The Buzz...About Books

The Animal in You

There's something kind of charming about stories that include animals. It's nothing new, of course: many classic works of literature focus on animal characters and often make them integral to the story's plot.

What can be just as charming - and sometimes dramatic, sinister or more - is when an animal takes on the role of narrator, or is otherwise very humanlike in nature. When we think of how close we are to some of our animal friends, it's not hard to imagine animals telling the story as they see it.

 

Mother chimpanzees have displayed emotional grieving rituals when infants died, and there have been many studies surrounding language and primates. Even smaller creatures like mice have displayed various 'grimacing' expressions when in pain!

Check out some of these titles that have animals in the main role and find out just how similar they may sometimes be...

 

If you're curious about 'humanlike' qualities found in animals, you can also check out this quick read online.

If you'd like to revisit some classic reads - including some for children - here are some other animal stories:

Chronicles of Narnia    Watership Down    Animal Farm   Charlotte's Web

Enjoy!

 

October 11 is the International Day of the Girl

The United Nations has declared October 11 the International Day of the Girl Child. The day was established to raise awareness about gender bias and the obstacles preventing girls from reaching their full potential.

Girls around the world are more likely to be victims of violence and less likely to receive education. Girls who receive less schooling are far more likely to marry as children, before the age of 15. Girls are less likely to learn to read and write. By 2015 it is estimated that 64% of the world's illiterate will be female.

Females are also 3 times more likely to be malnourished than are boys.

Girls face challenges in our country also. In Canada, young woman are the victims of dating violence ten times more often than young men and are 70% more likely to face intimidation from online predators. Girls and young women suffer from mental illnesses like depression twice as often as boys and young men.

These are some of the amazing girls in fiction:

Anne Shirley: The heroine of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables was no shrinking violet, shocking the citizens of Avonlea with her antics and her irrepressible spirit.

She's featured in these books:
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Avonlea
Anne of the Island
Anne's House of Dreams
Anne of Windy Poplars
Anne of Ingleside

Flavia de Luce: The main character in the mystery novels of Alan Bradley, Flavia is a precocious 11-year-old girl whose intelligence, determination and encyclopedic knowledge of chemistry allows her to solve crimes.

She's featured in these books:
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
A Red Herring Without Mustard
I Am Half-Sick of Shadows

Jane Eyre: Orphaned at a young age, the protagonist of Charlotte Bronte's novel, is strong, intelligent and self-reliant. Her beliefs in justice, human dignity and social equality set her apart from others in Victorian England.

 

 

Lyra Belacqua: In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, the headstrong and intelligent Lyra finds herself playing a crucial role in a cosmic war.

She is featured in these books:
The Golden Compass
The Subtle Knife
The Amber Spyglass

 

 

Scout Finch: The narrator and protagonist of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout must come to terms with the racism that pervades her hometown when her father defends a black man accused of raping a white woman.

 

There are lots of wonderful girls in fiction--Nancy Drew, the March sisters, Hermione Granger among others. Ask library staff for more suggestions.

Governor General Literary Awards Children's Finalists

The Governor General's Literary Award celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2011.  This year, 68 finalists were selected from the 1684 books that were submitted for consideration.  The awards are given in 14 categories for English, French, adult and juvenile literature.  This is the list of finalists for the juvenile categories.

Children's Text (English)

Blink and Caution, Tim Wynne-Jones

From Then to Now: a Short History of the World, Christopher Moore

A Hare in the Elephant's Trunk, Jan L. Coates

No Ordinary Day, Deborah Ellis

This Dark Endeavour, Kenneth Oppel

Children's Illustrations(English)

Along a Long Road, illustrations by Frank Viva

Fishing with Gubby, illustrations by Kim La Fave

Migrant, illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault

Red Wagon, illustrations by Renata Liwska

Ten Birds by Cybèle Young

Children's Text (French)

Les aventures de Radisson. 1, L'enfer ne brûle pas, Martin Fournier

Enigmae.com. 3, L'orteil de Paros, Anne Bernard-Lenoir

Un massacre magnifique, Camille Bouchard

La saison des pluies, Mario Brassard

Sous le signe d'Exu. 1, Initiation, Pierre Marmiesse

Children's Illustrations(French)

Bill Chocottes: le héros qui avait peur, illustrations de Élisabeth Eudes-Pascal

Haiti, mon pays, illustrations de Rogé (Roger Girard)

Lili et les poilus, illustrations de Caroline Merola

Quelle pagaille! Illustrations de Sophie Casson

Tarantelle, illustrations de Shea Chang

Related Posts
Governor General's Literary Awards Finalists
Governor General's Awards Celebrate 75 Years of Literature

That nasty Nellie Oleson!

Like many kids in the 70s,  I was a huge fan of Little House on the Prairie - both the book series and the TV series.   I remember looking forward to my weekly visit to Walnut Grove and being very happy when Nellie, once again, received her just rewards for being mean to Laura.  If only real life was that simple.

Another fan of the books and TV series, Wendy McClure, took her obsession with all things Little House to a whole new level.  In her book,  The Wilder Life: my adventures in the lost world of Little House on the Prarie she describes her quest to retraces the steps of the Ingalls family across the prairie, from the Big Woods to Plum Creek and Silver Lake.  In a constant search for the "Laura experience", she tries hand-grinding wheat, churning her own butter and uncovers the facts and the fiction behind the popular books and TV series.  This is a funny first-person account of the trials and joys of trying to enter the world of a beloved book.

 

Several of the actors in the Little House on the Prairie TV series, which ran on NBC from 1974 - 1983,  have published memoirs in the last few years.  Melissa Gilbert's memoir, Prairie Tale: a memoir, is her look back at her life, from her early childhood as the adopted daughter in a well-known show-business family, through her Little House years, her difficult teenage and early adult years in the glare of the press and her current happiness with her second husband, Bruce Boxleitner (of Scarecrow and Mrs. King and Babylon 5). It also available in Large Print.

Alison Arngrim's hilarious memoir, Confessions of a prairie bitch: how I survived Nellie Oleson and learned to love being hated, details her constant, continual and, for the most part,  failed attempts to move beyond the Nellie Oleson character in the minds of Little House fans.  To this day, almost thirty-years after the end of the show, people still react to her as it she actually is Nellie.  As a comedienne, her wonderful sense of humour is evident throughout the book - even in the stories of her most difficult times.  It is also available as an eBook.

While Laura and Nellie battled it out on screen, behind the scenes Melissa and Alison were actually very good friends.  However, the one cast member that both of them remembered less-than-warmly was Melissa Sue Anderson.  Melissa Sue played Laura's big sister, Mary, and was the only cast member to be nominated for Emmy. She has published her own memoir of her Little House days.  In The way I see it: a look back on my life on Little House , she recalls her memories of Michael Landon, of specific episodes and of many of the well-known guest stars that appeared on the beloved series.

If you would like read the books series again, or for the first time, they are available to borrow. Just click on the book cover to see if a copy is available at your local branch.  If not, click on Place Hold and copy will be delivered there for you.

If you would like to watch the tv series again,  Season One and Season Two are available to borrow as well.