My Science School

 

               Do you want to get lost in a time when there were no cars to get you around, and real help came from majestic horses? Well, ‘Black Beauty’ will take you there.

               ‘Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse’ is a popular children’s novel by the British author Anna Sewell. It was first published in 1877, and became an immediate success. The novel has been widely translated.

               The novel’s title character is the horse Black Beauty. The story is told from the point of view of Black Beauty, who lives in 19th century England. Over the course of the book, Black Beauty has a series of owners and caretakers, some good and some bad. Although he experiences many hardships, the gentle and intelligent Black Beauty remembers his mother’s wise advice, and always gives his best. The story was written before the invention of automobiles when society depended on horses for nearly everything.

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               ‘Harriet the Spy’ is a 1964 book by Louise Fitzhugh about a girl named Harriet who likes to spy on people. The book is considered as a classic.

               The title character of the book is Harriet, a precocious eleven-year-old who writes down everything because she wants to be a writer when she grows up. She keeps a composition book with her at all times, writing down her observations, and general thoughts that pop into her mind. After school, she goes on her spy route. One thing about Harriet, though: she’s extremely secretive about the contents of her notebook. One day Harriet loses her notebook. Her classmates find it and are appalled at her brutally honest documentation of her opinions of them. They try to trouble Harriet. Thus the story goes.

               In the US, this is ranked number 12 as the best children’s book, and number 17 all time children’s book on two lists generated in 2012. Fitzhugh wrote two sequels to the book- ‘The Long Secret’ and ‘Sport’.

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          Roald Dahl’s ‘James and the Giant Peach’ tells the tale of a young boy called James, who is packed off to live with his two really horrible aunts after his parents were killed by a rhinoceros that escaped from London Zoo. The aunts Spiker and Sponge, who treat him like a slave, keep him in the attic, and only feed him fish heads.

          One afternoon, when he is crying in the woods, James stumbles across a friendly wizard, who mysteriously understands his situation, and gives him some magic crystals that he promises will bring happiness.

          On the way back to the house, James spills the crystals onto a peach tree, which grows a peach of a giant size. When entering into the peach James has a wild and surreal cross-world adventure with seven magically-altered garden bugs he meets. They set off on a journey to escape from James’ two mean and cruel aunts. The adventures of James thus begin.

          The book ‘James and the Giant Peach’ was a great success. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1996.

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               ‘Goodnight Moon’ is an American children’s novel written by Margaret Wise Brown, and illustrated by Clement Hurd. It is a classic children’s book in the form of a simple picture book which shows a small bunny getting ready for bed. It first lists the items in the bunny’s nursery, and then, he says goodnight to each in turn. By the end of the story, the bunny is asleep in the darkened nursery.

               It was published on September 3, 1947, and is a highly acclaimed bedtime story. ‘Goodnight Moon’ has sold more than 48 million copies since it was first published.

               Many parents around the world have read the book to their sleepy children. This book is the second in Brown and Hurd’s “classic series”, which also include ‘The Runaway Bunny’ and ‘My World’.

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              This wonderful story book, published by Harper in 1972, with illustrations by John Schoenherr is set on the Alaska North Slope. It features Julie or Miyax. She is a young Eskimo girl.

               After Julie’s mother’s death, she is raised by her father, Kapugen. Later, Julie is sent to live with Aunt Martha, a distant and cold woman. She attempts to escape from there, and ends up getting lost on the Arctic tundra.

               She runs into a pack of wolves, and rather than devouring her, she is adopted by them. The book deals with her struggle to learn how to communicate with wolves, and her reasons for leaving.

               ‘Julie of the Wolves’ was written by Jean Craighead George in 1972, and two sequels, ‘Julie’ and ‘Julie’s Wolf Pack’, followed. The novel ‘Julie of the Wolves’ is undoubtedly one of the all-time favourite books of children.

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               This is how the story of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’, goes. Max, a young boy, makes so much mischief in his wolf suit that his mother sends him to bed without his supper. In his room he imagines himself in a forest and he journeys to where the Wild Things live. They are fierce, but he conquers them by meeting their eyes. They make him their king. But Max is homesick, so he returns home to discover his supper waiting in his room for him.

               The story consists of just 338 words as it is basically a picture book. Written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, the book is very popular among children. It was published in 1963.

               Since its publication, the book and author have been honoured with a number of awards. The story has been adapted as a test animation project by John Lasseter, a 1983 opera by Oliver Knussen, and has been referenced in pop culture numerous times. In October 2009, Warner Bros. Pictures released a live-action theatrical film based on the book.

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            ‘The Wind in the Willows’ is a 1908 children’s book of twelve chapters by Kenneth Grahame. The book tells the adventures of the animal friends Mole, Rat, Mr. Badger and Mr. Toad. It has been read and re-read with pleasure by children and their parents through multiple generations.

            Mole is cleaning his home, but gets fed up with the work he is doing. He decides to leave his underground home, and take a walk in the fresh air. He eventually finds himself at the river, which he has never seen before, and meets the water rat Ratty, who takes him for a boat ride. Mole and Ratty quickly become friends. Ratty invites Mole to stay with him, and teaches him how to row a boat. In the summer, Ratty takes Mole to Toad Hall, the home of Mr. Toad, a cheerful and friendly character, who is also vain and boastful.

            Later, Mole shows interest in visiting another of Ratty’s friends, Badger, who lives in the Wild Wood. Ratty does not want to take him there, because he knows that Badger does not like visitors. Their story continues with more adventures than ever.

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            ‘The Giving Tree’ is a paradise of words for nature lovers. It is the story about an apple tree and a little boy. This beautiful book mainly focuses on the intense bond between the tree and the boy. For example, even though the boy ages, and becomes an adult as the story progresses, the apple tree prefers to affectionately call him boy till the end.

            In an effort to make the boy happy at each of these stages, the tree gives him parts of herself, which he can transform into material items. The tree gives the boy her fruits for money, her branches for building him a house, and her trunk for building him a new boat. With every stage of giving, the tree seems happy. Their amazing relationship continues, even after the boy grows into a very old man.

            ‘The Giving Tree’ was written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein and was first published in 1964.

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            The story of Snow White, a princess who was the most beautiful woman in her kingdom, is one of the world’s best loved tales.

            Snow White’s stepmother, the Queen who is the second most beautiful woman in the kingdom, becomes extremely jealous of Snow White, and grows to despise her because of her superior beauty. The Queen orders a huntsman to murder Snow White. The huntsman takes pity on Snow White, and allows her to escape into the forest. She takes refuge in a cottage that belongs to seven dwarfs. The seven dwarfs allow Snow White to stay as their housekeeper. The story takes a sudden twist when the Queen finds out that Snow White is still alive.

            ‘Snow White’ is a well known and very widely read children’s book. It is a beautiful, creatively written German fairy tale. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ‘Grimms’ Fairy Tales’. The Grimms completed their final revision of the story in 1854.

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               ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’ is a children’s fantasy book. The title character of the book is a living wooden puppet, carved by a toy maker named Geppetto who makes the puppet his adoptive son. Pinocchio is initially disobedient and mischievous. He abandons his father and goes off in search of adventure. The story takes a turn as Pinocchio is saved by a fairy. The fairy educates Pinocchio, and manages to get him to change his ways. As a reward Pinocchio gets the best gift in his life, which continues to make the plot of the book interesting.

               The book of thirty six chapters is written by Carlo Collodi. It has been translated into some 250 different languages. There have been various adaptations of ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’, the best known of which continues to be the 1940 animated film Pinocchio, from Walt Disney.

               The popular myth of somebody’s nose growing longer when he or she lies was introduced in ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’.

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               ‘The Tinder Box’ is a fantasy short story for children by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.

                The main character in the story, a soldier, is sent by a witch to visit an underground treasure trove. The witch tells him that he can bring back as much money as he can carry, and keep it for himself, but he must give her an old tinder box which he will also find down there. The story continues to narrate the soldier’s life ahead.

                The story which appeared in Andersen’s first collection of fairy tales was published in 1835 and was translated into English in 1846. The book was the subject of the first Danish animated film, released in 1946.

                There are also several similarities between ‘The Tinder Box’ and the stories ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’ from ‘One Thousand and One Nights’, a work with which Andersen had been familiar since childhood.

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            Who doesn’t like to read enchanting folk tales from the mysterious Arabian lands? ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ is a compilation of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories, written down in Arabic

            The standard Arabic text of ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ today is the work of a series of anonymous authors, writing over a period of more than a thousand years. Its collection took place over many centuries and countries. Some of the tales, including ‘Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp’, ‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’, and ‘The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor’ were added by European translators.

            Despite the many differences between editions, one element they have in common is the frame story of King Shahryar and his wife, the storyteller Scheherazade. The stories themselves belong to a variety of different genres, including adventure, comedy, fantasy and tragedy.

            It is often regarded as a work that shows, man’s unending will to overcome defeat.

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               If you are a dog lover, and love to read stories about them, you should definitely read ‘Where the Red Fern Grows’. It is a beloved classic that captures the powerful bond between man and man’s best friend.

               It is a book about a boy named Billy Colman and the adventures he has with his two coonhound dogs named Old Dan and Little Ann. Billy spends two years earning enough money in order to buy the puppies. After that, he trains them to hunt raccoons, with Old Dan displaying strength and Little Ann displaying intelligence. Over time they become known as the best coonhounds in the area. The story continues to narrate the unexpected fate of the boy and the dogs.

               ‘Where the Red Fern Grows’, written by Wilson Rawls, was published in the year 1961. The book was a success, and attracted readers of all ages.

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          Is there anyone who isn’t familiar with the famous character ‘Mowgli’? Hopefully none. The main character of the evergreen ‘The Jungle Book’ (1894), a collection of stories written by Rudyard Kipling, is a huge part of our childhood.

            Mowgli is a human child raised by wolves in the jungle. In these tales, the animals proved to be both Mowgli’s allies and adversaries. Baloo the bear, Bagheera the panther along with many others, are Mowgli’s friends. But Shere Khan the tiger is his biggest enemy. The stories are set in a forest in India.

            Kipling was born in India and spent the first five years of his childhood there. After about ten years in England, he went back to India, and worked there for about six and half years. The original publications contained illustrations, some by Rudyard’s father, John Lockwood Kipling. ‘The Jungle Book’ has remained popular, partly through its many adaptations for film and other media.

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            Well, the title character of this enthralling children’s book doesn’t even need an introduction, as he is one of the most popular cartoon characters in the world.

            ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ is a classic 1926 children’s book by English author Alan A. Milne, which tells the stories of Winnie-the-Pooh, a silly bear living in the Hundred Acre Wood with his friends Piglet, Rabbit, Eeyore, Owl and Christopher Robin. It was illustrated by Ernest H. Sheppard. This story collection is a selection of 15 charming stories, created to show little ones what it means to be a true friend. Come along with Winnie-the-Pooh and friends as they learn about sharing and caring, about working together, and missing each other when they’re apart, about putting friends first and building friendships that last.

            The book consists of ten loosely-connected stories, each told in one of its ten chapters. Later ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ was adapted into comic and animation format. In 2003, the book was listed at number 7 on the BBC’s survey ‘The Big Read’.

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