No.78 - Chrestomanci - Charmed Life

It seems an awfully long time since I sat down to do this, and to be honest, it has been! My last proper post was in August!! Anyway, I have welcomed in the New Year and The Little Bookworm's 2nd birthday, and have a few loose blog ends to tie.

I have two books hanging over from 2017 that are yet to be reviewed, mainly because I squeezed reading them into the last few weeks of the year, and then Christmas came along.

So, first up, at number 78 on the list, is the 'Chrestomanci' series by the British fantasy and sci-fi queen Diana Wynne Jones. For those of you who have never heard of her, she wrote Howl's Moving Castle, on which the very famous Studio Ghibli film is based (albeit loosely). Anyway, the list called for 'Chrestomanci: The Lives of Christopher Chant', but as I couldn't get hold of that one, I read the first book in the Chrestomanci series 'Charmed Life'.

Who's the dapper chap on the cover I hear you ask? Well that would be Chrestomanci himself, extremely powerful enchanter, ruler of his very own magical kingdom, and owner of a glorious amount of flamboyant dressing gowns! But the story's not really about him. Instead, the story follows the lives of orphaned brother and sister Cat and Gwendolen Chant. Cat and Gwendolyn are very different. Cat, or Eric as he is really called, is a timid boy with low expectations of his magical powers, always eclipsed by his bossy, and rather vile, sister Gwendolen. She appears to have all the magical talent in the family. However, when she starts taking extra magic lessons from a slightly dodgy wizard their lives take an interesting turn. 

Published in 1977, this book sits among some of the classics of children's fantasy literature, in particular the magical school genre, which was popular at the time, and that J.K Rowling so wonderfully revisited in the Harry Potter series. In my opinion, if done well this genre never gets old! For children it allows a level of escapism, through an already very familiar setting of school. Unlike something like Ursula Le Guin's 'A Wizard of Earthsea' however, the story is set in a domestic setting rather than a boarding school. However, the school room and the things the children get up to still very much sit within that genre. 

Cat and Gwendolen are sent to live at Chrestomanci Castle, with the great enchanter and his family. Gwendolen is convinced that the move is down to her amazing talents, and that she will be rich and spoilt forever, but that is not quite the case. I might not have anything to do with her at all.... 

When no one takes any notice of her magical abilities Gwendolen begins to wages war on Chrestomanci Castle and it's inhabitants. Determined to show the powerful enchanter what she can do she begins using her magic in dangerous and selfish ways, causing all kinds of nasty spectacles and horrid apparitions. As ever, cool and calm Chrestomanci ignores everything she does, no matter how vile, so Gwendolen decided she's had enough and disappears into a parallel world. However, she doesn't go without leaving something for Cat, a replacement sister! Enter poor old Janet, a non-magical (we could call her a muggle) girl from another parallel world. She is identical to Gwendolyn in looks but luckily not in temperament. She is a kind girl, who is totally confused by the whole thing, and frankly slightly annoyed that she's been dragged from her nice cosy life into Cat's world. 

As you probably know by now, I hate a plot line where the children don't tell the adults what's gone wrong. Honesty is the best policy I was always told, but it clearly doesn't spin a good yarn! 

Cat and Janet don't tell anyone that Janet is not Gwendolen! But what a mess the real Gwendolen has left for them to clear up! There is the issue of Cat's life for starters, but I won't spoil that for you as it's a nice twist. And then there is the very angry boyfriend of the maid who challenges Cat to a magical duel for something that Gwendolen did! Plus the whole story climaxes in a massive magical mutiny! I shan't give you all the details, but hopefully these events, plus a whole range of slightly bizarre, and even villainous characters, will entice you dip your toe into the World of Chrestomanci. 

Thanks for reading, L x

Next up another catch up post about Dick King Smith's classic story 'The Sheep Pig'

No. 80 - Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

This post marks a huge milestone in my book reading journey! Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S Eliot is number 80 on the list, which means that I am 20% of the way through my challenge! Hurrah! I'm really enjoying reading all the books, whether I've read them before or not. Coming up are some books that I fondly remember, and some that I've never even heard of, so that should be fun! I've also got a few other things up my sleeve too, so watch this space! 

T.S Eliot was one of the most famous poets, critics and playwrights of the twentieth century. Despite having written some of the most infleuntial poetry and prose works of that time, surprisingly his best selling book has been Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats! This intriguing work about the nature of cats started its life as a selection of poems created to entertain the children of Eliot's close friends. It was later published as a book by Faber, in 1939. I love the cover of the Faber edition above, being quite the fan of an Axel Scheffler drawing! 

These days I would say we are most familiar with the poems as being the lyrics used in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats, which was a very successful stage show indeed. So it was tricky to read the poems without putting them to the tunes that I knew! Especially Macavity! It helped to listen to T.S Eliot reading the poems himself, which you can do here! It's definitely worth a listen. 

In the 14 poems in this collection we meet an array of characters; Mr Mistoffelees the Original Conjuring Cat, Gus the Theatre Cat, Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser, Jennyanydots, Rum Tum Tugger, the Jellicles Cats, Old Deuteronomy, the Pekes, the Pollicles, The Great Rumpuscat, Macavity the Mystery Cat, and Bustopher Jones the Cat About Town. By far the best thing about these poems is the amazing names Eliot has given to all the cats, and the way he talks about those names. In the first poem 'The Naming of Cats', he explains that cats have three names, an everyday name such as Peter, James or George (fair enough), then a name that's a little more extravagant than that, for example, Munkustrap or Bombularina (woah!!), and finally a name that only they know, and we will never find out! To my great pleasure, I have just read that Eliot was most certainly a 'cat person' and some of his cats had equally as marvellous and peculiar names! Eliot had cats called Pettipaws, Jellylorum, George Pushdragon, and Wiscus!*

This collection of poems was a little formal in language and tone due to its age, but other than that it was a great read. Each poem is a little cameo of the eccentric feline characters Eliot has dreamt up. My favourite by far is Gus the Theatre cat, who you can just imagine recounting his tales of the stage to a captive audience in a pub! I also love that Gus is short for Asparagus, another fabulous cat name! I would thoroughly recommend that there be a copy of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats on every bookshelf! One like the Faber edition above would be perfect for older children (and adults of course!), and for younger ones I would recommend getting one or two of Arthur Robins's picture book versions, which focus on just one poem per book. So go forth and buy! 

Whilst I'm here talking to you all about poetry, I'd quickly like to say a few words about the importance of poetry for children. There have always been poetry anthologies for children, and fabulous children's poets out there, but for some reason prose has always had the upper hand. Poetry books are valid 'reading books' for children just as any other texts are, and I think sometimes we forget this. I was recently volunteering in my local library helping with the Summer Reading Challenge (anyone with children should get them down to the library and to sign them up asap, but more about that another time!). Whilst showing a little girl around the children's department she asked me if there were any poetry books? I'm ashamed to say that it almost took me by surprise, but then I realised that that was as valid as any of the other books I was showing her, and good on her for wanting to explore something more than a prose story. Aside from listening to poetry as a child, my main experience of it was when I got secondary school. Suddenly we were analysing metre, language and imagery, picking poems apart to see what they were made of. It became a chore, albeit one I actually quite enjoyed, but still associated with the stress of exams and grades. So, I suppose what I'm trying to say is that children should be encouraged to explore poetry for the fun of it, far before they reach the age where it becomes just another thing they need to master in order to jump through academic hoops. They need to be able to enjoy a poem just because of the way it sounds, and bask in the images that it conjures up in their imaginations, without having to analyse all the why's and how's. The Book Trust have a lovely list of their favourite poetry books for children here, which I recommend having a look through if you're interested. There's some great books on it, including Arthur Robins's version of Mr Mistoffelees, and Julia Donaldson's Crazy Mayonnaisy Mum, which is the poetry book that my little library visitor chose to take home. 

Thanks for reading, L x

Next time, it's The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. 

                                                                             

* This and some of the other information in this post came from a wonderful article by John Sutherland on the British Library website, which you can find here. It talks about the background and context of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and is well worth a read. Arthur Robins's

So what is good for children these days...?

So I was having a browse of Facebook, as you do, and this little gem popped up in my news feed....

'A school principle claims books like Harry Potter

cause brain damage'

Firstly, I laughed. What a ridiculous comment! Then I looked a little closer.... this wasn't a joke, someone had actually said this, and not in jest! 

The story comes from a school blog, in which the headmaster had raised concerns about what his pupils were reading. He suggested that fantasy fiction caused irreversible damage to the imagination of young children, thus causing mental illness!

According to this gentleman hugely popular children series' such The Hunger Games, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings were books to be avoided if you didn't want your children to be hampered by upsetting or frightening imagery, and magic or demonic themes. Instead he said children should be reading Shakespeare and Dickens, amongst others. Yes, I agree, they absolutely should be! But, if you are suggesting that these authors' works are devoid of negative themes and plot lines, you would be mistaken. Fantasy writer Samantha Shannon put it perfectly in her Guardian article in response to the aforementioned blog post. Here she reminds us of the rape, dismemberment and torture of Lavinia in Titus Andronicus by Shakespeare. How is this protecting children from disturbing imagery!? In fact what could be more disturbing!? You can read the other brilliant things she has to say on the topic here.  Please do! 

Just think about all the violence that can be found in Shakespeare plays, I give you Romeo and Juliet and Othello for starters. Our headmaster also disapproved of magic and ghosts in the literature children were being exposed to. Again, I draw your attention to Shakepeare! Macbeth for example contains murder and ghosts, and A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest are full of magic! Also, if we consider Dickens we can draw similar conclusions, with A Christmas Carol featuring the ghost of Marley, and just think about Oliver Twist's Bill Sykes, he's really scary! 

Earlier today I had read about the amazing J.K Rowling and the way she supports her fans through their struggles mental illness. The particular story I had read can be found here. As many of you will know the Dementors, and their effect on the characters, represent Rowling's experience of depression, and it is touches such as these that make her books relatable for millions of children and adults around the world. I feel that there is a lot more proof out there that series such as Harry Potter help and support children through the struggles of growing up, rather than damage them in any way. For many, having characters, and indeed authors, to whom they can relate, and fantasy worlds and magical events to escape to are totally invaluable! If anything, fantasy is safer than the real world! 

It is not often that I have a rant about things, but this seemed just too good to miss! I'd love to know what you think. 

Thanks for reading :) L x

There is a post on Inkheart coming soon, I just have to get my final uni essay out the way first!!