Children's Books tag
Shaken an interesting post on children's books, and which one(s) he recalls from his childhood that he can relate to current events.
Coming from a family of readers, it is tough to pick a single book that I can say had an impact. Remembering waaaay back? I'd have to say The Little Engine That Could which, upon looking at the copyright page, appears to be either an excerpt or adaptation from The Pony Engine by Mabel C. Bragg, although the copyright appears to be owned by Platt & Munk, Publishers. Since the copyright dates back to 1930, we can assume that Ms. Bragg died about as wealthy as musical artists from the 40's and 50's, which is sad.
I loved this book as a child and truly enjoyed reading it, all 1,800 times, to my daughter when she was small. I make a point of giving it as a gift to newborns in the family whenever possible. It's a classic.
What impact has this story had on my life?
The "I think I can, I think I can" refrain is, to me, the epitome of attitude winning over 'proven' abilities, in that if you truly want something and are willing to work as hard as possible for it, there's a pretty good chance you can achieve it.
Having done a quick re-read for this post (another great thing about kid's books, you can go cover to cover in under 5, usually) in order to see:
How The Little Engine That Could relates to current events:
Oh, I can have some fun with this one!
First, you have the original little train pulling the train full of animals and toys and books and puzzles and healthy food and some sweets for the children "on the other side of the mountain."
The cars of the train, IMHO, represent the Canadian public. Naive, diverse, generally good, but helplessly reliant on the nanny state, the original little train (aka "the Canadian government), which is also conveniently red in the copy I have.
The train breaks down, and the passengers start looking for help.
The first train to come along is a shiny new engine, which will not lower itself to pull the passengers from the broken down train. "I pull the likes of you? Indeed not." This train represents the Bloc Quebecois, who care only about Quebec and the ROC can go to hell in a handbasket as far as they are concerned, the sooner the better.
The next train is a Big Engine (unions) and is too (self)important to pull the passengers, so it represents the NDP, willing to prop up a corrupt government to further its own agenda.
The next train is old and tired. It's just GOTTA BE the Liberal Party of Canada. Too entrenched in corruption, greed and "power for the sake of power" to be able to carry the citizens of Canada. "The Rusty Old Engine sighed: "I am so tired. I must rest..."
And then along comes the (conveniently again) Little Blue Engine. To the passengers plea of "the good boys and girls on the other side won't have any toys to play with or good food to eat, unless you help us." Although he among all the rest is the only one who has never been over the mountain, he is willing to try, and says...all the way up the mountain... "I think I can, I think I can..."
Works for me!
Now, to find 5 poor saps to tag...
a certain resident of Toronto
Canadi-anna
Sheila
Stephen-who-isn't-an-MP
PolSpy (who isn't doing politics this summer so can take the time to respond)
"What was your favorite book during those important early years? What impact has that story had on your life? How can you relate that story to current events?"I got tagged by Paul, so here's mine:
Coming from a family of readers, it is tough to pick a single book that I can say had an impact. Remembering waaaay back? I'd have to say The Little Engine That Could which, upon looking at the copyright page, appears to be either an excerpt or adaptation from The Pony Engine by Mabel C. Bragg, although the copyright appears to be owned by Platt & Munk, Publishers. Since the copyright dates back to 1930, we can assume that Ms. Bragg died about as wealthy as musical artists from the 40's and 50's, which is sad.
I loved this book as a child and truly enjoyed reading it, all 1,800 times, to my daughter when she was small. I make a point of giving it as a gift to newborns in the family whenever possible. It's a classic.
What impact has this story had on my life?
The "I think I can, I think I can" refrain is, to me, the epitome of attitude winning over 'proven' abilities, in that if you truly want something and are willing to work as hard as possible for it, there's a pretty good chance you can achieve it.
Having done a quick re-read for this post (another great thing about kid's books, you can go cover to cover in under 5, usually) in order to see:
How The Little Engine That Could relates to current events:
Oh, I can have some fun with this one!
First, you have the original little train pulling the train full of animals and toys and books and puzzles and healthy food and some sweets for the children "on the other side of the mountain."
The cars of the train, IMHO, represent the Canadian public. Naive, diverse, generally good, but helplessly reliant on the nanny state, the original little train (aka "the Canadian government), which is also conveniently red in the copy I have.
The train breaks down, and the passengers start looking for help.
The first train to come along is a shiny new engine, which will not lower itself to pull the passengers from the broken down train. "I pull the likes of you? Indeed not." This train represents the Bloc Quebecois, who care only about Quebec and the ROC can go to hell in a handbasket as far as they are concerned, the sooner the better.
The next train is a Big Engine (unions) and is too (self)important to pull the passengers, so it represents the NDP, willing to prop up a corrupt government to further its own agenda.
The next train is old and tired. It's just GOTTA BE the Liberal Party of Canada. Too entrenched in corruption, greed and "power for the sake of power" to be able to carry the citizens of Canada. "The Rusty Old Engine sighed: "I am so tired. I must rest..."
And then along comes the (conveniently again) Little Blue Engine. To the passengers plea of "the good boys and girls on the other side won't have any toys to play with or good food to eat, unless you help us." Although he among all the rest is the only one who has never been over the mountain, he is willing to try, and says...all the way up the mountain... "I think I can, I think I can..."
Works for me!
Now, to find 5 poor saps to tag...
a certain resident of Toronto
Canadi-anna
Sheila
Stephen-who-isn't-an-MP
PolSpy (who isn't doing politics this summer so can take the time to respond)
posted by Candace at 6/23/2005 02:01:00 AM
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