The Neverending Story

On Tuesday of this week one of the girls was at a soccer game.  Their daddy was at a meeting of all the area preachers and one of the other girls was sick and went to bed at 6:00, which is very odd for her. So that left the youngest of my three and me with nothing to do and nowhere to be.  We scrolled through the OnDemand channels in search of a movie and she informed me that she had never seen The Neverending Story.  I could not believe it!  So we watched it.  She was amazed at the graphics, or lack thereof.  She kept saying that it looked so funny and not real.  It kind of made me chuckle.  So anyway, if you have never seen The Neverending Story I would reccommend it.  Story is about a little boy who has lost his mother, has a slightly overbearing yet caring dad who just wants him to man up, and loves to read.  He is bullied on the way to school and ends up stealing a book from an odd man.  Although it is never specifically stated, the old man in the book store sets it up for the boy to steal the book because he knows the boy and the book belong together.  The movie takes you on an adventure where the boy in the book searches for a way to save his world.  This is a movie about a sad little boy learning his own worth and realizing that his imagination is what keeps the world of Fantasia rolling along.   Cute movie with some odd little characters.  Nothing too deep but my daughter enjoyed it.

Alice in Wonderland- The Movie

Monday night we had some time to sit down and finally I got to see Alice in Wonderland.  This is the Tim Burton version with Johnny Depp and is quite a bit darker and more sinister than the old Disney cartoon that I grew up watching.  I LOVED it!!!  In classic Tim Burton style it is a combination of blacks and grays mixed with vibrant colors and odd characters. Alice is 21-ish and ready to move from daydreams and childhood into the world of marriage and growing up. But Alice can't do it.  She just cannot get past that silly white rabbit in the waistcoat that is hopping around her surprise engagement party.  So she gives chase and sure enough....down the rabbit hole we go.  But it is strangely familiar to her.  Everyone seems to be waiting on her but not sure she is the "right" Alice.  We quickly realize that she has been here before and knows these people/animals.  On and on we go with Alice being chased by the Red Queen's cards.  You see, Alice must slay the Jaberwocky. And once the slaying is done, the Red Queen's sister will regain her rightful spot as the White Queen and rule Wonderland.  That is as far as I will tell you.  You have to watch to see what happens next.  Johnny Depp is AWESOME as the Mad Hatter and is not all silly.  There are some dark moments in the movie and it makes you really analyze the choices you make in life and whether you will seize hold of what you want or if you will go along with what everyone else wants you to do.   GREAT MOVIE!

A Wrinkle In Time

I had forgotten how much I loved this book.  I picked it up at school and started reading it.  It starts out with that classic "it was a dark and stormy night" and is soon full speed ahead with strange beings and inter-dimensional travel and time folding.  Only in this book it is called tessering.  The main characters are Meg Murray, a 14 year old who feels completely lost in the world.  She is hostile, uncooperative, and confrontational.  Especially when it comes to her father.  Mr. Murray has been away from his family for quite some time.  He is a scientist working on a top secret project.  Mrs. Murray is also a scientist and is Meg's touchstone along with her youngest brother Charles Wallace.  They have two twin brothers, Sandy and Dennys who are 10 but they don't figure too much in this story.  Charles Wallace is 5 and everyone outside the family thinks he is a mentally deficient child.  What they do not know is that Charles Wallace is amazingly gifted.  He can read minds or tell what someone is thinking and his intelligence is off the charts, as are his brothers and sister.  The final person in the story is Calvin, a boy from school who "happens" to meet up with Meg and Charles Wallace while they are on a walk.  He and Meg are attracted instantly and romance blooms.  Finally there are the three "others" who turn out to be angels sent to take Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace on a dangerous journey to rescue Mr. Murray.  They fold time and end up on some remarkable planets.  They are told that a great darkness is shadowing Earth and that other planets have been taken over by it.  While tessering, Meg is most greatly affected when the have to pass through dark patches.  Once they reach the world where Mr. Murray is being held, Charles Wallace is taken over by the hive mind in his attempt to free his father.  Meg ultimately frees Mr. Murray and through a succession of events, goes back to the planet to rescue Charles Wallace.  Their angels suck them back through dimensions and they end up back in the family garden.  The only way Meg was able to free Charles Wallace was to hold on to and remind him strongly that she truly loved him.  In the end, good prevailed and the family is reunited with the addition of Calvin.
Great book for 3rd grade up. Very religious overtones but not preachy.
[book:A Wrinkle in Time|18131]

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Yawn.....okay so this is probably not a good book to read when you are tired and can hardly keep your eyes open.  It was good but it was very long feeling.  There are page after page descriptions of aquatic life and animals and this and that and more of this and more of that.  I was glad when it ended.  Captain Nemo was just what I expected and I cannot say that I loved him or hated him.  I was kind of apathetic toward him.  I mean, it is not very nice to imprison people on your little sub and haul them around but then again, everyone had a great adventure and saw wonderful sights.  I guess it was an okay read but one I won't be excited to read again.

Probably a good read for 3rd grade through adult depending on the level of the book.  They have some editions that are toned down for kids all the way up the "real thing". 

[book:Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea|33507]

Matilda

Dahl certainly has an affinity for poor mistreated children who overcome the situation they live in and become the hero at the end.  It is heartwarming and yet also disturbing.  In this book, Matilda Wormwood is an unloved, unwanted, ignored little girl who is exceedingly smart.  Matilda teaches herself to read by age 3 and later asks her father for a "real" book.  The only book in the house is a cookbook.  Mr. Wormwood tells her no so Matilda takes herself to the library on her own and reads everything she can get her hands on.  She plows through the children's books and moves on to the classics, devouring everything she can.  Mr. Wormwood is a used car salesman who is less than honest.  He works out a deal to sell a car to the headmistress of a local school and Matilda is finally allowed to attend school.  Matilda has already been doing pranks on her parents because she feels like they deserve to get into trouble.  Also, she has developed an "accidental" gift of telekenesis which she uses to knock a glass of water over.  Once at school she meets her teacher, Ms. Honey and loves her dearly.  Ms. Honey turns out to be the neice of the hateful headmistress and has an intense hatred for the children. Matilda uses her gift to drive Ms. Trunchbull out of the school by "haunting" her classroom.  Ms. Honey is then finally able to move back to her family home.  As the book ends, Matilda's parents are getting ready to flee the country before Mr. Wormwood is arrested for his shady dealings.  Ms. Honey asks the Wormwood's if she can keep Matilda with her and they agree without a second thought.  They leave and the only concern shown for Matilda is a wave that her brother gives her.
Good book for about age 8 and up.
[book:Matilda|39988]

James and the Giant Peach

I picked this book up at school today for something quick to read.  My first impression a few pages in was not overwhelminly good.  I doubted seriously that this would be a good book for my children to read. It was very dark, sad and just plain awful.  The whole story of James' parents getting eaten by a wild rhinoceros one day and leaving him alone with the two mean aunts was bad enough.  But then the way they talked to him and treated him was terrible.  But I held on and kept reading.  Then it got fun and way on out there.  A weird little troll appears and gives James a bag of magical crocodile tongues which James promptly drops.  The tongues disappear into the dirt and suddenly a peach appears on the old dead peach tree.  The aunts are amazed as the peach starts to grow.  And grow, and grow and grow.  The peach grows until it is as big as a house and the aunts see their chance to cash in.  Later they lock James out of the house to count their loot and he finds a hole/tunnel and crawls inside the belly of the peach.  Inside the pit he finds a wonderful group of new friends.  A grasshopper, a ladybug, a spider, a glow worm, a centipede, an earthworm and a silkworm.  Once James joins them the centipede chomps through the stem and sets the peach off rolling down the hillside.  The peach rolls into the sea and the group is off on a fun, sometimes dangerous adventure where they learn about being friends and where James learns that he IS a valuable and loved little boy after all.
Great book in the end. Would say it would be good for probably 3rd grade and up.  I never did see then movie so I can't say if it was as good, better or worse than the book but I did enjoy the book. Dahl has a dark, hard sense of humor sometimes and is kind of twisted in lots of ways.  Look for references to the chocolate factory, vermicious knids, snozwangers and a few other things that might be familiar if you are a Charlie fan.

[book:James and the Giant Peach|6689]

Charlotte's Web

I have been re-reading several of the "children's" books with my kids and they love it.  They are old enough now to read really well and I let them take turns reading one chapter each.  It makes for a slower read but it is a lot of fun for them and for me.  I have always loved Charlotte's Web anyway. Fern was so in love with her little pig.  She could not imagine the inhumanity of killing the runt.  I can sympathize.  My own children would do the same thing and I would make a bed for the pig in the house like Fern's mom did.    But baby pigs don't stay babies for long and before long, Wilbur had to go to the farm.  There he meets the other animals and starts off as a whiny, unlikeable brat.  But then he meets Charlotte, who teaches Wilbur what being a friend is all about.  Together (well, mostly Charlotte) they are able to keep Wilbur away from the slaughter and off to the fair they go. At the end, Wilbur must learn a very hard lesson.  Even spiders and best friends sometimes can't stay with us forever.  But Wilbur is at least able to pass on what Charlotte taught him to three of her babies.
Great story.  Still sad no matter how many times I read it but also full of love and hope and humor.  The animals are ALL so real and funny and full of personality. 

[book:Charlotte's Web|24178]