I guess it would be fair to say that a defining part of childhood is working up the bravery to explore beyond the immediate horizons. Through this children hopefully come to realise that first appearances can be deceiving. Some things look scary and ugly when in fact they are something else, and some of the things that glitter aren't actually golden. How we choose to interact with things can play a huge part in what happens later down the line, and the subsequent choices we need to make.
Beyond that, I think it would also be fair to say that getting children to read and think about their world(s) is helped along mightily when you have a stupendously brilliant story to experience!
I felt this on several levels when I read Graeme Base's The Legend of the Golden Snail to Master J last night.
How about I let the author himself introduce it to you?
Mrs. R picked up our golden-shelled friend at a local bookstore here in Geelong, on the enthusiastic recommendation of one of the staff.
The book and story exceeded any of the most enthusiastic recommendations possible! Master J was fascinated with it from the outset, and quickly began to make connections, guesses and -- dare I say it -- some pretty profound hypotheses and conclusions. It's been a while since I saw him so involved in and animated about a story. Gosh, it's been a while since I've been as taken in and wonderstruck by a story!
I also have to admit that it helped to read this book after reading Master J's school reader set for homework that night. I mean, there's only so much joy and interest that can be generated from a 10-page book called This is a Puddle (with every single-sentence page in the book oriented around something else in the vicinity of said puddle)...
For Master J, it was like handing him a fully-fledged garden after letting him look at a collection of tiny nondescript artificial leaves.
I'll also include here the more Hollywood movie trailer style promotion of The Legend of the Golden Snail (although it doesn't do a lot for me, especially in comparison to the author-led introduction above).
Gotta admire a person with talent, too. Graeme not only wrote and illustrated this story (and other ones like Animalia), he also wrote and performed all the music featured in the promotional clips above!
If you can get a hold of it, Master J and I thoroughly recommend The Legend of the Golden Snail. An absolutely beautiful story for children.
And, erm, parents too!
=D
