novel, and Le Guinn was cited by Theodre Sturgeon in the N.Y. Times for " a rare and powerful synthesis of poetry and science, reason and emotion." 

She was an advocate for underdogs, outcasts, morality and feminist issues. And she never stopped writing wonderful fantasy books, both crossover and for children, until her death in 1918.

The illustration of the Dragon Cliffs of Earthsea is by Sithness from Deviant Art.

 

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Three Women and Doors to Infinity

I believe the influence of these three women alone on the life experience of their readers has no limits. And they are but a part of those who have created stories, poems, and music that continues to resonate in this difficult world. They are brilliant contributors to the flow of tales reaching back thousands of years.

The illustration is from The left Hand of Darkness.

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Our Cultural Heritage 

 " Fairy Tales, like myths, are a part of our cultural heritage passed from generation to generation, connecting us to the dreams and fears of men and women who have gone before us."

- Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow, Black Thorn, White Rose

The cover art is by Thomas Caty.

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Where Will They Take You

���There's something delicious about writing those first few words of a story. You can never quite tell where they will take you. Mine took me here, where I belong.���
��� Beatrix Potter

 

The photo is of a teen age Beatrix Potter.

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Rags of Love

���We must all make do with the rags of love we find flapping on the scarecrow of humanity.���
��� Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus

The photo of Angela Carter is from the Oxford University Press by way of the Atlantic.

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Who We Are

���We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.���
��� Ursula K. LeGuin


The photo is by Dan Tuffs/Getty.

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Exploring the Nature of Being Human

"I was interested in human psychology, and that is absolutely a realistic concern. It just happened that fantasy offered me a wider range of metaphors for exploring the nature of being human than straightforward realism did.���     

Phillip Pullman Irish Times

The illustration of Lord Asriel and Malcolm from The Book of Dust is by Chris Wormell.

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Where Did the Easter Bunny Come From?

"Easter is the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, but the seasonal chocolate eggs
and the bunny who delivers them are nowhere to be found in scripture.

The exact origins of the Easter bunny are clouded in mystery. One theory is that the symbol of the rabbit stems from pagan tradition, specifically the festival of Eostre���a goddess of fertility whose animal symbol was a bunny. Rabbits, known for their energetic breeding, have traditionally symbolized fertility.  This information is from from: Time

The illustration of Peter Rabbit is by Beatrx Potter.

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MOVIES

First Cow

First Cow is a crossover film. If the YA market can support the explosions of Marvel, and the brutality of the Joker, they can see First Cow, a realistic portrayal of pioneer days in the American west.

A.O. Scott, writes in the NY Times that first cow is a masterpiece. . . "The people believe they have dominion over the animals, the land and its products, but their sovereignty is an illusion. We are, for the most part, big talkers with meager destinies, at the mercy of luck, global capitalism (which was a thing even then) and one another.
Though it surveys a grim, Hobbesian struggle for survival, ���First Cow��� has more on its mind and in its viewfinder than the nasty, brutish war of each against all, or the systems of domination intended to keep that war in check. Even in the harshest circumstances, there is still room ��� still a primal need ��� for sweetness, for companionship, for art."

Link to the Trailer for First Cow

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Sonic the Hedgehog

There is a world of video games, a multi-billion dollar business, of which I know very little. Sonic the Hedgehog, a Sega product, has been a very popular video game and a big financial success. Critics have thus far been divided about the film adaptation, but audiences are more inclined to like it. Here is a summary by Rotten Tomatoes.

"Fittingly fleet and frequently fun, Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game-inspired adventure the whole family can enjoy -- and a fine excuse for Jim Carrey to tap into the manic energy that launched his career."

The trailer suggests that the film is not for YA or cross over: Sonic the Hedgehog

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Animation

Forms In Nature

Concept: Through scientific study and understanding, we deepen our connection to the natural world. 2 minutes and 04 seconds: Link

 

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Can You Care Too Much For Your Dog?

"Being a dog guardian has been a learning process. I���m astounded by people who think they know it all because they have a dog. . . I���m equally astounded by the people who have had a dog, or two dogs, or half a dozen dogs during their life , and still think of them as 'just animals.'

 Every day, science discovers more and expands our knowledge about the sentience of animals: that they have an emotional life, that they think and communicate, that they form relationships with others, that they are self aware, that they understand us when we speak to them.

What makes humans so great? We���re the ones who are destroying the planet. We���re the ones who cause all the pain and suffering.

Like children, dogs need us to be responsible and take care of them. . . in a way that ensures they are living their best life. And, like children, they are at our mercy.   Excerpted from C.A.Wulff's website:Up On The Woof. 

Wulff is an animal advocate and the author of Circlin the Waggins and other popular dog books. The photo is of Wulff and her beloved dog, Waldo, who has passed over. 

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Stephen Colbert reads aloud from the NRA version of Little Red Riding Hood.

 

 

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Sara and Brittany, the Amazing women of Carterhaugh School, bring their own fascination, knowledge, and energy to their interactive internet courses, discussion groups, book club, blog and more. They are self proclaimed lovers of "folklore, creativity, cats, chai, and bringing magic into the everyday!" 

They offer an ongoing variety of ideas and free offerings through their blog and website. Here are recent excerpted examples: 

"We know there's a lot of anxiety and uncertainty and that a lot of stuff just sucks right now. But as ever, we will continue to conjure up a bit of enchantment for you, because we all need it now more than ever. So we've been drinking an unholy amount of chai tea and willfully ignoring our poor neglected cats who NEVER get pet (this is a lie) to put together a little mischief and magic. Here's what we've got for you this week:
 
1) We're SO thrilled that Rapunzel's Toolkit, our mega list of enchanted resources, was so useful to you last week! We've been updating it daily, so keep checking back for more ideas, more freebies, and more low-cost ways to be creative and enchanted in your own towers. . ."
 
Their imaginative and wide ranging list of ideas and offerings goes on. For instance, if you click the above link to Rapunzel's Toolkit, you will be offered (free),  "Folk Magic: 10 Things You Can Do TODAY to Bring Magic Into Your Life Through Folklore".
 

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Thoughts by Toni Morrison

���If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.��� -- Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon
 




���Writing is really a way of thinking--not just feeling but thinking about things that are disparate, unresolved, mysterious, problematic or just sweet.��� -- Toni Morrison



 



The photo of Toni Morrison is by Michel Euller/AP.
 

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Eleanor Rigby

Eleanor Rigby
Picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window
Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
 
Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney; here is a link to Paul singing the music to Eleanor Rigby
 
 
The painting is by Edward Hopper.

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A Memory of Rose, a Therapy Dog

"No matter who you are or why you do pet therapy, it is the dog that opens the door���doors that would otherwise be closed to a well meaning human���doors that are sometimes closed to family, friends, care givers and staff of facilities.  There is something very special about these canine creatures and they have been saving and comforting humans for thousands of years.  It is their touch or look that gives people that inner peace when their world is shrinking or spinning so fast they have lost control.  When doors begin the final closing, there is that one last smile, nod, a hand that reaches for a dog that allows some of them to say good bye and close their eyes in peace.��� 

This is an excerpt from a response sent to me by Susan Purser, a retired school teacher, about her therapy dog, Rose. She and Rose worked together for over 15 years, until Rose passed on. Susan continues her therapy dog work with Bandit.

The photo of Rose and a friend was taken by Susan.

 

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Out Of Balance

The world is out of balance.  The number of ruthless politicians and military leaders seeking power is out of control.

The number of refugees and suffering refugee children is staggering. The number of refugees keeps growing. And now we have a plague sweeping the planet.

For 85 years, The International Rescue Committee has been a souce of support and hope in every area where refugees are found.

"The IRC is the gold standard of aid groups working with refugees. I���ve seen it in action in Darfur, Chad, Central African Republic, Greece, Jordan, South Sudan and other places." -- Nicholas Kristof, NY Times. Here is a link to a very quick excerpt from a 60 Minutes video about refugee kids.

The photo is from Beiru, Mozambique, was taken by Karel Prinsloo, AP/Guardian.

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Lewis Carroll Society of North America

The LCSNA 2020 Spring Meeting in Cleveland, OH will not be held on the originally scheduled dates of May 8-10, but is rescheduled to Saturday, Oct 3 -Sunday October 4 [with the Schaefer Memorial Reading on Friday, Oct 2], and will still be hosted at Case Western Reserve University. 

 

The illustration of the mad tea party is by John Tenniel.
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Reach Out And Read Reaches Families Early

Reach Out and Read is a nonprofit organization that gives young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together.

When families read aloud to their young children, they can give them a better start to life. With unparalleled access to families with young children, Reach Out and Read medical providers give books to children at more than 10 well-child visits from infancy until they start school. More importantly, they encourage families to read aloud and engage with their infants, toddlers and preschoole

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The Planet of the Dogs Books 

They stood together and looked out at the lovely green valley, with a wide stream of clear water running across it. Three of the dog towns could be seen from this place ��� Muttville, Poodletown, and Shaggy Corners -- as well as big farms filled with dogfood trees and biscuit bushes. The most amazing thing for the children was knowing that all those small shapes moving around far below them were more dogs.

They went down a path and into Waggy Valley, receiving greetings from dogs of all sizes and shapes. Not long ago, they had never even heard of dogs. And, of course, they had never seen one. And now here they were in Waggy Valley, where dogs were everywhere, and all were friendly and happy to see them. . . Excerpted from The Planet of the Dogs.
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We have free reader copies of all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians, teachers and independent bookstores. Email us with a postal address to planetofthedogs@gmail.com and we will send you the books. 

To read sample chapters of any book in the series, visit PlanetOfTheDogs 

The Planet Of The Dogs series, including Castle In The Mist and Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, is available from many Internet sources and through independent bookstores of all sizes. 

The illustration of Daisy, Bean , and Robbie from Planet Of The Dogs is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty

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He had as much fun in the water as any person I have known. You didn't have to throw a stick in the water to get him to go in. Of course, he would bring back a stick to you if you did throw one in. He would even have brought back a piano if you had thrown one in. -- James Thurber

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March -- The Unknown, Witches, Fear and Misogyny

 

Dromberg Druid Stone Circle, Cork, Ireland -- Facing the Unknown

It is thought that Druids led rituals and ceremonies in these rolling green hills around 3,000 years ago during the late Bronze and early Iron Age. Magic and people with powers were a part of life. Life was hard and mysteries abounded. Their perceptions of the known and the unknown have been largely lost to time.

Time makes room
for going and coming home
and in time���s womb
begins all ending.

Time is being and being
time, it is all one thing,
the shining, the seeing,
the dark abounding.

Ursula K. Le Guin Hymn to Time (excerpt) 

 

 

The photo of her daughter, Nora, in the fog, is by Julia Soplop at Calm Cradle.

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Witches 

Witches are traditionally women with power, and, often, what we call magic.

I have mixed feeling about witches. I have compassion for the witches of the past -- from Joan of Arc to Salem and beyond --  who have been brutalised and suffered. I have mixed feelings about miracle working saints and relics. I have found the witches in Macbeth and the Wicked Witch of the West foreboding. I like the witches of Phillip Pullman and Glinda the Good Witch of Oz. I respect true healers of many kinds, past and present. Researching and reading about witches today has been filled with new awareness of the fear and misogny behind the perception and treatment of witches.

The illustration from the book cover of L. Frank Baum's 14th OZ book is by John R. Neill. 

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From Baba Yaga to Hermione Granger

This is the title of an excellent Guardian article by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett on "why we're spellbound by 'witcherature' ." Cosslett, a respected feminist author, critic, and editor, writes in this article, about the evolution of current literature involving witches. Among the authors whose ideas are discussed are Lucy McKnight Hardy, Rebecca Hardy, John Updyke and Madeline Miller. Here are excerpts:

"Of course, the literary witch is nothing new. She has existed since storytelling began, from Circe, the first witch in western literature, to Hecate, Morgan le Fay, Baba Yaga, the Weird Sisters, the Wicked Witch of the West and Hermione Granger. At their worst, literary witches are stereotypical and derivative; at their best they are symbols of resistance against patriarchy and the harnessing of feminine power. . .

 

There has been a perennial literary fascination with witches; they are, as Marion Gibson, professor of Renaissance and magical literatures at Exeter University says, 'a shorthand symbol for persecution and resistance ��� misogyny and feminism in particular'  A witch is a woman who has too much power. Or, to quote the novelist Madeline Miller, a witch is a woman with ���more power than men have felt comfortable with.��� History teaches us that witches are dangerous and must be brought down, punished and silenced."

Joan of Arc is the classic example here. After saving France, she was burned at the stake as a witch by the defeated British. A brutal death -- and how did this brutality affect the spectators, both women and men? 

The top illustration of the Slavic witch, Baba Yaga is courtesy of the Allen Douglas Studio.

Link to Frances F. Denny's website portfolio of Witches in America.

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Stories Were Told

"People told stories to communicate knowledge and experience in social contexts. Though many ancient tales might seem to us to be magical, miraculous, fanciful, superstitious, or unreal, people believed them, and they were and are not much different from people today who believe in religions, miracles, cults, nations, and notions such as ���free��� democracies. . ." Jack Zipes , Oxford University Press Blog

The illustration of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes praying to the Virgin Mary is by an unknown artist.

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From Circe to Clinton: Why Powerful Women are Cast as Witches 

This is the title of an insightful Guardian article by Madeline Miller tracing the oppression of women from ancient times through the present. Here are excepts:

" During the 2016 US presidential election, American social media was flooded with images of Hillary Clinton wearing a black hat and riding a broom, or else cackling with green skin. Her opponents named her The Wicked Witch of the Left, claimed they had sources testifying that she smelled of sulphur, and took particular delight in depictions of her being melted. Given that the last witch trial in the US was more than 100 hundred years ago, what are we to make of this. . .

 

In the late 19th century, the suffragette Matilda Joslyn Gage asserted something revolutionary. The persecution of witches, she said, had nothing to do with fighting evil or resisting the devil. It was simply entrenched social misogyny, the goal of which was to repress the intellect of women. . . 

Many of the women accused of witchcraft were so-called ���wise women,��� older figures, often poor widows, who scratched out a living in the community with their experience as midwives, herbalists and hedge-doctors. Their solitary, vulnerable status and unusual knowledge made them perfect targets for people���s rage and fear when crops failed or babies died. . ."

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Circe -- The Power Of Witchcraft

Madeline Miller, a classics scholar, wrote her own, updated version of Circe (2018), a much lauded book which makes the classic myth more relevant and accesible. Her ideas will go beyond the book world. An 8-part miniseries adaptation of the book has been developed by HBO Max 

The photoshop image of Hillary was posted on a now suspended account on Instagram by a Hillary hater, Cloyd Rivers.

Here is a link to a Guardian profile on Madeline Miller and books 

Here is a link to Leonard Cohen singing Joan of Arc.

The painting of Circe (The Enchantress) is by Edmund Dulac (1911). Illustration: Courtesy of De Agostini Picture Library via Getty Images, via Rhiannon Lucy Gosslett in the Guardian.

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Fairly Take and Fairly Give

"Bide within the Law you must, in perfect Love and perfect Trust.
Live you must and let to live, fairly take and fairly give. . .

Light of eye and soft of touch, speak you little, listen much.
Honor the Old Ones in deed and name,
let love and light be our guides again."

Excerpted from the Wiccan Rede

This illustration of Circe is by John William Waterhouse
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The All Souls Trilogy -- A Crossover Success    

There is a woman, Deborah Harkness, currentIy teaching at the University of Southern California, who has been writing best selling books about witches. The All Souls Trilogy -- A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life -- has an enthusiastic fan base with over 2 million copies sold in ten years! It has been translated into 35 different lanquages. There is a well attended annual convention; this year, it will be held in Philadelphia (Oct 23-25). And there is a TV series. 

I have read A Discovery of Witches, the first book in the trilogy, where the central protagonist, in a fully realized alternate reality, is an academic witch who must deal with vampires, daemons, and people. Diana, the witch, has a heartfelt love affair with a fascinating 1500 year old vampire. The story and the historical detail are well done. 

The books have had many favorable reviews in popular media. However, when reviewed as literature by Jenny Turner in the Guardian or Elizabeth Hand in the Washington Post, the reviews are not favorable. Nevertheless, the enthusiasm of her readers is reflected in the over 2 million copies sold. I consider this to be a crossover trilogy.

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All Souls Trilogy: Harry Potter for Grown-Ups?

This was the headline wriiten by Peter Haldeman in the NYTIMES for his interview with Deborah Harkness about her best-selling books, her background (one of her ancestors was a Salem witch) and her new writing projects. Here are excerpts from his article:

"The trilogy. . .  has also spawned a fan wiki, an annual convention attended by hundreds of adults who self-identify as supernatural and a merchandise line that extends to duvet covers. 'The series has great brand recognition and some of the most loyal fans on earth,' said Laura Tisdel, Harkness���s editor at Viking. 'The books feel like guilty pleasures, but there���s nothing to feel guilty about, because with Deb you���re in the hands of a real honest to god historian.' . . .

Until recently the All Souls brand lacked one critical asset ��� the splashy television adaptation. But on Jan. 17, Sundance Now and Shudder air the United States premiere of an eight-part series based on ���A Discovery of Witches.��� (Two more seasons, corresponding to the other books, have been greenlighted.) The show. . . stars Teresa Palmer as Diana Bishop, the Yale scholar and ���reluctant witch��� whose discovery of an enchanted manuscript attracts the attention of an assortment of magical beings, including Matthew Clairmont ��� a smoldering-eyed vampire scientist with designs on Diana ��� played by the suitably hunky Matthew Goode."

Halderman writes much more, finding Deborah Harkness candid, charming, and open to all questions.

The top photo of Deborah Harkness is by Magdalena Wosinska/ NYTimes. The photo of Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode is from the All Souls Trilogy TV Series.

Here is a link to Roman Polanski's opening scene with the witches in Macbeth.

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55% of YA readers are adults. In fact, the largest (and growing!) segment in the market for YA literature are adults aged between 30 and 44 years (which accounts for 28% of all sales). Source: The Atlantic

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Movies

H is for Happiness

An imaginative, off-beat, family film, H is for Happiness has won audiences and hearts in Australia and will hopefully soon open in the rest of the movie world. Here are excerpts from a review in the Australia Guardian by Luke Buckmaster 

"The freckled, cherub-faced Candice (an unforgettably vibrant Daisy Axon), with her Pippi Longstocking-like bright white teeth and pigtailed red hair, is the sort of character who is compulsively watchable on screen but would probably come across as an insufferable do-gooder in real life.

H is for Happiness is a very different experience, its bright syrupy surfaces the most obvious manifestation of a movie that, while more or less based in our world, has its head very much in the clouds, with regular inferences of the fantastical." Here is the trailer: Happiness

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The Call of the Wild

I am posting excerpts of a review of The Call Of The Wild as I have fond memories of the Jack London book as a young reader; I found the trailer very engaging; and I have great respect for the reviews of Peter Bradshaw

"Beethoven meets Gladiator in this old-fashioned doggy adventure from Disney, which basically jumps out of the screen and starts licking your face. It���s digital in its effects but analogue in its heart.

A big, silly, sloppy, adorable pet St Bernard collie called Buck is forced to toughen up and find his inner survivor-warrior after he is effectively sold into slavery by evil dognappers in early-20th-century North America. He is put to work on a sled team in the freezing Klondike, where the gold rush has drawn thousands of desperate souls searching for riches. . . The result is a bit corny, a bit cheesy and you might feel self-conscious going, ���Aww ������ at creatures that are not real dogs but laptop fabrications. But it���s a robust and old-fashioned entertainment with some real storytelling bite."

Here is a link to the trailer for The Call of the Wild

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Onward from Pixar

Most reviewers have been very positive about Pixar's new effort. Here is an excerpt from David Sims' review in the Atlantic.

"Onward contains all the elements of a classic hero���s journey: a quest for a charmed object, an expedition through dangerous territory, and encounters with brutish enemies and crafty allies. But the most crucial aspect of the role-playing game is community���the fact that it���s played with friends and relies on teamwork. The writer-director Dan Scanlon���s clear grasp of that makes for a warm, gentle film that doesn���t try to merely dazzle the audience with wild fantasy visuals."

Here is the trailer: Onward

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Jo Jo Rabbit Revisited

This film begins with chilling newsreel scenes of Hitler's rise. This is followed by satirical humor as the war in Germany is seen from the vantage point of a naive, and likeable boy. The humor decreases as the Nazi brutality is increased. The boy suffers and learns as events become even darker. An ubpeat element is the salvation of a young Jewish girl. I found JoJo to be an affecting and meaningful crossover movie. And a hard indictment of Hitler and Nazi Germany.

Here is a link to the trailer: JoJo 

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Classic Internet Children's Books Offer a Window to Childhood in Past Centuries

The internet, through the Library of Congress, has a multitude of free books for kids. These include rare old classics. Perri Klass MD , in the NYTimes, wrote an informative article on this development. Here is an excerpt:

���Well into the 19th century, most of children���s literature in America came from Britain,��� Ms. Coleburn (Library of Congress) said. ���It wasn���t til the 1830s and 1840s that we really focused on producing American books.��� And American children���s books carried different messages, she said. ���In British books often the message is, be content where you are,��� she said. But with American books, the Horatio Alger story line emerges, she said: ���Be a good person and you can improve your station in life and that will make you happy.���

 

The illustration is by Carl Edelfelt.

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Traditional Irish Sayings from the Land of Druids

May you have warm winds/On a cold evening/A full moon on a dark night/And a smooth road/All the way to your front door.

May you always walk in sunshine/May you never want for more/May Irish Angels rest their wings/Right beside your door.

Illustration of an old Irish stone cottage is from the collection of Maggie Land Blanck.

 

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New Kid Wins Newberry Award

"Jerry Craft's Newbery Win Was an Unforeseeable Dream
After a long career that includes creating the pioneering syndicated black comics strip 'Mama���s Boyz', illustrating and often self-publishing over thirty books and graphic novels, and cofounding the annual Black Comic Book Festival in Harlem, cartoonist Jerry Craft was awarded the 2020 Newberry Medal for his middle grade graphic novel New Kid, the first graphic novel to receive the award." Excerpted from Publisher's Weekly

 

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Up On The Woof -- Author Ariel Wulff's blog

"It takes nothing from anyone if you are kind to your dog, so why is it so objectionable? Is it because others think that they are rational and you are not? I believe that I, and others like me, will be on the right side of history. Every day, science discovers more and expands our knowledge about the sentience of animals: that they have an emotional life, that they think and communicate, that they form relationships with others, that they are self aware, that they understand us when we speak to them.

Like children, dogs need us to be responsible and take care of them. . . in a way that ensures they are living their best life. And, like children, they are at our mercy."

The photo, by  Ariel Wulff, is of her dog, Taco, now departed.

 

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Political Disinformation for Kids

The NRA published gun-toting versions of Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel.
 
Now, a conservative and religious lady in South Carolina, Kathrine DeBrecht, is writing/publishing disinformation in children's books to help the cause of Trump world in a series with titles like: Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!; and, Help! Mom! The Ninth Circuit Nabbed the Nativity! and more.

All DeBrecht's books made Anne Paddock's list of Ten Books Not To Buy Your Kids. Here is an excerpt from her blog Paddock Post: 

"Most disturbing of all is the recent proliferation of children���s books that seek to demonize people who do not share conservative political views. With no call for tolerance, kindness, or respect, these books are polarizing and mean-spirited (which is surprising because several of the authors pull the Christian card) and will not foster leaders reflecting the diversity of our citizen���s beliefs. . ."     

Cover by Jim Hummel. Click to see Al Gore and Hilary Clinton.

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450,000 child refugees with no destination 

"The Syrian civil war has entered its endgame and it is as gruesome and fraught as any stretch in the hellish nine-year struggle. As the Syrian troops of Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia, move to clear the last rebel-held enclave in northwestern Syria, some 900,000 civilian refugees ��� more than half of them children ��� have been pushed against the Turkish border in the freezing cold." -- Source NYTimes

 

 

Photo of Syrian refugee father and son from NYTimes by Muhammed Said/Andolu Agency/via Getty Images.

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Gun Violence Archive 

"The Gun Violence Archive (GVA) is an online archive of gun violence incidents collected from over 7,500  law enforcement, media, government and commercial sources daily in an effort to provide near-real time data about the results of gun violence. GVA is an independent data collection and research group with no affiliation with any advocacy organization. . . "Visit the GVA homepage to see organized information on US gun violence. In 2020, 692 children, ages 0-11, were shot and either killed or wounded. 

Photo is of a mourning student after the Douglas High School massacre, in Parkland Florida.

 

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Ottawa Therapy Dogs

"Ottawa Therapy Dogs provides invaluable care and support through animal-assisted interventions. We serve people of all ages struggling with physical and mental health challenges. Each year, our therapy dog teams serve people in more than 60 facilities, ranging from hospitals to schools and libraries. The wonderful work done by Ottawa Therapy Dogs  volunteers and their dogs includes working with teachers and kids in the excellent  R.E.A.D. program , where kids with problems become readers.

 

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The Planet Of The Dogs Series

Lesa Holstine is an award winning reviewer, blogger, librarian, and, for over 30 years, she has been a library manager/administrator. Here is an excerpt from her review on Lesa's Book Critiques of both Planet Of The Dogs and Castle in the Mist:

"There are touches of humor in both books, particularly in the description of the Planet of the Dogs. Children will enjoy the names of their homes, such as Poodletown, Muttville, and Hound Dog Hamlet. The dogs sing, and grow dog food on trees. And, there are messages of love and peace in both books. In addition, the stories teach children what dogs give to people; their power of smell, the ability to work together, their loyalty, and the power of love. Most of all, the Planet of the Dog books are about the power, and importance, of love."

The illustration of Billy from Castle in the Mist is by Stella Mustanoja-McCarty.

 

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"And the woman said,"His name is not Wild Dog any more, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always . . ." -- Rudyard Kipling, Just So Stories (1902)

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February -- Journeys to Hope and Little Kings

           The lllustration for The Little King December is by Michael Sowa.

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There are times in wonder tales when there is an uncanny synergy between the writer and the illustrator: this certainly happened with Lewis Carrol and John Tenniel in the Alice Books; with Kenneth Grahame and E.H. Shepard in The Wind In the Willows; and with A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard in the Winnie the Pooh books. Or, when the writer and illustrator are the same person as happened with The Tale of Peter Rabbit  -- and all the books that followed -- by Beatrix Potter.. I believe the same special relationshp prevails with The Little King December, written by Axel Hake and illustrated by Michael Sowa. 

"In this strange and beautiful book, an unnamed man relates the story of The Little King December, the little pot-bellied king who visits the man (the narrator) from time to time, when the mood strikes. In King December���s world, you are born big, and then you become small, and most curiously, you are born knowing everything you will ever know. . .

The story opens with the relationship between the man and the king already established. We never really know what precipitated these royal visits, or if indeed the visits are real, or imagined. It may in fact be a dream, and even the narrator is unsure whether or not he is the dreamer, or the dreamed. Sounds a bit ethereal but it���s not; the dialogue is as natural as a conversation overheard at a Starbucks, except rather than being across the table from one another~the participants converse mouth to pocket."

 

"The above was excerpted from an excellent, comprhensive review: 32 pages.

Here is a quotation by the Little King, himself, describing his world where you begin life fully grown: ���You wake up, you lie there for a bit, you get up and you can write, do higher mathematics, write computer programs, you go to work and to business dinners. Only gradually you forget. The smaller you get, the more you forget. If someone can no longer participate in business dinners, it���s pointless to go to the office: there���s no need for them there anymore. Then you have to stay home and you carry on forgetting more and more things. Your head becomes completely empty, with lots of room. Others have to cook for you, and afterwards you���re allowed to go and see your friends. Or watch shadows in the garden and pretend they���re ghosts. Or give names to clouds. Or torture your teddy bear������

 

Virtually all the books in this blog I know about through childhood or family reading, or through the diverse writings of scholars like Jack Zipes, Maria Tatar, Terri Windling, Marina Warner, Alison Lurie and Jerry Griswald. However, I came to the Little King December soley through the illustrations of Michael Sowa. I have since learned that both Sowa and the author, Axel Hacke, are well known in Germany and Europe. Hacke's books range from the world of children's books to cross-over adult. They have been tranlated into 17 languages.

The Little King December, like all the best fantasy, takes you into another world, a world of possibilities. Perhaps our world of tomorrow could be better than our world of today. I am going to read more books by these very talented men.

All of the illustrations for The Little King December are by Michael Sowa. 

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Will You Tell Me About Your Country?

The Little King December asks this question. I wonder if an ancestor of the Little King's asked this question in an earlier time. Suppose he had asked a teller of tales in the past. Were there any kings from tales of long ago, like those collected by Straparola, Perrault, Afanasyev, and the brother's Grimm, who were, like the Little King, thoughtful, intelligent, and caring? My recollection of kings in wonder tales recalls arrogance, ruthlessness, dullness, and cruelty. 

Wonder tales are forever changing, reflections of the times, the culture, and the teller of the tale.

The illustration from The Little King December is by Michael Sowa.

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That's Where The Light Gets In

"���Ring the bells that still can ring���: they���re few and far between but you can find them. ��� There is a crack in everything ��� But that���s where the light gets in, and that���s where the resurrection is and that���s where the return, that���s where the repentance is. It is with the confrontation, with the brokenness of things."

 

Leonard Cohen -- That's Where The Light Gets In

 
The bell in the photo is from the monastery of St John, Patmos, Greece.
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Ernst Bloch -- The Man Who Found Hope in Wonder Tales

Jack Zipes has completed a new translation of Ernst Bloch, the German philosopher who wrote of the recurrent theme of hope, a quality which he found in the timeless tradition of fairy tales. In the course of writing about Bloch, Zipes has also written of the history and cultural chaos that characterized Bloch's world.

"Out Of Step Ernst Bloch was, is, and will always be out of step. He was a bad dancer with the times. He stumbled while numerous politicians and thinkers waltzed over the bodies of little people in step to the same music. Monotonous militant music. Bloch tried to add some color and bounce to the music, and in the process, he alienated many people including himself. Banged about from country to country by wars, betrayed by vile rulers of the world and the perverse conditions of his times, he fought with bare knuckles to survive while endeavoring to save what was vital in the remnants of civilizing processes that had gone awry. He stumbled but landed on his feet. Stumbled more than once. What a clumsy dancer Bloch was! I wish I had known him. I came close, very close. In the summer of 1961, after he fled East Germany . . . "

In this book, Zipes has given life and dimension to Bloch, and also to the world chaos directly impacting his life: WW1; the great depression; the brutality of Stalin; and the Hitler driven destruction of Europe. The fact of Bloch's survival and integrity throughout the era is quite remarkable and gives added meaning to Bloch's insights into wonder tales, and particularly his insights regarding hope. Bloch wrote three books on Hope. Here are two excerpts from Bloch's writings regarding hope and fairytales:

"It all adds up to this: the fairy tale narrates a wish-fulfillment which is not bound by its own time and the apparel of its contents. In contrast to the folk tale, which is always tied to a particular locale, the fairy tale remains unbound. Not only does the fairy tale remain as fresh as longing and love, but the evil demons that abound in fairy tales are still at work here in the present, and the happiness of "once upon a time", which is even more abundant in the fairy tale, still affects our vision of the future..." 

���Hope is critical and can be disappointed. However, hope still nails a flag on the mast, even in decline, in that the decline is not accepted, even when this decline is still very strong. Hope is not confidence. Hope is surrounded by dangers, and it is the consciousness of danger and at the same time the determined negation of that which continually makes the opposite of the hoped-for object possible.���

Jack Zipe's book offers important insights and understanding for the work of a remarkable scholar, Ernst Bloch, and his impact on the world of wonder tales. 

The illustration, Moonrise, is by Michael Ayrton.

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Hope Was Certainly Needed

In the many centuries where fairy tales were passed on by tellers of tales, and even in our time of the written tale, hope is certainly needed.

In the aftermath of the brutal 17th century English civil war (1642-1651), over 200,000 people died, untold more suffered, and the King, Charles !, was beheaded. In the midst of those chaotic times, Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the brilliant scholar and philosopher, wrote these thoughts on what life was like for people during war:

"In such condition [of war], there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain; and consequently no Culture of the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by Sea; no commodious Building; no Instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force; no Knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, continual feare, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short."

The illustration is of the conquest of Drogheda, Ireland, by Oliver Cromwell, in 1649.

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A Country Of The Mind

"Fairytale is a country of the mind made by imagery, by riddles and charms, spells and nonsense; it uses language to create imaginary structures in which language itself is supremely powerful: Rumpelstiltskin is undone when the heroine discovers his name." Marina Warner in Once Upon a Time, A Short History of Fairy Tales.

���For magic consists in this, the true naming of a thing.���Ursula K. LeGuin in A Wizard of Earthsea

"Slave in the magic mirror, come from the farthest space, through wind and darkness I summon thee. Speak! Let me see thy face." Snow White's step-mother,the Queen.

"And oh! I am glad that nobody knew
That the name I am called is Rumpelstiltskin!"

The illustration of Puss 'N Boots is by Carl Offtordinger.


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Imagination

"Many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are." -- J.K. Rowling, Harvard Graduation Speech, 2008

 

 

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Movies

Merlot

Little Red Riding Hood is reinterpreted in less than five minutes with wit, imagination, and style.

Merlot is a welcome far cry from the thunderous Computer Graphics of today's Disney.

I think Straporola, Basilie, Calvino, Perrault, and the Grimms, who wrote down earlier vrsions, would cerainly enjoy this annimated film by Giulia Martinelli and Marta Gennari.

Here is a link: Merlot

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1917 -- An Exceptional Crossover Film

 A moving film experience that recreates the reality, the pain, the courage and the young men who fought -- and died -- in WW1.

A wonderful counterpoint to the bubblegum voiolence and cotton candy destruction pouring out of Disney and their competitors.

This one will stay with you. Teenagers should see this film.

 

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The Secret Garden 2020

I haven't seen the movie as it will not be released until spring 2020

However, if you liked the book, treat yourself to a look at the engaging trailer: The Secret Garden 2020.

 

 

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"Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are the shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgotten." Neil Gaiman

The illustration is from Gaiman's Hansel and Gretel illustrated by Lorenzo Mattotti.
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Carterhaugh School Book Club News

"We are starting The Carterhaugh Book Club! You already probably had an inkling this was in the works if you're part of our Facebook discussion group - when we floated the idea there a few months ago, the response was a resounding YES!
 
 You can read more about how the book club will work (and how to join!) in our blog post this week, but here's the short version: the club will meet monthly, and we'll be streaming the discussion with live video, hearing your comments and questions in real time. Our first book is The Starless Sea, and we'll be meeting for the first time at 7pm on Sunday February 16th. (If you can't be there live, no worries! Send us your questions and comments in advance, and we'll answer them in the video, and you can watch at a later time!). " 
 
Here is an excerpt from Carterhaugh Blog on Tradition and Authentic Folklore :  "  Old does not automatically mean better, and something doesn���t have to be old to be authentic. People are constantly creating new folklore, from old traditions, from new experiences, from bits and pieces of things that they encounter throughout their lives. It���s chaotic and unwieldy instead of tidy and linear, and that���s part of what makes it so wonderful! Folklorists don���t judge folklore based on its age or pedigree. Instead, we care if it brings people together or means something to them or helps them communicate who they are."

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A Native American Award Winner

Johnny���s Pheasant, written by Cheryl Minnema, illustrated by Julie Flett, and published by University of Minnesota Press in 2019, is the winner of the 2020 Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding writing in a picture book. This gorgeous, graceful story about a Native family, written by an Ojibwe author and illustrated by a Cree-M��tis artist, is both satisfying and surprising. The award is named for the late Charlotte Zolotow, author of more than 70 books for young children, and a distinguished editor of books for children and teens at Harper. The Award is administrated by the Cooperative Children's Book Center.

Here is a link to read a list of all the cited books for this year CCBlogC.

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Jackrabbit

This is an excerpt from C.A.Wulff's novel in progress, Jackrabbit.

The story is a rural mystery that brings together modern day issues and the journey of an autistic child  interacting and understanding the world around her through her ability to communicate with animals.

 

 

Please click on the photo to read the excerpt

 

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World Read Aloud Day is February 5

Here is a message from Pam Allyn, founder: "When I founded LitWorldin 2007, I did so with a dream: to strengthen communities everywhere through the profound power of stories. I shared this initial dream with some of our most important allies: children and young adults themselves. They cheered us on from the start, and they still do! Twelve years later, I am amazed and humbled to seeour first LitClub members becoming leaders in their communities, and our grassroots partner organizations growing and strengthening all around the globe."   Lit World and World Read Aloud Day Are an amazing story. Here is a link to learn more: LitWorld.

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Therapy Dogs

Since the early days of this blog, I have been writing about the wonders of therapy dogs, their owners, and the dedicated organizations that train, certify, sponser and support therapy dogs.

Dogs continue to heal today...by providing direct assistance, by raising the spirits of the sick, the old and the infirm, by calming the fears of children and by stimulating the health of many. There are over 50,000 therapy dogs actively helping people in the USA and they are spreading to other countries. 

My thanks to teacher Julie Hauck in Kokomo, Indiana, who long ago introduced me to Pages for Preston (above) and the wonders of therapy dogs in the classroom.      

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Refugees

The Syrian Emergency Task Force
���Syria is the worst humanitarian crisis in our lifetime. It is our never again moment and it is what drives our humanitarian and advocacy work. SETF is an organization for anyone who wants to help give a voice to the voiceless and to keep the spark of freedom, justice, and democracy alive in Syria while standing against tyranny and terrorism��� ��� Mouaz Moustafa, Executive Director

Here is a link to their Website: SETF  Here is a link to a moving Syrian Emergency Task Force video on Bread for Idib

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The Stone Wall of the National Rifle Association

The NRA represents weapons manufacturers as well a good people who like hunting and being outdoors, The NRA is hard to understand regarding their reluctance to allow politicians they lobby and support to make needed changes in the gun laws. How much income and power would they lose because of background checks?  Or not selling assault weapons to teens? 

Virginia is changing some laws to make gun sales more responsible to citizens. The reactions on both sides are strong. The NRA Lobby is a danger to all. Including those who like to hunt, if they have children in school, drink at the their local bar, worship in the wrong place,  go out shopping, or are on their way home from work. Link to the Gun Violence Archive.

The photo of the El Paso Massacre Protest is by Carlos Sanchez.

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There are healers in Green Valley...

There are healers in the land of the Forest people.

Long, long ago, there were healers living in every culture.

Dogs are also healers.

And so it was only natural that when dogs first came down to planet earth they worked closely with healers like Bella, the healer lady, seen on the left.

The healers knew about the healing powers of dogs, and worked with them in much the same way that therapy dogs and their owners do today.

Long, long ago, when dogs first came down to earth to help people, no one had ever heard about dogs, never mind seen one. When the farmers learned how the dogs were helping Bella to heal people, it helped banish fear and enabled people to accept these new creatures.

'''''''''

We have free reader copies of all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians, teachers and independent bookstores. Email us with a postal address to planetofthedogs@gmail.com and we will send you the books. 

To read sample chapters of any book in the series, visit PlanetOfTheDogs 

The Planet Of The Dogs series, including Castle In The Mist and Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, is available from many Internet sources and through independent bookstores of all sizes. 

The illustration of Bella, the healer lady, from Planet Of The Dogs is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty

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���One of the greatest gifts we receive from dogs is the tenderness they evoke in us... By their delight in being with us, the reliable sunniness of their disposition, the joy they bring to playtime, the curiosity with which they embrace each new experience, dogs can melt cynicism, and sweeten the bitter heart.��� 
��� Dean Koontz, A Big Little Life: A Memoir of a Joyful

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January -- Naked Kings, Good Giants, and Brave Girls

 

                                      The photo is by Elena Shumilova.

Young Readers

"Children are demanding. They are the most attentive, curious, eager, observant, sensitive, quick, and generally congenial readers on earth. They accept, almost without question, anything you present them with, as long as it is presented honestly, fearlessly, and clearly. I handed them, against the advice of experts, a mouse-boy, and they accepted it without a quiver. In Charlotte���s Web, I gave them a literate spider, and they took that."

E.B. White  -- From a 1969 Paris Review Interview excerpted by Maria Popova on her Brain Pickings website.

 

The book cover illustration for Charltte's Web is by Garth Williams.
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Precious Days

���These autumn days will shorten and grow cold. The leaves will shake loose from the trees and fall. Christmas will come, then the snows of winter. You will live to enjoy the beauty of the frozen world, for you mean a great deal to Zuckerman and he will not harm you, ever. Winter will pass, the days will lengthen, the ice will melt in the pasture pond. The song sparrow will return and sing, the frogs will awake, the warm wind will blow again. All these sights and sounds and smells will be yours to enjoy, Wilbur ��� this lovely world, these precious days������ -- E.B. White, Charlotte's Web
 
The illustration is by Garth Williams.

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.Wonder Tales

Fantasy lives in the imagination. Fantasy is not limited by time or place. It is limited only by the mind of the individual, young or old.. Fantasy opens the mind to possibilities, to discovery, to hope.

Wonder tales are a home for fantasy. Tales have been told by adults for many centuries. Now we have tales in writing. Told, retold, and reimagined; many tales have endured. Like every day life, wonder tales have turning points, transit points. Once through the transit point, there is the challenge.

Both the transit point  -- a door, a rabbit hole, a forest -- and the challenges that follow have many forms. Whatever the form of the challenge, difficulties and dangers must be overcome. The rewards of surviving the challenge range from survival to status and riches. Wonder tales usually provide hope, like light in the darkness,

The illustration from Andersen's Snow Queen is by Ukranian artist Vladislav Erkko.
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Hans Christian Anderson -- Children's Literature Pioneer

Despite his talent and suscccess,  Hans Christian Anderson was always something of a outsider in the hierchial Danish culture. He lived in a turbulent era of Danish and European history. His childhood was difficult and painful. His extrardinary imaginatioon created a wide range of stories, many with mixed messages about hope, and often flavored with melancholy.

The Ugly Duckling is a tale of hope; The Little Mermaid is a sad tale; and The Little Match Girl is a very sad tale.  He  was an original, and, as Maria Tatar notes below, Anderson was also a children's literature pioneer. 

Anderson's birthday is April 2; this is also International Children's Book Day.

The illustration of The Little Mermaid is by Edmund Dulac

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Speaking Truth

���More effectively than any of the other tales, 'The Emperor's New Clothes' established Andersen's reputation as a man who created stories for children ��� not just in the sense of target audience, but also as beneficiaries of something extraordinary. The lesson embedded in it is so transparent that its title circulates in the form of proverbial wisdom about social hypocrisy. But more importantly, 'The Emperor's New Clothes' romanticizes children by investing them with the courage to challenge authority and to speak truth to power.���

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Excerpt from The Emperor's New Clothes ...

"So off went the Emperor in procession under his splendid canopy. Everyone in the streets and the windows said, "Oh, how fine are the Emperor's new clothes! Don't they fit him to perfection? And see his long train!" Nobody would confess that he couldn't see anything, for that would prove him either unfit for his position, or a fool. No costume the Emperor had worn before was ever such a complete success.

"But he hasn't got anything on," a little child said.

"Did you ever hear such innocent prattle?" said its father. And one person whispered to another what the child had said, "He hasn't anything on. A child says he hasn't anything on."

"But he hasn't got anything on!" the whole town cried out at last.

The Emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought, "This procession has got to go on." So he walked more proudly than ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn't there at all." 
Here is a link to read the complete Emporer's New Clothes

The illustration is by Edmund Dulac .

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"There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children���s book.��� -- Phillip Pullman

The illustration is from the 2007 film, The Golden Compass.
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"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution."

Einstein quote. Image courtesy of BBC.

 

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Raising Silenced Christian B��rmann from the Dead

"Virtually, no one in Germany or the world knows anything about Christian B��rmann (1881-1924), who died at the young age of forty-three. His work and life have been kept silent.  A short synopsis of his life reads like a fairy tale with an open ending. . . B��rmann���s work appears to have escaped the eyes of the scholars of children���s literature and fairy tales throughout the world. In other words, his tales have become silent, and he is not the only writer/illustrator for children who has been ���silenced.��� Recently, I have been translating and publishing books by other writers for children such as ��douard Laboylaye, Hermynia zur M��hlen, and Pytor Yershov, whose works have been buried. I am now working under the motto: unbury forgotten unique authors and illustrators of fairy tales before it is too late." Jack Zipes

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A Different Kind of Giant

The Giant Ohl and Tiny Tim by Christian Barm��nn, newly translated by Jack Zipes, is a delightful tale. The giant wants to be among people, and help them, but fear of this huge man drives people away. Utimately, things begin to turn after he perfoms mutiple tasks for the fearless young farmer, Tiny Tim. Here is an excerpt:

"After doing all this, he (the giant) sat down leisurely on a comfortable rooftop. As the roof cracked and crackled, he lit his pipe and pondered calmly how to explain his gift and why he had come to the town as a friend ��� to request work and a place to stay. Yet, he couldn���t do this just then because the entire town had become chaotic. Everyone howled and screamed. . . The husbands screamed. The children screamed. The entire city screamed. People and animals howled and bellowed. Ohl tolerated all this for a while, and he puffed such heavy clouds that the moon became dark. Finally, he himself could no longer stand the commotion and ran off, abandoning everything. Indeed, he left the town as fast as he could."

Amazon: The Giant Ohl and Tiny Tim

The Illustration of the Giant Ohl is by Christian B��rmann.

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Circling the Waggins: How 5 Misfit Dogs Saved Me from Bewilderness 
 
The title says it well...when I read Circling the Waggins, I found myself on a journey into
the heart and mind of author C.A. (Ariel) Wulff, a dedicated pet loving woman who shares her experiences, concerns and deep emotions with the reader. 

The setting is a cabin-home in a national park forest. The primary characters are several adopted dogs, and cats, and two compassionate women living in a world founded on the love of dogs. Living in this unigue word ultimately gives Ms Wulff a new awareness and understanding of the experience of living.

The photo is of the author and Waldo, a key player in the book. Circling the Waggins is available from Amazon and Barnes&Noble. 

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Snow White Becomes Brave

A father reading to his young daughter was motivated to rewrite Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with new illustrations. Here is an excerpt from the Introduction:

"The princess in all these tales needed to be saved, and their most important characteristic was their beauty. . . He didn't want his daughter to grow up in this kind of world, So, while reading, he started changing little words here and there. All of a sudden, a beautiful princess became a brave one, and he saw the sparkle in his daughter's eyes!"

In this delightful modern retelling, the reader will find, among other changes that the dwarfs are both male and female, and come from around the world; the Queen's magic mirror shatters when the spell is broken; and, in the end, the Princess rides off, with the prince, to see the world. The text is by Stephan Kalinski and Iain Botterill, and the charming illustrations are by Claudia Piras.

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Movies

The Guardian Picks Family Movies for 2020

The Guardian has forecast family movies that have promise based on pre-release information. The list includes a brief writeup for each film. Here are some of the films from their list: The Secret Garden, Dolittle, Soul (Pixar), Artemis Foul, and Sponge Bob On the Run. Also mentioned is Pixar's Onward -- see below. Here is a link to the article: FamilyMovies  Credit for photo:lovemoney.com
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Animation -- Human Impact

Seoro Oh is a brilliant Korean animator with an open imagination. He created Human Impact for the 2019 Viborg Animation Festival. The Festival draws an international gathering of animators, including those working in science and games as well as entertainment. Denmark appears to be a leader in animation.

I find Human Impact to also be a delightful video for children. Here is a link to Human Impact (1:26) 

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Onward

Here is an engaging 2019 trailer for Onward, an animated film from Pixar, opening in 2020. 

 

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The Little Women Movie

"The rave reviews are pouring in, and to the universal acclaim I can add my own: this clever, spirited, witty adaptation is pure pleasure from start to finish. Furthermore, it serves as a timely reminder of just how feminist the original novel, published in two parts in 1868 and 1869, was. . . 'Women have minds and souls as well as hearts, ambition and talent as well as just beauty, and I���m sick of being told that love is all a woman is fit for,' Jo says in the film."

Excerpted fron an article/review by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett in the  Guardian:

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LitWorld founded World Read Aloud Day in 2010 as an opportunity for people all around the globe to celebrate the joy of reading aloud, and advocate for literacy as a fundamental human right that belongs to everyone. Over the last ten years, World Read Aloud Day has evolved into a global movement of millions of readers, writers, and listeners from communities all across the world coming together to honor the joy and power of reading and sharing stories, and continue expanding the definition and scope of global literacy. Link: LitWorld.

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Neil Gaiman's Current Refugee Project -- What You Need To Be Warm

Coming up with his latest work was ���ridiculously difficult���, Neil Gaiman admits. Last month, the Good Omens and American Gods author, who is also an ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), asked his Twitter followers to tell him what reminded them of warmth. After receiving almost 1,000 responses ��� with Ben Stiller and Monica Lewinsky among those to contribute ��� Gaiman found himself with a 25,000-word document, from which he has composed his newest written work: a freeform poem to launch UNHCR���s Winter Emergency Appeal for refugees across the Middle East.  Exerpted from an article by Allison Flood in the Guardian:Refugees.

The photo of the Yazidi refugees fleeing Isis is from Reuters via Time.Inc.

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What You Need to be Warm by Neil Gaiman (excerpts)

"A baked potato of a winter���s night to wrap your hands around or burn your mouth.
A blanket knitted by your mother���s cunning fingers. Or your grandmother���s.
A smile, a touch, trust, as you walk in from the snow
or return to it, the tips of your ears pricked pink and frozen.

The tink tink tink of iron radiators waking in an old house.
To surface from dreams in a bed, burrowed beneath blankets and comforters, the change of state from cold to warm is all that matters, and you think just one more minute snuggled here before you face the chill. Just one."

 

The photo is of an Iraq refugee camp.

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���My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it.��� ��� Ursula K. Le Guin

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Fantasy Unlimited in Graphics -- Our Fractal Brains

Here is a fantasy jouney of the imagination from the Netherlands, created by fractal artist Julius Horsthuis. In watching Our Fractal Brains (3:40) this viewer saw images that suggested  the unlimited possibilities of computer graphics.The images were accompanied by music, Touching Land, by Patrick o-Hearn. Here is a link to Our Fractal Brains.

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NRA Represents Gun Makers not Gun Owners

A gun is fired on a school campus in America nearly twice a week. Suicide, homicides, a police shooting, attacks on students by other students: more than once a month this past year, gunfire on American school and university campuses has turned deadly, according to a database of school gunfire incidents compiled by advocates.ore . . .

Schools are one of the safest places for kids in the United States, and shootings in and around schools represent only a tiny fraction of the violence that children face here on a daily basis. But even the small amount of gun violence that occurs at American schools adds up.

Since the Columbine shooting in 1999, at least 233,000 kids across 243 schools have been exposed to gun violence during school hours, a Washington Post investigation found. To Read More: Guardian Report 

The photo from the Columbine shooting is from the Daily News.

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Educated Canines Assisting With Disabilities 

Here is an excerpt from a NY Times article by Jasper Craven, about a medically retired Army captain who had served two tours in Iraq. ECAD custom-trained a golden retriever named Tuesday especially for Luis Montalvan:

" Montalv��n had returned home with a shattered leg, spinal damage, a brain injury and PTSD symptoms that included vivid nightmares, flashbacks, panic attacks and a fear of public spaces. The only therapy that eased Montalv��n���s symptoms was Tuesday, whom he received from a group called Educated Canines Assisting With Disabilities. Tuesday sensed if Montalv��n���s breathing sharpened or he began to perspire, and then intervened with a nuzzle. If Tuesday noticed Montalv��n thrashing while asleep in bed, he would wake the former soldier from his nightmare with a series of sloppy face-licks. Tuesday was even trained to direct the Army veteran from his bed to his pill bottles each morning."

The range of healing and assistance that ECAD has accomplished with its therapy dogs -- from cerebral palsey and spinal cord injuries to autism and PTSD -- is amazing. Here is a link to their website: ECAD

 

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The Planet Of The Dogs series

Long ago there were no dogs on planet earth. A time came when invaders were taking over farmlands, villages and towns. 
Dogs, who were living in peace and happiness on their own planet, came to earth to help people find peace.

"There are so many stories about battles between good and evil, and at times it���s hard to know who���s on which side, when so many lives are lost. So it���s a breath of fresh air to see a book presenting a peaceful resolution. Planet Of The Dogs may be a fairy tale, but it gives us hope that peace may someday be restored on earth through kinder and gentler means. Dog lovers and those who love a nice story will really enjoy this book." 
Reviewer: Alice Berger, Berger's Book Reviews

We have free reader copies of the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians and teachers...simply send us an email at planetofthedogs@gmail.com and we will send you the books.  

 

The illustration from Planet Of The Dogs is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.

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 "To err is human, to forgive, canine" .. Anonymous

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