The City of Ember - book/movie comparison

Shhhhhh.  Don't tell anyone, but I can be a little bit of a nerd sometimes.  I absolutely love this book series by Jean DuPrau.  I've read all of the books except The Diamond of Darkhold and that's on my estival reading list.  I read The City of Ember several years ago so I had to quickly read it again to refresh my memory a bit.  As a reward for my students we watched the feature film the last week of school.  They were mesmerized - especially the boys.  I remember when the movie came out that the reviews were not all that great, but I really enjoyed it.  I'm glad I waited for it to come out on DVD though - it wasn't $7.50 great.  There were many, many differences between the two works.  For example, when the main characters, Lina and Doon, make it to safety they throw the instructions for getting out of Ember down attached to a rock.  In the book, Lina's caretaker (a lady) finds the instructions.  However, the movie version has Doon's father finding the instructions.  Another difference is the inclusion of a giant mole in the film - strange.  The giant mole is eventually the demise of the crooked Mayor of Ember played by Bill Murray.  One of the grossest parts of the movie is where the mayor is gorging himself on canned sardines - he's almost chubby and the townspeople are scrawny and starving.  Murray's character is hoarding food while the citizens of Ember are starving as supplies are beginning to run low. The general story line is the same.  The generator that produces the town's electricity is well past it's prime since the "Builders" intended the people of Ember to come out after 200 years, and it is nearly 50 years over.  Overall, if you like the book series I think you would enjoy the movie.   My students did.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Movie/TV comparison



It doesn't get much more classic than How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss.  My children have nearly all of the Dr. Suess books and this is definitly one of our favorites.  At our house the roast beef is commonly referred to as "roast beast".  The television version that we all eagerly wait for each December is very similar to the book, if not word by word.  We learn from the book and the TV version that the Grinch is so angry and sullen about Christmas because his heart is "3 sizes to small".  There must be some reason his heart is too small, there are no bad grinches, just bad memories.  This is where the movie verson featuring Jim Carrey comes into play.  You might say that the beginning of the movie provides a prequel and helps the audience understand what's happened to turn the grinch into well, a grinch.  The feature film is very different from the book and television version.  It's quite raucous  with some naughty humor that makes it oh so much fun to watch.  My family howls with laughter everytime we watch it.  I would love to have been working in the costume department for the making of the movie - loads of fun!  All three versions (the book, the TV special, and the feature film) get two thumbs up.

The Hello, Goodbye Window - Caldecott Winner 2006

Well, another book that brought tears to my eyes - good tears.  An adorable, sweet book that reminded me how blessed I am that my children have amazing grandparents!  The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster is delightful and lighthearted.  All characters in the story have wonderful imaginations and wit.  Chris Raschka's illustrations are bright and cheerful, but at first glance they look like one big hot mess!  After reading the book and thinking about it for a day or two, I realized though that the carefree (some might call it messy) illustrations are appropriate for the free spirits the characters seem to be.  "You can be happy and sad at the same time, you know.  It just happens that way sometimes."  So true, so true.

The Three Pigs - Caldecott Winner 2002

     The 2002 Caldecott winner went to David Wiesner for The Three Pigs.  Wiesner must be some kind of genius to have come up with the concept of the pigs taking control of the story.  Not only did the pigs take control, they found their way into other favorite nursery ryhmes and stories.  The use of speech bubbles was pretty cool as well.  

    I truly love any three pigs story - my alltime favorite being The True Story of the Three Pigs by Jon Scieszka.  TheThree  Little Pigs is the bedtime story my daughter repeatedly asked for each and every night - not for me to read, but to tell complete with knocking on the door with my knocking on the headboard.  I appreciate the creative thinking that went into the making of this book, but it is not my favorite Wiesner piece - that distinction belongs to Flotsam.  I do beleive that children would love this book and that it would be one that they would spend a lot of time with looking at each illustration very carefully.  The details are amazing.

Caldecott vs. Newbery

     The Caldecott and Newbery Awards are both given yearly by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) which is a division of the American Library Association (ALA).  The Caldecott Award was first awarded in 1938 while the Newbery had a bit of an earlier start with it's first appearance in 1922.  The Caldecott is named for the 19th  Century English illustrator, Randolph Caldecott and goes to an artist for outstanding illustrations in a children's book.  John Newbery was an 18th century English publisher of juvenile books.  The Newbery Award goes to an author for noteworthy writing in children's literature.   Basically, the Caldecott is awarded based on the illustrations in a children's book, and the Newbery is awarded based on the text, or story of children's literature.  Either way, the books make for some fine summer reading.
     A few of the common criteria required of both Caldecott and Newbery winners are that the work must be intended for children, the artist/author must be a citizen or resident of the United States, and the book must be a self-contained entity (not part of a multi-media presentation).  A person may prefer to read Caldecott books over Newbery books, but one award is no better than the other. 
    

The Higher Power of Lucky - 2007 Newbery Winner

     When a half gallon of rum, Johnny Cash, and a dog's scrotum were mentioned on the very first page I knew I had a keeper!  This book was a riot!  A little girl, Lucky, spends her free time eavesdropping on all of the 12 step anonymous meetings held in the small town of Hard Pan.  Lucky earns a little money by cleaning up the front porch of the Museum (that would be the Hard Pan's Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center) where all of the groups meet.  Lucky's job is to sweep up the cigarette butts from the AA meeting before the Smoker's Anonymous get there.  She has to clean up the candy wrappers before the Over Eater's Anonymous group gets there.  She has to clean up the beer cans from the Gambler's Anonymus group before the Alcoholics Anonymous group comes back.  You get the picture.  Lucky wants to find her "Higher Power" like all of the 12 steppers have claimed to have found.  The characters are charming and you can just hear and imagine their words and actions. 

    There was some controversy over Susan Patron's use of the word scrotum.  The book was censored in some school libraries and even banned in others.  I'm pretty sure the word "scrotum"  could be used as a selling point to get middle school age students to read though.  I enjoyed The Higher Power of Lucky very much.

The Graveyard Book - 2009 Newbery Winner

I tried as long as I could to avoid the Twilight series movies.  I was flipping channels one day and to my delight the Starz channel was FREE for the entire weekend.  Well, I was sucked into the craziness of Bella's world.  I spent the next week researching vampires and werewolves on the internet.  The Graveyard Book was just as much fun if not more.  I've even sent it home with my mom to read - she's enjoying it too!

     I found it interesting that it took Neil Gaiman twenty years to complete this book.  Gaiman got the idea for the story when his son was very young and was riding his tricycle in a cemetery.  The story begins with a family being slaughtered in their own home - ewwwww.  The baby of the family, the book's main character, has escaped his crib to explore.  In doing so, he also escapes the fate the rest of his family did not. He toddles up the hill to the village cemetery and is taken in by the ghosts that make it their home.  The toddler is given the name Nobody Owens and is given guidance, love, and protection from all of the inhabitants of the graveyard.

     The story is suspenseful, unpredictable, and lots of fun.  Of course, I cried at the end when it was time for Bod (short for Nobody) to move on.  I loved this book and I think the older students in my school would as well.