Finally, Im done reading this book. Ive been wanting to read this ever since I learned that the movie of the same title was based on this book. ANother reason why I want to read this is because it is also included in the BBC big list along with another Children’s Classic, Charlotte’s Web which was also adapted into a movie.
The story is about the adventure of Charlie Bucket and four other children who won the Golden Ticket and was given the privilege to spend a day inside the largest chocolate factory in the world owned by Mr. Willy Wonka.
What I love about this book are the lessons learned from the story of each of the four children who were “eliminated” because of their behaviour during their stay at the factory, apparently revealed through the songs of the Oompa loompas. My most favorite part is the song of the Oompa loompas about the story of Mike Teavee, the child who loves to watch TV. The argument of Roald Dahl on the negative impact of watching television too much on the creativity and thinking capacity of the children was articulated through this song and the story of Mike Teavee still remains true to most of the children of today’s generation. I also love the way how the author explained the importance of reading and encourage the children to read more instead of watching tv through this book.
This is a book that I would recommend to most of the children today to read for them to realize not only the importance of reading but also the values that each children should possess as exemplified by Charlie and the attitude they should avoid as shown by Augustus Gloop (an excessive eater), Veruca Salt (a spoiled brat), Violet Beauregarde (a girl who loves to chew gum constantly) and Mike Teavee (who loves to watch television).
I’m not really fussy when it comes to book covers for I’m an avid believer of the famous quote “don’t judge the book by its cover” although, I also believe that it doesn’t work all the time. But if I will be ask to choose among all of Mina Esguerra’s books based on their cover, I’ll definitely choose this one. I just love the color and the picture of a girl reading in this cover. Then I will later find out that it’s a good a choice for it’s a good read after all.
Just like any other works of Ms. Mina Esguerra, this is a short and delectable read. I don’t know why but I always have this thing on stories about bad-boy-turned-good-because-of-a-girl and this book has that kind of plot so I love it. Just like Julie, I’m the manang type and I don’t easily trust guys specially If I already know that he’s the playboy type. But then, it is also flattering when the bad guy decided to change into a better person because of girl so when the story unfolds that Anton turned out to be that kind of guy, I can’t help but feel sorry for Julie for letting him go. I’m glad that everyone deserves a second a chance so we can have a life happily ever after all.
Title: That Kind of Guy Author: Mina Esguerra Copy: Owned, Paperback Rating:
Read on May 05, 2012
Fairy Tale Fail is my third book of Mina Esguerra, and so far, she never failed to amuse me with her stories. Just like her two other books that I’ve read, the plot of this novella is cute, easy to read and has the “kilig” moments that I can easily relate to.
Generally, the story is kind of familiar to me because I’ve read other stories with similar plot. What make this book stand out are the characters and the setting. I always love reading novels with stories that remind me of some feelings and situations I had before or with characters that I can relate to because it reminds me of someone I know. Apparently, Don and Lucas reminds me of two guys I used to like before so I really cant help but smile the whole time I was reading this. 🙂
Reading is my past time so I read books for pleasure and entertainment. A good book for me, is usually something that would make me smile and feel good while reading it.
Like Ellie, I am free-spirited, loves travelling and admittedly a hopeless romantic. If I would have a Prince Charming of my own, I would like him to be Mr. Perfect: with stable job, hardworking, gentleman, no vices and all that, just like Don. I would like to meet him as an “aloof and arrogant guy who gets over himself and reveals his other side – sensitive, caring and responsible” but I would like him also to be someone who shares the same principles and interest with me and supportive of my passion. Sometimes, Mr. Perfect is not necessarily Mr. Right and if you insist that the fairy tale that you’ve designed is something that involves Mr. Perfect and Mr. Right as the same person, then things would definitely turn out differently from happily ever after.
This is the reason why Ellie’s first relationship did not end up well. She keeps on insisting that Mr. Perfect is the right man for her and she holds on to her fantasy that their break-up is part of the test so she can’t move on and be happy.
Having not able to experience the break-up that Ellie had, I know I dont have the right to talk about getting over and moving on but my feminist side always makes me want to hit people like Ellie in the head for holding on to undeserving guys like Don. And in a fairy tale, there is always this knight in shining armour so here comes Lucas, the cool and fun-to-be-with and definitely the better guy, but she could not accept because he is not the good guy she thought she want. So when she finally realize that Don is not the right one for her I kind of felt so relieved and happy that she ended up with the right guy.
Title: Fairy Tale Fail Author: Mina Esguerra Copy: Ebook Rating:
Read from August 04 to 05, 2011
It is actually surprising that most of the movies I love are based on books, just like this one. I love Anne Hathaway and I always find the role of a Princess or a royal personality so fit for her so I’ve been meaning to watch Ella Enchanted ever since I first learned about it. Unfortunately, I was not able to watch it on the big screen so it was only last year that I was able to find a copy and watch it.
As mentioned earlier, I was surprised when I learned in goodreads that Ella Enchanted is a children’s book, a retelling of our most beloved fairy tale, Cinderella, that is. And so I decided to read this the other night and was able to finish it shortly. It is actually a bit different from the movie, but I love it just the same because of the twist that the author has made on the protagonist’s character. I also love how the characters were developed, especially the Prince. He’s not the usual knight-in-the-shining-armor kind of prince who usually shows up when the damsel is in great distress but that kind of prince who is a dear friend to Ella from the beginning.
Though the plot is very familiar, I find it very creative of the author for making Ella’s character a princess with a very unlikely gift. A gift that was intentionally a good gift but we later find out that it’s not.
I don’t have the luxury of time for reading lately so obviously, my currently reading list is starting to pile up. I’ve been reading Sense and Sensibility for ages and I have to put off reading Sophie’s World in favor of Jellicoe Road for the TFG’s May Face-to-Face Discussion and started reading Up a Road Slowly this week for my Newbery Medal Challenge. I’ve actually found the last two books amazing so I’m having a kind of dilemma which book to finish first.
I want to have a stress-free weekend so I decided to stay awake up to 2am in the morning just to finish reading both them and it’s so worthy for both books are really satisfying.
I remember the first time I learned about the Chronicles of Narniawas when one of my professors back in college asked us, as a bonus question in our exam, to enumerate the seven books of the series. During that time, I’ve only heard about TLTWTW so instead of feeling happy for the bonus points, I got disappointed for i’ve only one point for that bonus question.(Actually, the exam was so hard that I have to rely on the bonus questions to get a passing score.) Fortunately, I was able to pass the exam even without the bonus but that question remained in me forever that I became curious about the series so I made a promise to read those books someday.
It was only last year though that I’ve started fulfilling that promise by reading the first three books of the series and so far, Lewis has never failed to fascinate me with his works that i did not hesitate to buy the set when i saw it at the UP christmas bazzar.
Prince Caspian deserves Mr. Cute Bear bookmark
Okay, enough for that long introduction. Let me now give justice to that 5 stars.
This fourth book of the Narnia series is actually about the return of the pevensie siblings to narnia a year after their return to earth from that magical wardrobe. To their surprise, it seems that a year on earth is equivalent to a thousand years or so in narnia so what they found were only the remains of the kingdom that had once belong to them. They later found out that the reason why they were brought back to narnia was that a rightful heir of the throne is in danger of losing his crown. So once again, the children have to carry out their mission and restore the old narnian kingdom.
I have actually seen the movie prior to reading this book but I’m glad that the scenes from the movie seem so vague in my memory so I was able to appreciate Lewis’ account of the story. The movie is also different with the love angle between Caspian and Susan, which is actually absent in the book, so I think that was an added point.
Actually the reason why I love this book is the underlying theme of the story. More than the victory they’ve gained at the end of the story, I love how the hope of the real Narnians rise up upon knowing that Aslan is alive for he seems so distant for a long time. I also love how the author tied up lose ends and answer the question I have in mind in the beginning of the book – Where did those Telmarines came from?
I think the only distraction Ihad while reading this was that i cant help but interchangeably imagine the scenes from the lord of the rings movie with all those moving trees.
Title: Prince Caspian Author: C.S. Lewis Copy: Owned Rating: ★★★★★
I have no idea about this book except for the hint on the cover that this is a story of a horse. I always find a copy of this in the children’s section of booksale but I always end up ignoring it since it doesn’t have a Newberry seal in its cover and I am not really fond of pony books so I thought it will not fit me. It was only when I‘ve finally found a Php10 copy in one of my bargain book-hunting sessions in booksale that I decided to buy it and give it a shot. When I started reading and found out that it is written from a first person point of view a horse in an autobiography form, I instantly changed my mind from thinking that it’s not interesting and as I go through the chapters, I find the shifting emotions I felt while reading truly remarkable and so my increasing love for it.
Living in a period when horses are no longer used for transportation and in a country where horses are not common farm animal, I can definitely count with my fingers the times when I was able to have a face to face experience with a horse, and one of those was when we had a “calesa ride” as we tour the historical streets of Vigan.
This is the sad truth about horses in our country. We can only see them usually in historical tourist destination areas like Intramuros and Vigan and you have to pay a large sum of money just to experience them.
Reading this book brought me to the panoramic view of 19th century England where horses are the most common means of transport, as Black Beauty narrates the experiences he had with his different owners and the other people and horses he met along the way. As the story develops, I learn a lot about horses and their work during that time and see the different kinds of treatment that they receive from humans.
Despite the hardships that he’d gone through with those cruel masters, he was able to keep his spirit and good temper up. It made me think though that it’s good for Beauty for he was able to meet good masters several times in his life, but for those who ended up with cruel masters, I can’t help but feel sorry for them. There are actually scenes from this book that really broke my heart which made me feel ashamed of myself because admittedly, I can be one of those cruel people sometimes. Not being an animal lover, (not for the domestic animals at least as I cared a lot about endangered animal species), I always feel some sort of distaste for dogs and cats that I would not hesitate to hit them once they made a wrong move to me. I think this book made me realized I have to stop doing that and try to be at least civil, if not more caring, to them. As what the author had said “we have no right to distress any of God’s creatures without a very good reason; we call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.”
Today, Black Beauty is considered as a children’s classic but Mr. Wiki says that the author did not actually wrote this book for children. For the author Anna Sewell, horses are one of her most beloved animals that she wrote a book about them and hope that her work, as she explained in a letter to a friend before she died, “would induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment with horses” and I think she was able to effectively do that in this book. The message of this book is actually more than a story about a horse but also about us humans, and how we treat animals who cannot speak for themselves.
Title: Black Beauty Author: Anna Sewell Copy: Owned Rating: ★★★★★
Honestly, I thought I would find this book boring and uninteresting unlike the first book of the series. I have to stop at the end of first chapter because I find the story very slow and flat so I decided to try the Lion, the Witch and the Wizard first, and have a glimpse of Narnia through the adventures of the Pevensie siblings. I enjoyed the book as much as I enjoyed the movie that I decided to go back to the first book of the series and see the creation of Narnia.
My second attempt to read this book was indeed a success that I can’t help but admire C.S. Lewis for creating this timeless piece of literature. I love how C.S. Lewis translated the story of Creation and the Fall of Man into a children’s tale, though according to wikipedia, the author did not intend his books to be allegorical.
This is indeed a timeless classic book that I would certainly love to read to my children when the right time comes, as a tool for introducing Jesus Christ to their very young mind.
Title: Magician’s Nephew Author: C.S. Lewis Copy: Owned Rating: ★★★★★
I first learned about the Little Prince in one of the my values education lesson back in high school. Our lesson then was about friendship and the excerpt of story of the Little Prince and the fox was used as an example of how friendship is formed among individuals. I didn’t know about the beauty of the book then until a college friend of mine told me how she loved this book.
When I first read this, I honestly didn’t like it that much,except for the illustrations of the boa constrictor and the baobabs. I guess I just didn’t get the message of the story. It was only last year that I decided to read it again and pay more attention to it that I was able to appreciate and see its beauty. I love how the author wrote the story in a simple and innocent way yet full of wisdom as he narrates the story of the little prince, the rose, and the fox through the pilot. I love how the author creatively discussed the flaws of the grown-ups as compared to children in seeing the most important and pleasurable things in life and with that, this book deserves to be included in my list of books that I will read for so many times.
Title: The Little Prince Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupery Copy: Kindle Rating: ★★★★★
Originally posted from Goodreads
No Ordinary Day 