Class Discussion-the Hobbit and J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit is an intriguing children's book and an entertaining read. What I found interesting about our discussion in class is that Tolkien spent his entire life studying languages and that he actually wrote the languages used in the movies. Unfortunately, I have not read the Lord of the Rings books, but I have seen the movies. After we discussed that Tolkien wrote the elvish language I decided to research and see what the language was made up of. The language and grammar is a matter of aesthetics and euphony. Aesthetics, according to wikipedia is commonly perceived as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste. Euphony, according to wikipedia is inherent pleasantness or beauty. It is brilliant that he wrote his own language for these books which turned into movies. The language was intended to be "Elvenlatin," and was phonologically based on Latin, with ingredients from Finnish, Welsh, English, and Greek.

Outside Reading: Boxcar Children: The Blue Bay Mystery

Besides the Nancy Drew series, I also collected the Boxcar children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner and I decided to read one of the books that I did not remember reading as a child. First of all, the Boxcar children series is about four children; Jessie, Violet, Henry and Benny Alden whom run away from their grandfather after the death of their parents. They eventually end up back with their grandfather, because Violet is ill and Mr. Alden pretends to be a different man so the children will not run away again. Throughout the series the children solve various mysteries, while also traveling to different places and always meeting new people. The Blue Bay Mystery takes place on a remote island in the South Seas as the children and their grandfather think they are vacationing alone. The children think someone else in on the island when mysterious things start happening like footprints in the sand and their crackers disappearing. They soon find out it is a boy named Peter who is lost and ship-wrecked alone. Peter entertains the children with startling stories of how his friend went off alone into the water where sharks might have been and never returned. The mystery ends happily like the majority of Boxcar children books with Peter being reunited with his parents. This book was longer than the majority of Boxcar children books I read as a child, but I thought the mystery was great and the details of the island were great imagery! Some questions for children that could be asked with this book would be: If you were stuck on a island with 15 items, what would they be. What else could have happened to Peter's friend? Depending if the child is in 2nd of 3rd grade would determine the complexity of the questions and answers.

Children's Poetry: Prayers

Since we are discussing and learning about poetry in class, I thought I would discuss the bible poem I said every night as a child and my opinion of poetry.
"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
Thy love go with me through the night,
and wake me in the morning light."
There are many versions of this poem, mostly with lines 3 and 4 changing while lines 1 and 2 stay the same. My mom helped me learn this poem so I could remember it each night before I went to sleep. Some children have a hard time remembering to pray or they have trouble with what to say. Yet this short prayer as a rhymning poem was easy to remember and was a peaceful ending to the night. I also wanted to point out that poems can be used in prayer and worship, escpecially for children. My mom told me the saying that "prayer is fuel to reach our dreams" so I would say this poem when I was young to help me sleep in peace at night and reach my dreams. I honestly find poetry interesting, especially when you have to really study and discuss the poem to understand the meaning.

Class Discussion:Princess and the Goblin

I knew that the grandmother representing the Godly, powerful creature, but I had no idea about the other references to God and Christianity in the book until we discussed it in class. I loved the whole aspect of how some could not see grandmother, but they just had to believe she was there. Just like believing in God and knowing that He is there even though you cannot see Him. Grandmother also knew everything that was happening always and she could have a hand in anything that was happening. Just like God always knows what is happening and knows every little thing we do. In class we talked about MacDonald's reasoning about every little girl being a princess. I love the fact that he says this because, God is the heavenly Father and is also known as the King of all Kings. Therefore he says that girls are princesses, because we are all daughters of God the Almighty King. Since there are two "lights" thats we talked about from the Princess and the Goblin, I am reminded of the bible verse I think it is Mathew 5, 14-16 "You are the light of the world...No One lights a lamp to put it under a tub.." This just showing again how grandmother and her lights represent God and the fact that he is the light of the world.

Outside Reading: Nancy Drew Series

When I was younger I read the majority of the Nancy Drew books, and the first one I read which happened to be one of my favorites was "The E-mail Mystery." I had to read this book again to remember what it was about and why I had liked it so much. First of all, Nancy Drew is a teenage detective who solves various mysteries throughout the series. She is a brave and courageous character and I liked the fact that she is willing to sacrifice and try anything to solve her cases. She is very intelligent and even though she faces dangerous situations she is always determined to solve the mystery under any cirumstance. In the "E-mail Mystery" Carson Drew, whom is Nancy's father, is a lawyer experiencing some trouble with his clients. Many of them are turning him down, running out on him and acting strangely. Some become rude and demand he finish their cases outside of the courtroom. Nancy starts investigating her father's law practice while helping him at work and discovers someone is trying to ruin his practice by the way of e-mails. The suspense is great and the book is a quick read because you want to finish and see what ends up happening. In this case you want to see who is trying to sabotage her father and why. I like the fact that the suspect always ends up being someone you would never suspect, in this case it is one of Carson's most trusted employees suffering from greed and envy. I loved the Nancy Drew series when I was younger and highly recommend it to young readers!