So, yesterday was the official kick-off of the Keep Portland Weird festival here in Paris, which meant that I had a reading/screening in the...
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What did kids do to amuse and entertain themselves before television, video games, computers, and smart phones? They played outside and used their imagination. That’s exactly what Captain John Walker, his sister Mate Susan, their sister Able-seaman Titty, and brother the Boy Roger do. Their father, probably in the Royal Navy, is on a ship at Malta but under orders for Hong-King, so for their summer vacation their mother has rented a cottage on a farm at Holly Howe located next to a huge lake. They also have a baby sister, Vicky, who is taken care of by a nurse. The children have been taught how to sail, and they have use of the farm’s sailboat, the Swallow. While out on the lake, they find an island where they receive permission to camp.
During the course of their adventure, they meet up with the Blacketts, Captain Nancy (real name Ruth) and sister Mate Peggy, who have their own pirate sailboat, the Amazon, along with the girls’ uncle James Taylor who lives on a houseboat near the island and becomes “Captain Flint” to the children. The Swallows and the Amazons declare war on each other with victory going to the side who can take the others’ ship, then together they declare war on Captain Flint. Who will win? How will a burglary at Captain Flint’s houseboat affect their relationship? And what will they do when a huge storm comes up over Wild Cat Island? The book had its beginning long before when as a child author Arthur Mitchell Ransome, with his brother and sisters, spent most of their holidays on a farm at the south end of Coniston and played on the nearby lake, but it was further inspired by a summer in which Ransome taught the children of his friends, the Altounyans, to sail. In fact, three of the Altounyan children's names are adopted directly for the Walker family.
Swallows and Amazons, a paean to children’s make-believe play and exploring their surrounding world, is a very pleasant story that involves the great outdoors, boats, fishing, and camping, with rich characterization, vivid descriptions, wholesome reading, and old-fashioned ideals. It includes a good deal of everyday Lakeland life in the early twentieth century, from the local farmers to charcoal burners working in the woods. Seldom have I ever come to the end of a book and felt sorry that it was over. If you read it and reach the same conclusion, you’re in luck! Ransome wrote eleven more books in the “Swallows and Amazons Forever” series: Swallowdale (1931); Peter Duck (1932); Winter Holiday (1933); Coot Club (1934); Pigeon Post (1936); We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea (1937); Secret Water (1939); The Big Six (1940); Missee Lee (1941); The Picts And The Martyrs: or Not Welcome At All (1943); and Great Northern? (1947). A thirteenth book, Coots in the North, was left incomplete at the time of Ransome's 1967 death and published in an unfinished form in 1988 with some other short works. In subsequent adventures in the series, the children progressively grow older, change their usual roles, and become explorers or miners.
It is around 1960 and Arthur is a ten-year-old boy whose parents are away looking for jobs so he is staying with his grandmother Suchot. His grandfather Archibald, who had been an engineer and travelled all over the world, has been missing for four years but left behind notebooks filled with stories about the Minimoys, a miniature people living underground who are all less than one inch tall. Archibald also buried some rubies somewhere in the garden. When Grandma can’t pay the taxes, utilities, and other bills, Mr. Davido, who wants to buy the property and build apartments on it, purchases the deed from the bank and is ready to foreclose. Arthur hunts for the rubies but can’t find them.
By means of a hidden message left by his grandfather, Arthur learns how to find the Minimoys and, in fact, is turned into one himself. Meeting the Minimoy king, his daughter Princess Selenia, and his son Prince Betameche, he finds out the reason for his grandfather’s disappearance. He too had become a Minimoy to look for the jewels, which had been entrusted to the Minimoys, but they had been stolen by an evil wizard Maltazard, so Archibald went off to find them and was never heard from again. Believing his grandfather to be yet alive, Arthur must go with Selenia and Betameche to the city of Necropolis in the Forbidden Lands to see if they can rescue his grandfather and find the treasure. But many dangers await them on the way. Will they even make it to the Kingdom of Shadows?
Our younger son Jeremy enjoyed the partly animated 2006 film Arthur and the Invisibles. I did not know that the movie was taken from a series of books until I saw the books on sale last year at a discount bookstore and picked them up. Author Luc Besson (b. 1959) is a French film director who decided to make a foray into writing children’s books. Based on an original idea by Celine Garcia, Arthur and the Minimoys was originally published in French and was translated into English by Ellen Sowchek. It contains little that is objectionable and is an interesting kid’s fantasy adventure tale that will appeal to most middle-school aged readers. There is a “sequel” of sorts, Arthur and the Forbidden City (2003), which is actually more of a continuation. In fact, the first book ends with the words “To be continued.” It was after writing the two books that Besson decided to turn the story into a film which contains the plots of both. Subsequent editions have combined them in one volume under the title Arthur and the Invisibles.
How would you react if you had an uncle who worked for the government and suddenly went missing? Twelve-year-old Alexander Scott lives with his mom Anna, who is a freelance children’s book illustrator, his ten-year-old brother Ben, and six-year-old sister Lillie in a 150-year-old Victorian house on the edge of a sleepy little village at the outskirts of a mid-sized city somewhere near Washington D.C. Alex’s dad was a state police detective who had disappeared about six years earlier during an undercover operation. After Mr. Scott’s death, Alex’s uncle, Charlie Massey, and his daughter Savannah came to live with the Scotts. Charlie is a research and development scientist for the United States Department of Defense.
Early in October, Alex notices some strange things happening around his family’s home. There’s a Wi-Fi network connection on his cell phone in the middle of his forest-covered property where there’s never been one before. Ben’s remote-controlled car seems to go haywire when he’s playing with it in Uncle Charlie’s study. There might be a secret tunnel in their home. Then Alex notices a mysterious man peeking in their back door. When he chases the man, he loses him but finds an old pickup truck on the abandoned railroad line behind their house, crawls in the back behind some equipment, and is taken for a wild ride into town before he escapes. Just after Alex and Ben share all this with Charlie and they decide that maybe he’s being spied on, Charlie suddenly disappears. While looking for him, Alex and Ben are kidnapped too. What will happen to them? And will they ever find Charlie?
Alexander, Spy Catcher is reminiscent of the kinds of exciting adventure-mystery books to which boys, and girls too, thrilled back in the 1950s and 60s when I was growing up, although it is updated with modern technology such as smart phones. There is nothing objectionable in the enjoyable story. Author Diane Stormer, who lives in Maryland, has worked as both an artist and a flight attendant but retired shortly after being diagnosed with a rare, untreatable, neurological disease and began to follow her dream of writing. The main characters of the book are loosely based on the personalities of her own children. With its suspenseful plot and short chapters, the story is perfect for young independent readers or for reluctant readers. Diane has already begun a new book in which Alex and Ben stumble upon another adventure.
What is discipline? For many people, the first answer that comes to mind is punishing a child to correct a wrong. That’s part of it, but there’s so much more. The basic meaning of “discipline” is training. “Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance” (2 Timothy 4:7-9). Based upon this passage, Disciplines of a Godly Young Man encourages young men to develop and nurture twelve different disciplines grouped in four categories in order to be godly. After a couple of introductory chapters, they are Relationships: Purity, Friendship; Soul: Mind, Devotion, Prayer; Character: Tongue, Work, Perseverance; and Ministry: Church, Giving, Witness, Ministry, followed by a concluding chapter on the “Grace of Discipline.”
The theme of the book is found on pages 22-23: “Understanding this, we now get down to the reason for this book, which is that in today’s world and church, young Christian men who are disciplined are the exception, not the rule. Why? The answer is that the popular, politically correct culture of the new millennium suppresses manliness, and especially the manliness and leadership of young men who attempt to follow Christ. The reasons are several (feminism, entertainment, and legalism), and together they are daunting.” Under “Purity,” the talk about sex is frank, though certainly not salacious, but it is very true and needed! There are some excellent comments under “Mind” about television and movies, under “Work” about the need for a spiritually disciplined work life, and under “Church” about the importance of church attendance and the benefits of worship. Also, the Hugheses have a great discussion about the difference between discipline and legalism.
I will say that the use of all the sports examples, apparently cited to make the book appealing to young men in our athletic-saturated society, leaves me somewhat cold because I am totally disinterested in sports. However, I suspect that many readers will find them meaningful, and other kinds of illustrations are provided for those who are not into athletics. Depending upon their religious background, there may be a few word usages and theological concepts with which some may disagree. However, these differences are minor to the purpose of the book, and I think that Disciplines of a Godly Young Man would make a great resource for use in a “life curriculum” for a homeschooled teenage boy. R. Kent Hughes, who authored Disciplines of a Godly Man, is “Senior Pastor Emeritus” of College Church in Wheaton, IL, and his son Carey Hughes is “Senior Pastor” of Christ the Redeemer Church in Spokane, WA. Kent’s wife Barbara wrote Disciplines of a Godly Woman, and together they produced Disciplines of a Godly Family.
Based on the Scripture, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap coals of fire on their heads” (Romans 12:20), this “children’s peace classic” offers seventeen true stories about returning love for hate and good for evil, taken from various cultures and time periods. Time-wise, they begin with the story of Isaac and Abimelech recorded in Genesis chapter 26, continue with early Christians in ancient Rome, Mennonites and other Anabaptists in Reformation Europe, Amish in eighteenth century Pennsylvania, Quakers during the American Revolution, a believer during the 1904 anti-Jewish riots in Russia, an early twentieth century peace missionary to India, twentieth century Brethren missionaries in Africa, conscientious objectors during World War I, the post World War I International Voluntary Civilian Service, and a Mennonite relief worker in World War II. The last story is about how the famous statue The Christ of the Andes in South America came about.
Not everyone will necessarily agree with all the traditional “non-resistance” premises historically taken by Anabaptists and Quakers upon which these stories are based, such as that “to kill was a sin��"even in self defense,” that “military training was always wrong,” and that Christians are absolutely forbidden to fight and kill in war, although through the years some of our brethren in churches of Christ have held and yet do hold these same positions. And not of all of the accounts end happily. Sometimes the individuals involved were killed or otherwise perished because of their faith. But as Christians, we certainly understand what it means to be different from the world, so we still should be able appreciate how the examples in this book stood up for and were even willing to die for their convictions. And furthermore, we can learn from them the importance of avoiding violence if at all possible, overcoming evil with good, and striving to seek peaceful means of settling problems. The difficult and challenging situations described in the book are worthy of thoughtful consideration and conversation.
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Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Home School Book Review, May 22, 2012
What did kids do to amuse and entertain themselves before television, video games, computers, and smart phones? They played outside and used their imagination. That’s exactly what Captain John Walker, his sister Mate Susan, their sister Able-seaman Titty, and brother the Boy Roger do. Their father, probably in the Royal Navy, is on a ship at Malta but under orders for Hong-King, so for their summer vacation their mother has rented a cottage on a farm at Holly Howe located next to a huge lake. They also have a baby sister, Vicky, who is taken care of by a nurse. The children have been taught how to sail, and they have use of the farm’s sailboat, the Swallow. While out on the lake, they find an island where they receive permission to camp.During the course of their adventure, they meet up with the Blacketts, Captain Nancy (real name Ruth) and sister Mate Peggy, who have their own pirate sailboat, the Amazon, along with the girls’ uncle James Taylor who lives on a houseboat near the island and becomes “Captain Flint” to the children. The Swallows and the Amazons declare war on each other with victory going to the side who can take the others’ ship, then together they declare war on Captain Flint. Who will win? How will a burglary at Captain Flint’s houseboat affect their relationship? And what will they do when a huge storm comes up over Wild Cat Island? The book had its beginning long before when as a child author Arthur Mitchell Ransome, with his brother and sisters, spent most of their holidays on a farm at the south end of Coniston and played on the nearby lake, but it was further inspired by a summer in which Ransome taught the children of his friends, the Altounyans, to sail. In fact, three of the Altounyan children's names are adopted directly for the Walker family.
Swallows and Amazons, a paean to children’s make-believe play and exploring their surrounding world, is a very pleasant story that involves the great outdoors, boats, fishing, and camping, with rich characterization, vivid descriptions, wholesome reading, and old-fashioned ideals. It includes a good deal of everyday Lakeland life in the early twentieth century, from the local farmers to charcoal burners working in the woods. Seldom have I ever come to the end of a book and felt sorry that it was over. If you read it and reach the same conclusion, you’re in luck! Ransome wrote eleven more books in the “Swallows and Amazons Forever” series: Swallowdale (1931); Peter Duck (1932); Winter Holiday (1933); Coot Club (1934); Pigeon Post (1936); We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea (1937); Secret Water (1939); The Big Six (1940); Missee Lee (1941); The Picts And The Martyrs: or Not Welcome At All (1943); and Great Northern? (1947). A thirteenth book, Coots in the North, was left incomplete at the time of Ransome's 1967 death and published in an unfinished form in 1988 with some other short works. In subsequent adventures in the series, the children progressively grow older, change their usual roles, and become explorers or miners.
Arthur and the Minimoys by Luc Besson
Home School Book Review, May 22, 2012
It is around 1960 and Arthur is a ten-year-old boy whose parents are away looking for jobs so he is staying with his grandmother Suchot. His grandfather Archibald, who had been an engineer and travelled all over the world, has been missing for four years but left behind notebooks filled with stories about the Minimoys, a miniature people living underground who are all less than one inch tall. Archibald also buried some rubies somewhere in the garden. When Grandma can’t pay the taxes, utilities, and other bills, Mr. Davido, who wants to buy the property and build apartments on it, purchases the deed from the bank and is ready to foreclose. Arthur hunts for the rubies but can’t find them.By means of a hidden message left by his grandfather, Arthur learns how to find the Minimoys and, in fact, is turned into one himself. Meeting the Minimoy king, his daughter Princess Selenia, and his son Prince Betameche, he finds out the reason for his grandfather’s disappearance. He too had become a Minimoy to look for the jewels, which had been entrusted to the Minimoys, but they had been stolen by an evil wizard Maltazard, so Archibald went off to find them and was never heard from again. Believing his grandfather to be yet alive, Arthur must go with Selenia and Betameche to the city of Necropolis in the Forbidden Lands to see if they can rescue his grandfather and find the treasure. But many dangers await them on the way. Will they even make it to the Kingdom of Shadows?
Our younger son Jeremy enjoyed the partly animated 2006 film Arthur and the Invisibles. I did not know that the movie was taken from a series of books until I saw the books on sale last year at a discount bookstore and picked them up. Author Luc Besson (b. 1959) is a French film director who decided to make a foray into writing children’s books. Based on an original idea by Celine Garcia, Arthur and the Minimoys was originally published in French and was translated into English by Ellen Sowchek. It contains little that is objectionable and is an interesting kid’s fantasy adventure tale that will appeal to most middle-school aged readers. There is a “sequel” of sorts, Arthur and the Forbidden City (2003), which is actually more of a continuation. In fact, the first book ends with the words “To be continued.” It was after writing the two books that Besson decided to turn the story into a film which contains the plots of both. Subsequent editions have combined them in one volume under the title Arthur and the Invisibles.
Alexander, Spy Catcher by Diane Stormer
Home School Book Review, May 16, 2012
How would you react if you had an uncle who worked for the government and suddenly went missing? Twelve-year-old Alexander Scott lives with his mom Anna, who is a freelance children’s book illustrator, his ten-year-old brother Ben, and six-year-old sister Lillie in a 150-year-old Victorian house on the edge of a sleepy little village at the outskirts of a mid-sized city somewhere near Washington D.C. Alex’s dad was a state police detective who had disappeared about six years earlier during an undercover operation. After Mr. Scott’s death, Alex’s uncle, Charlie Massey, and his daughter Savannah came to live with the Scotts. Charlie is a research and development scientist for the United States Department of Defense.Early in October, Alex notices some strange things happening around his family’s home. There’s a Wi-Fi network connection on his cell phone in the middle of his forest-covered property where there’s never been one before. Ben’s remote-controlled car seems to go haywire when he’s playing with it in Uncle Charlie’s study. There might be a secret tunnel in their home. Then Alex notices a mysterious man peeking in their back door. When he chases the man, he loses him but finds an old pickup truck on the abandoned railroad line behind their house, crawls in the back behind some equipment, and is taken for a wild ride into town before he escapes. Just after Alex and Ben share all this with Charlie and they decide that maybe he’s being spied on, Charlie suddenly disappears. While looking for him, Alex and Ben are kidnapped too. What will happen to them? And will they ever find Charlie?
Alexander, Spy Catcher is reminiscent of the kinds of exciting adventure-mystery books to which boys, and girls too, thrilled back in the 1950s and 60s when I was growing up, although it is updated with modern technology such as smart phones. There is nothing objectionable in the enjoyable story. Author Diane Stormer, who lives in Maryland, has worked as both an artist and a flight attendant but retired shortly after being diagnosed with a rare, untreatable, neurological disease and began to follow her dream of writing. The main characters of the book are loosely based on the personalities of her own children. With its suspenseful plot and short chapters, the story is perfect for young independent readers or for reluctant readers. Diane has already begun a new book in which Alex and Ben stumble upon another adventure.
Disciplines of a Godly Young Man by R. Kent Hughes
Home School Book Review, May 12, 2012
What is discipline? For many people, the first answer that comes to mind is punishing a child to correct a wrong. That’s part of it, but there’s so much more. The basic meaning of “discipline” is training. “Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance” (2 Timothy 4:7-9). Based upon this passage, Disciplines of a Godly Young Man encourages young men to develop and nurture twelve different disciplines grouped in four categories in order to be godly. After a couple of introductory chapters, they are Relationships: Purity, Friendship; Soul: Mind, Devotion, Prayer; Character: Tongue, Work, Perseverance; and Ministry: Church, Giving, Witness, Ministry, followed by a concluding chapter on the “Grace of Discipline.”The theme of the book is found on pages 22-23: “Understanding this, we now get down to the reason for this book, which is that in today’s world and church, young Christian men who are disciplined are the exception, not the rule. Why? The answer is that the popular, politically correct culture of the new millennium suppresses manliness, and especially the manliness and leadership of young men who attempt to follow Christ. The reasons are several (feminism, entertainment, and legalism), and together they are daunting.” Under “Purity,” the talk about sex is frank, though certainly not salacious, but it is very true and needed! There are some excellent comments under “Mind” about television and movies, under “Work” about the need for a spiritually disciplined work life, and under “Church” about the importance of church attendance and the benefits of worship. Also, the Hugheses have a great discussion about the difference between discipline and legalism.
I will say that the use of all the sports examples, apparently cited to make the book appealing to young men in our athletic-saturated society, leaves me somewhat cold because I am totally disinterested in sports. However, I suspect that many readers will find them meaningful, and other kinds of illustrations are provided for those who are not into athletics. Depending upon their religious background, there may be a few word usages and theological concepts with which some may disagree. However, these differences are minor to the purpose of the book, and I think that Disciplines of a Godly Young Man would make a great resource for use in a “life curriculum” for a homeschooled teenage boy. R. Kent Hughes, who authored Disciplines of a Godly Man, is “Senior Pastor Emeritus” of College Church in Wheaton, IL, and his son Carey Hughes is “Senior Pastor” of Christ the Redeemer Church in Spokane, WA. Kent’s wife Barbara wrote Disciplines of a Godly Woman, and together they produced Disciplines of a Godly Family.
Coals of Fire by Elizabeth Bauman
Home School Book Review, May 7, 2012
Based on the Scripture, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap coals of fire on their heads” (Romans 12:20), this “children’s peace classic” offers seventeen true stories about returning love for hate and good for evil, taken from various cultures and time periods. Time-wise, they begin with the story of Isaac and Abimelech recorded in Genesis chapter 26, continue with early Christians in ancient Rome, Mennonites and other Anabaptists in Reformation Europe, Amish in eighteenth century Pennsylvania, Quakers during the American Revolution, a believer during the 1904 anti-Jewish riots in Russia, an early twentieth century peace missionary to India, twentieth century Brethren missionaries in Africa, conscientious objectors during World War I, the post World War I International Voluntary Civilian Service, and a Mennonite relief worker in World War II. The last story is about how the famous statue The Christ of the Andes in South America came about.Not everyone will necessarily agree with all the traditional “non-resistance” premises historically taken by Anabaptists and Quakers upon which these stories are based, such as that “to kill was a sin��"even in self defense,” that “military training was always wrong,” and that Christians are absolutely forbidden to fight and kill in war, although through the years some of our brethren in churches of Christ have held and yet do hold these same positions. And not of all of the accounts end happily. Sometimes the individuals involved were killed or otherwise perished because of their faith. But as Christians, we certainly understand what it means to be different from the world, so we still should be able appreciate how the examples in this book stood up for and were even willing to die for their convictions. And furthermore, we can learn from them the importance of avoiding violence if at all possible, overcoming evil with good, and striving to seek peaceful means of settling problems. The difficult and challenging situations described in the book are worthy of thoughtful consideration and conversation.
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