Book vs. movie "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"

One of my all time favorite books is The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe so I was very excited to compare the book to the movie. Both share the same plot, and there are very little differences between the two. It is the story of four children who go to live with an older man (a professor) in order to get away from the air raids that are occurring at home due to the war. While they are staying with the professor, they find a wardrobe in an empty room that leads them to another world called Narnia. The four children enter Narnia and free it from the spell that the white witch has cast upon it and in the process they become kings and queens of Narnia.

This is a wonderfully imaginative tale that all children will enjoy reading. I am not a child and I absolutely love both the book and the movie. In both stories, the children are trying to free Narnia from the 100 year spell that the white witch has cast. It is a spell that makes it always winter but never Christmas. I love every part of the story except for this, I do not know why C.S. Lewis even chose to mention Christmas. The whole notion of Santa Claus and presents should really not even exist in a magical land; they are not living in Western society so it has never made sense to me. There is a scene in both the book and the movie where Father Christmas shows up and gives all four children presents. I have always found this to be the cheesiest part of the book and I think C.S. Lewis could have found a better way for the children to get their presents, which are tools of war, such as a bow and arrow and a sword and shield.

There are several differences in the movie that are not present in the book, but they are very minor and do not change the story. For instance, when the white witch learns that the children are staying at the beaver’s house she sends her dogs after them to capture and kill them. In the book, the two beavers and the children escape before the dogs reach them, but in the movie the dogs arrive before they have left the house, so they escape through an underground tunnel. This does not change the story; it just adds more suspense for the viewer.

The second difference I noticed was how the children all made it into Narnia in the first place. In the book, all of the children are running from Ms. Macready (the housekeeper) who is giving a tour of the house they live in to several visitors and the children all hide in the wardrobe so she will not see them. When they go into the wardrobe they realize that they are standing among trees and that there is snow on the ground. In the movie, all of the children are playing outside, I think they are playing a form of baseball, and Edmund hits a ball through an upstairs window of the house. They go inside to see the damage that has been caused and they hear footsteps coming towards them. They assume it is Ms. Macready coming to yell at them so they run and hide in the wardrobe.

The third difference I noticed is how Edmund is rescued from the enemy. In the book, Edmund is tied to a tree and the witch is standing over him with a sharp knife in her hands as if she were planning on killing him. When several members of Aslan’s army come to rescue him, they free him but cannot find the witch and the dwarf because the witch uses her powers to turn them into a boulder and a tree stump. In the movie Edmund is also tied to a tree, but the witch is nowhere near him, in fact she does not even see anyone come to rescue him. Aslan’s army frees Edmund and they tie the dwarf to the tree instead.

These are a few of the differences that I was able to notice between the book and the movie. There are several others throughout the story, but they are all just as minute and in the end they have no effect on the outcome of the story. Overall, I was very impressed with the movie and it was very true to the book. I have seen my share of movies that were adaptations from books that did not do the book justice, but this one is almost exactly like the book, so it was very enjoyable.

Images courtesy of http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/The-Chronicles-of-Narnia-The-Lion-The-Witch-and-the-Wardrobe-Pre-made-Frame-C12085824.jpeg and http://www.freewebs.com/writersanonymous223/lionwitch.jpg

The Wonderful imagination of Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss is a genius with children’s books and I love reading them even now that I am older and read them to my son. The Cat in the Hat is a timeless book that kids love. I read it so much when I was younger that I probably had it memorized. Over time, I grew out of my Dr. Seuss phase but now my son is obsessed with The Cat in the hat so we read it at least every other night.

This book is about a little boy and girl (whose name is Sally) who have to stay indoors all day while it is raining and their mother is out. They are very bored because they have nothing to do so they are just staring out of the window until a visitor arrives. Their visitor is a large cat who has come to entertain them. The cat makes a huge mess in their house and he thinks he can do whatever he wants. The pet fish, who can talk, is the voice of reason in this story and he keeps asking the cat to leave because he is not welcome.

I think the reason kid’s love this story so much is because it so funny and impractical and the pictures are great. It makes no sense that a large cat would ever show up at your door with all sorts of gadgets to entertain you, especially two creatures by the name of thing one and thing two. Even though all children most likely realize the impracticability of this happening it is fun to imagine the “what if” factor.

The thing that also makes this book so intriguing to children is the element of rebellion and rule-breaking. I am sure that most kids have been told not to let strangers into their homes, especially if the parents are not home, and I am guessing that most everyone knows that you do not fly kites in the house. Even though these seem like obvious rules to follow, it is fun to watch someone else break them and not have to worry about getting into trouble yourself.

As the reader of this book you can see both sides of the situation. The Cat wants to have fun and do all sorts of things that are not allowed, and the fish knows that the cat should leave because he will only get them into trouble. Even though Sally and the little boy know that the fish is right, they are bored on this rainy day and want something to do.

I think there are very few books like this written today, this book plays on the reader’s notion of good sense vs. nonsense. The main books that I would compare to this are The Amelia Bedelia Books. She is always doing nonsensical things and it is always obvious to the reader. For instance in one Amelia Bedelia book, Mrs. Rogers (who is Amelia’s employer) tells her to dust the furniture and Amelia takes that to mean that she should put dusting powder all over the couch and other pieces.

This is the same with everything that Amelia encounters; she always interprets things wrong and makes a huge mess. Her mistakes are always hilarious, and children love to read about them, but I do not think her books compare to The Cat in the Hat. Whereas in The Cat in the Hat, there is the presence of sense in the form of the fish, there is not this presence in Amelia Bedelia, the only person who knows she is not doing what she is supposed to is the reader.

Dr. Seuss also wrote the didactic book The Lorax. If a book is considered didactic it is meant that it is instructional and aims to teach the reader something. This book is about a man called the Once-ler who makes a business out of chopping down Truffula Trees in order to make Thneeds. The Lorax is a creature who speaks for the trees and asks the Once-ler to stop cutting down the trees. The Lorax is also concerned with the pollution that the Once-ler’s factory is creating and the waste that he is dumping in the pond behind his business. This is a book that serves to teach children about the importance of protecting the environment. It is written very well in a way that is not boring at all to kids.

I can think of a whole series of didactic books that are popular among children today. The Magic School Bus is a series that includes many books that teach children about different things such as the human body, hurricanes, other countries, the solar system, the earth, animals and their habitats, etc. These books all start out the same way, with the teacher (Mrs. Frizzle) preparing her class to go on a field trip. They get on the school bus to leave for the field trip and they are magically transported to space, or inside the human body, or a beehive, etc. It is very informative and children love to read these books because they are exciting and offer great information that is not presented in a boring manner.

I love the rhyming that is in The Lorax and I wish Dr. Seuss had written other didactic books that teach children other lessons too because his writing is so unique. I am not a big fan of the message in The Lorax because I think this book paints a very negative view of big business, and I do not think humans are causing the environment to suffer, but I do love the pictures and the imagination that Dr. Seuss used to create the Truffula trees and the animals like the humming fish and bar-ba-loots.

Images courtesy of www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Cats/Cat-Hat-Book.jpg and www.scottsdalecc.edu/green/images/lorax_1_.jpg

A book by Yoshiko Uchida "The Bracelet"

The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida is a sentimental tale that tells the story of a Japanese-American girl by the name of Emi. In this story it is the year 1942 and all of the Japanese-Americans are being sent to internment camps because the U.S. and Japan are at war. Emi and her family are among those who are being sent away and Emi has lost everything but her family to the government.

Emi is very sad to leave her best friend Laurie, but Laurie gives her a gold bracelet with a heart shaped charm on it so that Emi will remember her. Emi is touched by Laurie’s gift and she tells her friend that she will never take it off.

When Emi’s family gets to their camp, which is an old racetrack, Emi realizes that her bracelet is gone. With the help of her mother and sister she looks for it everywhere, but it is not found. Emi is crushed when she realizes that it is gone forever, but then she begins to understand that she does not need the bracelet in order to remember Laurie by. She knows that she will be able to remember Laurie just fine with the memories she holds dear to her in her heart.

This is a touching story about loss and love. I could not help but feel incredibly sorry for what Emi and her family had to go through in the 40’s. Although I know it was a fact of life for the Japanese living in America, it was unjust and I hate to hear about it, even though I know Emi is a fictitious character. The bracelet that Laurie gave Emi symbolized hope and friendship to Emi, and even though she realized that she did not need it to remember her friend by, I can see why it would mean a lot to her to have that symbol around during the dark days of camp.

Yoshiko Uchida was born in 1921 and passed away in 1992. She was born in the United States after her parents immigrated here from Japan. All throughout her childhood, she never once realized how different she was from her friends until the bombing at Pearl Harbor happened. Sometime after this her family was sent to live in an internment camp, however Yoshiko was soon given the chance to leave and she went to graduate school and proceeded to begin her career as an author. She has written many books over the course of her life, they include "Journey Home", "Journey to Topaz", "A Jar of Dreams", "The Wise Old Woman", "The Terrible Leak", "The Birthday Visitor" and many more.

Images courtesy of http://images.bestwebbuys.com/muze/bookmed/09/9780698113909.jpg

"The Ugly Duckling" illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

The Ugly Duckling which is adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney is a beautiful story. I have heard this story many times, but the pictures in this book make the book come to life and it is unlike any other time I have read it.

The Ugly Duckling is the tale of a mother duck that hatches six eggs. All of the ducklings are normal except for the last one which is deemed hideously ugly. He goes through life being constantly made fun of until one day he can take it no longer and he runs away.

It does not matter where he goes to, he is never wanted and he is a sad duck who wishes he were never born. The ugly duckling is moping over his existence one day when he views his reflection in the pond and receives quite a surprise. He has turned into a beautiful swan and he thinks that his whole life of pain and suffering has been worth it just to be a beautiful creature that is admired!

Jerry Pinkney is an amazing illustrator who really brings the pictures to life and I felt like I could never look at them enough to capture the true beauty. The pictures in this book are done in watercolors which makes them absolutely incredible to view. I spent a lot of time looking at each picture and I am sure that I could have spent longer taking it all in.

Jerry Pinkney has illustrated over 75 children's books and has won his share of awards for his great illustrations. Some of his books include The Patchwork Quilt, Mirandy and Brother Wind, The Talking Eggs, Half a Moon and One Whole Star, Pretend You're a Cat and many more. He has also collaborated with author Julius Lester to create some amazing literary works such as The Tales of Uncle Remus, Sam and the Tigers, and Black Cowboy, Wild Horses.

Images courtesy of http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Ugly-Duckling/Jerry-Pinkney/e/9780688159320

"Bridge to Terebithia" book vs. movie

Bridge to Terebithia is a fabulous story that I have loved since I was in the 4th grade. I love the fact that it is such a simple story, yet it is packed full of imagination. In order to fully appreciate Terebithia you have to be able to imagine the unthinkable just as Leslie and Jess do.

In this story, Jess really hopes to be the fastest kid in the fifth grade so he has been running all summer long, but when school starts he is beaten by the new girl, Leslie Burke. Leslie has just moved next door to Jess and his family yet it takes Jess a while to befriend the girl who ruined his chance of being the best.

Eventually they become friends and they create their own magical land called Terebithia. They can only get to Terebithia by crossing a stream on a swinging rope. They spend all of their spare time in Terebithia imagining that they are king and queen and fighting off giants, ogres and other beasts.

One day Jess goes to the museum with one of his teachers and he doesn’t invite Leslie because he wants to spend time with this teacher alone. While they are there Leslie decides to go to Terebithia but the rope breaks and she drowns in the water. Jess feels extremely guilty for not being there with Leslie and he thinks her death is his fault.

In the midst of his grief, Jess decides to build a bridge a bridge to Terebithia in honor of Leslie. Once he completes his bridge he allows his little sister to enter his and Leslie’s secret land. May Belle, the little sister, becomes the princess of Terebithia, and the book ends on a hopeful note.

There were many similarities between the book and the movie although the movie really brought Terebithia to life. I think that the director and producer of the movie stayed true to the book as much as possible and they did not change much. I really enjoyed watching the movie in order to see how Jess and Leslie really viewed Terebithia. It is hard to imagine a magical land when it is only written about and the children themselves are also imagining it, but when you actually see it come to life on the big screen it appears real and I felt like I was actually in a new land.

There were very few additions to the movie that I did not read in the book and for the most part they did not change the storyline at all. I got the impression as I watched the movie that Jess and Leslie may have been more than friends but that is never alluded to in the book. They were not actually boyfriend and girlfriend, but they may have had feelings for each other which is a step further than the mere friendship they shared in the book by Katherine Patterson.

Janice Avery, who is the school bully in the book was portrayed very well in the movie. There were several scenes in the movie that came straight out of the book such as the stealing of May Belle’s Twinkies, the note to Willard Hughes, and the crying episode in the bathroom. I do not remember her making the kids pay her a dollar to use the restroom in the book but it seems like something she would have done so the addition of this scene makes sense. I thought it was a nice touch that Janice gave the boy (I can’t remember his name) a bloody nose for telling Jess he would now be the fastest kid in the fifth grade. This scene was not in the book, but it was appropriate to add it in because the reader knew what a bully the boy could be and it was good to see Janice coming to Leslie’s defense.

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie and I would recommend it to anyone who likes the book. In fact, I would encourage students (most likely fourth and fifth graders) to read this book because it is such a good story and asks the reader to use his/her imagination. I would definitely tell the reader to read the book before seeing the movie because it is more fun to imagine Terebithia as you see it in your mind before you have been inundated with images of Terebithia from the movie.

Images courtesy of http://www.waldenfans.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_book-cover.gif and www.impawards.com/.../bridge_to_terabithia.jpg

"Horton Hears a Who" book vs. movie

Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss is one of my all-time favorite children’s books. I think it is so fun to read with all of the rhyming and it always reminds me of my mother and father reading it to me when I was little.

The story of Horton Hears a Who is about an elephant named Horton who sees a dust speck float by him one day and he thinks he hears someone calling for help. He believes that there is a very small person living on the speck so he sets it on a clover and proceeds to carry it around with him everywhere he goes in order to protect it. When the others in the Jungle of Nool (where he lives) find out he is talking to a clover they think he is crazy and they are determined to destroy the dust speck and capture Horton. Even though they think he is crazy, there is a person on the dust speck, in fact it is a whole town called Who-ville and they are depending on Horton to save them.

The movie just came out about a month ago and I thought it was wonderful. For the most part it was true to the book with very small differences. I thought the actors who did the voices of Horton and all of the animals in the Jungle of Nool and Who-ville, were excellent and I think the producer did a great job selecting them.

I was especially impressed by the fact that the movie had a narrator who read certain parts of the book word for word so in these instances there was absolutely no difference. It has to be a challenge to create a short picture book into a movie that is over an hour so I was expecting a lot of additions to the book in order to draw the movie out.

All of the changes that were made to the book were very minor and I do not even think most people would catch these differences but as I said, I loved the book when I was little so I am very familiar with Horton and the sour kangaroo.

One of the biggest differences that I noticed between the two is the focus on Who-ville. In the book, almost the entire story is focused on Horton, but the movie focuses a lot on the actual Who’s who live in Who-ville. The mayor of Who-ville is mentioned in the book, but none of his family is and we never see him at work or at home. However, the movie shows us his family life; we get to know his wife and their 97 children (only one boy) and his work life. The mayor’s only son happens to be Jo-Jo who is the sole Who that save Who-ville from being thrown into Beezle-Nut oil, but there is no mention of any relationship between the two in the book.

In the movie, Horton the elephant has a small friend who is a mouse and he is present in most of the scenes, however he is not in the book at all. The presence of the mouse whose name is Morton does not alter the story line at all, he just adds a little comedy to the plot, which Jim Carrey takes care of anyways.

One of the other things in the movie that I noticed was not accurate from the book was Horton’s saying “I meant what I said and I said what I meant, an elephants faithful one hundred percent”. I am almost positive that this would go unnoticed by most people but my other favorite childhood book happened to be Horton Hatches the Egg which is where this saying comes from. Horton does not ever say this in the book Horton Hears a Who but he says it many times in Horton Hatches the Egg.

Overall, I thought the movie was wonderful and I was very impressed with the adaptation from the book. The characters that were in the book all had a role in the movie including The Wickersham Brothers, Vlad, the Sour Kangaroo and her son, Jo-Jo, and the mayor. There were many more characters added to the movie but it did not detract from the original storyline, it just made it more interesting.

Images courtesy of http://gillianmowry.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/horton_book.jpg and http://www.cyber-cinema.com/original/hortonorg.jpg

A book by Julius Lester "John Henry"

John Henry by Julius Lester is an exciting tale that is fun to read. I was not completely aware of who John Henry was, but I knew that he was a large man who built railroads. Until I read this book, I was under the impression that he was a real person who actually lived in the late 1800’s, however the foreword to this book tells the reader that no one is certain whether John Henry was an actual person or not.

This tale which has been retold for generations tells of a baby who was born, John Henry, who grew so tall that he burst through the roof, all when he was still a child. Pretty soon after this he decided that he needed to leave his parents and get out and see the world, so his father gave him two 20 pound sledgehammers that belonged to his grandfather. John Henry took these sledgehammers and put them to good use building roads and railroads.

In this story John Henry is helping build the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad but the workers have come to a stop because they have to tunnel through a huge mountain. The workers are waiting on a new machine, the steam drill, which will dig a hole through the mountain with no man power needed. John Henry knows he can hammer through the mountain so he makes a bet with the boss that he can beat the steam drill.

He bets that he can reach the middle of the mountain before the steam drill does and they set to work, him against the machine. It does not take him long to reach the middle and he passes right though to beat the steam drill. Even though he wins the bet, he works so hard hammering through the mountain that when he gets to the other side he dies.

This is a great story about believing in yourself and working hard. Even though the tale is completely fictional, it is a great story to read and I know that children will love hearing about the exceptional strength of John Henry.

Julius Lester has written many books which include Search for the New Land, Revolutionary Notes, Day of Tears, Black Folk Tales, Long Journey Home, The Tales of Uncle Remus, Sam and the Tigers, Black Cowboy, Wild Horses and many more. His first book was published in 1965 and he has written many since that time, both children’s books and adult. Most of Julius Lester’s books are about African Americans and a lot are about the slave experience.

Images courtesy of http://www.library.armstrong.edu/newchildrensbooks/images/john%20henry.jpg