Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins #1) by P.L. Travers, Mary Shepard (Illustrator)

 

Summary:

 

From the moment Mary Poppins arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry-Tree Lane, everyday life at the Banks house is forever changed. This classic series tells the story of the world's most beloved nanny, who brings enchantment and excitement with her everywhere she goes. Featuring the charming original cover art by Mary Shepard, these new editions are sure to delight readers of all ages.

It all starts when Mary Poppins is blown by the east wind onto the doorstep of the Banks house. She becomes a most unusual nanny to Jane, Michael, and the twins. Who else but Mary Poppins can slide up banisters, pull an entire armchair out of an empty carpetbag, and make a dose of medicine taste like delicious lime-juice cordial? A day with Mary Poppins is a day of magic and make-believe come to life!
Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 224 pages (Hardcover)

Source: Toronto Public Library

Available Formats: Print/E-book/Audio

Publication Date: 1934

 

Last weekend I participated in a read-a-thon in one of my Goodreads groups and I was choosing to read some children's classics that I haven't read before and of course I just had to give Mary Poppins a try. I vaguely remember my dad reading it to me as a kid but most of my memories are of the movie version of the book so I thought it was high time I give the book a try.

 

Sadly,  my expectations of the fun, bubbly and witty Mary Poppins were met with disappointment. The book follows Mary Poppins from the moment she arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry-Tree Lane to take become a nanny for the four Banks children to the moment she suddenly leaves them in the end of the book.

 

I have to say that I was expecting something altogether different than what I got from reading this children's classic and perhaps it's because as we age the books we read as children lose some of their magic as some of our inherent innocence is taken from us in the aging process. I didn't find the first book in the Mary Poppins series to be an enjoyable read except for the parts where Mary Poppins wasn't in it.

 

I thought that Mary Poppins was a dour brute in a nanny suite. She was rude, unkind and completely self absorbed and thought she was the best at everything. I found that rather than lift the book up and make it a fun and enjoyable read she brought it down.

 

Despite the fact that I couldn't really stand Mary Poppins I did enjoy reading about the other characters in the book and I especially loved the twins as I thought they were little darlings. Of course I also liked the characters that Mary Poppins introduced the children too and they funny, sweet and of course eccentric. Also the writing was very good. Just because I didn't like the main character it doesn't mean the author wasn't talented she was immensely talented in fact and the story flowed wonderfully.

 

Overall, while I did enjoy all but one aspect of the novel I just can't get past my dislike for the literary Mary Poppins and I much prefer the film version to this. However I do plan on adding these to the list of books I keep in case I ever have children because I think this is one that kids will enjoy as long as they haven't seen the movie I think and I still plan on reading the entire series and I just hope I come to like it more as it goes on.

 

I would recommend this to anyone who hasn't read it yet and just because I found it lacking that's not to say that you will. It is one I think everyone should give a chance and prove that just because a book is "old" or written in a by gone era that it should not be forgot and left to collect dust.

 

It Was Okay!
★★

 

 

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The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli

 

Summary:

 

The bells clang above plague-ridden London as Robin lies helpless, cold, and hungry. The great house is empty, his father is fighting the Scots in the north, his mother is traveling with the Queen, and the servants have fled. He calls for help but only the stones hear his cries. Suddenly someone else is in the house, coming towards Robin. It is Brother Luke, a wandering friar, who takes Robin to St. Mark's Monastery, where he will be cared for until his father sends for him.

At last, a message comes--Robin is to meet his father at Castle Lindsay. The journey is dangerous, and the castle is located near the hostile Welsh border. Perched high in the hills, the castle appears invincible. But it is not. Under the cover of a thick fog the Welsh attack the castle. And Robin is the only one who can save it...

Summary & Cover Goodreads.com

Length: 128 Pages (Paperback)

Source: Toronto Public Library

Available Formats: Print/E-book/Audio

Publication Date: 1949

 

Yesterday I had the pleasure of finally reading a book that qualifies for my 2013 Pre-1960 Classic Children's Books Reading Challenge that I'm hosting this year and since this is the first book that I read for the challenge I'm glad the one I chose to read was a good one.

 

The Door in the Wall is a classic piece of historical fiction for children written by Newbury Award winner Marguerite de Angeli and after reading it I can certainly see why it is held in such esteem. The book takes place in England during the time of the plague in the middle ages and follows the story of young Robin, a 10 year old boy stricken by what I believe (given the symptoms he exhibits) is polio.

 

When Robin is left in the care of a Friar after the plague sweeps through his father's household he comes to terms with the fact that he will never be a knight but he also learns many lessons about humility, patience, and the value of doing something the hard way and also that just because he's disabled that doesn't mean he still can't accomplish great feats.

 

This is further proven when later on in the book our young protagonist is the one who saves the day when the castle he has moved to be a ward of a knight friend of his father has come under attack thus earning the love and respect of all around him.

 

I thought the book held a wonderful message for children that just because you have a perceived disability it doesn't change the fact that if you aspire to greatness you have more chances of achieving it.

 

The historical setting was wonderfully done, and I loved how even though this was a children's book that the author still wrote the dialogue in the way that people during the time actually spoke to give it that authentic feel. The characters were lovely and I especially Brother Luke for the time he took to teach Robin about the things that really matter in life.

 

I would recommend this to anyone who loves classic children's books and those who are teachers, librarians, parents, and whoever else has children in their lives to read this to them. It's a great book for kids to read and the message it has is wonderful. This is one that I would say needs a spot on every child's bookcase.

 

 

Liked It!
★★★

  

 

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The Starlight Barking (The Hundred and One Dalmatians #2) by Dodie Smith

 

Summary:

 

Dodie Smith's The Hundred and One Dalmatians, later adapted by Disney, was declared a classic when first published in 1956. The Starlight Barking, Dodie's own long-forgotten sequel, is a thrilling new adventure for Pongo and his family. As the story opens, every living creature except dogs is gripped by an enchanted sleep. One of the original Dalmatian puppies, all grown up since the first novel, is now the Prime Minister's mascot. Relying on her spotted parents for guidance, she assumes emergency leadership for the canine population of England. Awaiting advice from Sirius, the Dog Star, dogs of every breed crowd Trafalgar Square to watch the evening skies. The message they receive is a disturbing proposition, one that might forever destroy their status as "man's best friend."

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 155 pages (Hardcover)

Source: Toronto Public Library

Publication Date: 1988 by Puffin (first published 1967)

 

A few months back I read the first book in this trilogy by Dodie Smith and I loved reading the original tale of the 101 Dalmatians. So when I decided to host the 2013 Pre-1960 Classic Children's Books Reading Challenge I immediately put this one on hold. Unfortunately for me the book was published 7 years too late to qualify for the challenge but I read it anyways.

 

This book centers around Pongo and Missis, the main characters from the 101 Dalmatians and a few of their pups plus some other beloved characters that appeared in the first book as well as the Walt Disney animated film of the same name. In this book the dogs wake up to a world filled with silence in which canines are the only animals  awake, well the dogs, and 3 honorary dogs which include two cats and a young boy named Tommy. 

 

I thought the characters were simply delightful. While the book is written at a bit of a hire level for young children nowadays, we simply forget that children's books used to be written a lot different compared to those we see more often. As I said the characters were delightful and it was lovely to see much of the original cast and to meet some new faces as well which included the dog version of the British parliament.

 

What I enjoyed most about the novel was the story itself which takes on a bit of a science fiction slant which I was not expecting at all and since I don't want to ruin it for anyone who may read it let me just say that I thought it was rather unique to have that in a child's book about dogs and I think Dodie Smith did a lovely job incorporating the science fiction aspects into her book in a way that wasn't to high brow for children to understand and like. I think the fact that the book offered something different was wonderful.

 

It's well known that Dodie Smith is a wonderful children's author and this book just adds to her repatoir. I loved the way she created her characters and gave them all different personalities and quirks to go along with them as well and I thought it was one of the most heartwarming novels with a great amount of adventure that I've read in a long and I think this is one along with the preceding book that should be in every child's library.

 

I would recommend this to anyone who has a child to include this in their child's library. While like I mentioned before it may be a little harder for toddlers to comprehend it would make for the perfect bedtime read for older children.

 

I read this book for the following reading challenges:

 

What An Animal Reading Challenge VI

2013 150+ Reading Challenge

 

 

 

Really Liked It!

★ ★ ★ ★ 

 

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The Princess and the Goblin (Princess Irene and Curdie #1) by George MacDonald

 

Summary:

 

Princess Irene's discovery of a secret stair to the top turret of the castle leads to a wonderful revelation. At the same time, the miner's son Curdle overhears a fiendish plot by the goblins who live below the mountain. It will take all of their wit and courage, plus the help of Irene's magic ring, to make sense of their separate knowledge and foil the goblins' schemes.

Summary & Photo taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 241 pages (Paperback)

Source: Kobo Freebie

Publication Date: 1872 by Strahan & Co.

 

When I was a wee little thing I happened to come across the 1994 animated film adaptation of this believed children's classic and fell in love with it. It wasn't until recently (this year) that I realized that it was based on a classic piece of children's literature so when I found out I did some investigating and downloaded the kobo e-book version onto my BlackBerry and before I knew it I was reading it every chance I got.

 

Right away though I noticed that there were of course some key differences. Since the movie I watched was a 1994 film there were some changes made to the story line. It was made to be more accessible to the modern audience but for what it was I enjoyed the book version as well.

 

The story was a fun one and normally I'm not one for the classics but this was a good one. It was enjoyable though I sometimes felt that the story lacked the flow of a more modern novel but that is in part due to the audience it was written for back in 1872.

 

For me, while my tastes are lean towards the more modern I did enjoy the book. I though Irene was a cute character. Her curiosity while it almost lead to her ruin was adorable to see play out on the pages, though I didn't like the demeaning way she treated Curdie the local boy who saved hers and her nursemaid's skin one night. Then again she was a princess and a very young one at that so I suppose I could excuse her attitude.

 

Curdie though had to be my favourite character because of how smart, self reliant and courageous manner. He was the main character for me because much of the book centered around his activities in finding the goblins, and figuring out their master plan.

 

The writing was good, it intrigued me but as I stated before the flow put me off a bit. I think that it was a lovely little children's classic and it deserves a spot on every kid's bookshelf because their a princess for the girls to admire and a hero for the boys.

 

Overall, I would recommend this book to everyone young and old. This would be a good book for a night time read aloud book for kids or to be read by teachers to their classes. I'm a strong believer that though a book is older it should not lose its place on out bookshelves. I plan on reading the sequel to this book in 2013.

 

Liked It!
★ ★ ★

 

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Bambi by Felix Salten

 

Summary:

 

The Prince of the Forest Bambi's life in the woods begins happily. There are forest animals to play with -- Friend Hare, the chattery squirrel, the noisy screech owl, and Bambi's twin cousins, frail Gobo and beautiful Faline.

But winter comes, and Bambi learns that the woods hold danger -- and things he doesn't understand. The first snowfall makes food hard to find. Bambi's father, a handsome stag, roams the forest, but leaves Bambi and his mother alone.

Then there is Man. He comes to the forest with weapons that can wound an animal. He does terrible things to Gobo, to Bambi's mother, and even to Bambi. But He can't keep Bambi from growing into a handsome stag himself, and becoming...the Prince of the Forest.

Summary & Photo taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 192 pages (Paperback)

Source: Toronto Public Library

Publication Date: 1923

 

Once again I had to find a book to read for a BOTM selection in one of  the online book groups I participate in on Goodreads  You'll love this one...!! A book club & more. The November BOTM was if we could not or did not want to read the two selected books we could read any other book that met the criteria for "Books to Movies". I originally had another book planned but seeing as though I just read Bambi yesterday there wasn't enough time for me to read my original choice of Tsotsi by Athol Fugard. However I do plan on working that on into my December reading plans.

 

Anyways, I decided to pick a book that I'm pretty sure I had rad to me by my Dad as a kid but it was one that I couldn't remember. That's not to say I was unfamiliar with the beloved little fawn but lately I've been getting rather nostalgic about my childhood and the books I read or should have read. I think it's because of the holidays but in any case I decided to pick the one book that was the bases of one of my favourite Disney movies as a kid. Bambi.

 

Since I've always had a soft spot for Bambi and his forest friends I was hoping I'd be in for a comical, light hearted read. Boy was I wrong. Then again I probably should have looked closer at the original publication date, and read that the book wasn't originally published in English. Usually I do my homework on my books but, obviously I was lazy so it was really surprising to find that the book wasn't at all as light, fluffy and carefree as I'd hoped. In fact Bambi was prone to being quite a spoiled little fawn with a bit of a streak where he placed himself above his animal friends.

 

While I did still find the book enjoyable, a lot of what I thought would be in the book just wasn't. Often, Bambi would just walk off in the middle of the other characters talking to him and I couldn't help but wish that he was more like the Bambi in the animated film classic. Unfortunately he wasn't and this was a major let down for me.

 

However, I do understand why he wasn't as loveable and carefree as we see him in the movies and that is because it was written almost 100 years ago and the books people enjoyed regardless of their age were much different back then. The writing is superb though and I fell in love with the authors story it was just the characterizations I had trouble with.

 

Still, I liked the book. I thought it was great for me to be able to read the original story and I did get swept up in that nostalgic feeling while I read it so I believe this will be one of the books added to the "Read to Spawn" list I've created if I ever have kids and I can't wait to read the sequel to this beloved children's classic so look out for my review!

 

 

Overall it was a good story, I think kids now may have a little difficulty with the harshness of Bambi's life but then again the book like the movie can be used as a good example as life and death for kids as a lesson. I also think that this is a good book for anyone to read regardless of their age because Bambi has been a movie icon for decades. Plus, this would be a great read aloud book for families with kids and/or teachers. While my rating may seem a little low I do believe that this book is an essential must have a on any young readers bookshelf.

 

Liked It!
★ ★ ★

 

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