Vile Villain Series - Jadis

24. May, 2015

“But the people?” gasped Digory.
“What people, boy?” asked the Queen.
“All the ordinary people,” said Polly, “who’d never done you any harm. And the women, and the children, and the animals.”
“Don’t you understand?” said the Queen (still speaking to Digory). “I was the Queen. They were all my people. What else were they there for but to do my will?”

Welcome to the first of my Vile Villain series. This week let’s talk about Jadis who stars in the Chronicles of Narnia written by C.S. Lewis. She is in The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which are the first two books.

Jadis is feared by everyone as the horrendous White Witch; a terrifying sorceress who has the power of turning people to stone. Brutally strong and standing over seven feet tall, Jadis is an intimidating ruler. She makes fauns catch children and hand them over to her. In the The Magician’s Nephew, Jadis becomes immortal by eating an enchanted apple, but the apple also brings despair and turns her skin chalk-white.

How cold-hearted is the White Witch? Jadis goes to war with her sister, the Queen of World of Charn. After a long war, she kills her sister by speaking the Deplorable Word and everyone in that world. She feels no guilt. In Narnia, Jadis conjures a curse to make a 100 year winter. She decorates her castle with statues of people and creatures that she has turned to stone. Jadis delights in killing Aslan, the heroic lion who has banished her to the North of Narnia and who fights on the side of good.

Jadis is vain and selfish. There is not a drop of niceness in her blood. The more I got to know Jadis, the more I wanted to crush her. I felt victorious when she was taken down.

Next week: Who forces someone to eat heaps of cake as a punishment, throws a girl over the fence by the pigtails and locks children up in a cupboard full of broken glass and nails? See if you are right in my next blog.

(Image: Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon)

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Roald Dahl Rocks!

16. May, 2015

Where would you find a lettuce-munching tortoise who is love-crazy for his owner, Mrs Silver? Where would you find a big friendly giant who flies when he fluffs? Where would you find a humongous chocolate waterfall tumbling into a river of mouth-watering goodness? Why, in the bewildering, flabbergasting, scrumdiddlyumptious world of Roald Dahl, of course!

When I was in kindergarten, my favourite book was The BFG by Roald Dahl. I liked it so much that I wanted more from this fabulous, quirky author. I looked in the school library and found so many others: Matilda, Esio Trot, Fabulous Mr Fox, James and the Giant Peach, The Magic Finger, The Witches, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and more. I became an instant fan. I have read some of these stories at least five times!

Roald Dahl had a knack for writing humorous, peculiar stories with eccentric characters. All of his books have at least one revolting oddball and an unexpected hero. My most beloved Roald Dahl character is Matilda Wormwood. She adores books and can’t wait to escape her mean parents and horrible brother for school. Matilda meets her wondrous teacher, Miss Honey who she adores. But school is worse than home. The vile headmistress, Miss Trunchbull despises small children and especially hates Matilda. Amazingly, this small girl finds out she has secret powers that come in very handy…

The creative language Roald Dahl uses in his books makes me laugh out loud. This form of speech is called, ‘gobblefunk’. For example, there is a soft drink called ‘frobscottle’, ‘phizz-whizzing’ means brilliant and ‘whoopsy-splunkers’ is fantastic. Early readers may have trouble understanding these difficult words so I give the age rating of 7+. The storylines are simple, but a little bit scary like bloodthirsty witches who catch children, squelch them and eat them.

I found a really funny website which translates words into gobblefunk. You can find fun at: www.roalddahlfans.com/gobblefunk.php

(Image: Illustrated by Quentin Blake from www.roalddahl.com)

What Makes a Heroine?

8. May, 2015

“Books! And cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery.”
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K Rowling.

My favourite book character is Hermione Granger, a young witch at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She has many strengths and one of them is brains. When her friends are in trouble she always knows the right spells to save them from the mess they are in. Hermione is courageous and caring, but beneath it all is a small, fragile girl. You learn this early in the series where she is in the toilet, crying because fellow pupils Ron and Harry had been teasing her. This shows her vulnerability. A brave brainiac, she still gets bullied by other students at Hogwarts. Hermione is someone we can admire and relate to.

Another one of my favourite heroines is Valkyrie Cain from the Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy. She can push air, throw fire and even use the shadows to defend herself. She always kicks butt! Although she sounds cool, she is a complex character. While fighting on the good side with her partner Skulduggery Pleasant, there is a darker side to her which is revealed later in the storyline.

Then there is Annabeth Chase, a beautiful demigod from the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan. She is very smart because she is the daughter of the Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena. Annabeth had a horrible childhood and ran away at an early age. She grows to become an excellent leader and a brilliant role model.

All of these characters have some kind of power or extraordinary ability. But is it possible to find an everyday heroine?

Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables by L.M Montgomery is a kind but bad-tempered, red-headed orphan who gets adopted by Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. They really want a boy to work on Green Gables farm but the orphanage slips up and gives them a girl. Anne had been raised with no manners yet is somehow able to charm the Cuthberts. She makes disastrous mistakes all the time, like when she accidently gives her best friend red wine instead of red cordial and sends her home drunk. At school, Anne is furious when she gets called, “Carrots” by a handsome young bloke named Gilbert Blythe, yet in time they become close friends. Anne grows up to be a compassionate young lady and teacher. After earning a scholarship she gives up her four year degree to teach in Avonlea and care for Marilla. Anne is a fine role model who makes a sacrifice for her family. Indeed, an everyday heroine.

Tell me, who is your favourite heroine?

(Image: skulduggery.wikia.com)

Adaption Agony

3. May, 2015

The movie or the book first?

I prefer to read the book first so that afterwards I get the reward of seeing the movie. Plus, I find the book is usually better than the movie.

For example, the Harry Potter movies are pretty close adaptions to the books by J.K.Rowling, but the filmmaker still deleted some scenes. However, The Neverending Story wasn’t quite the same…

A few years ago I read The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. After winning the School Spelling Bee, I was awarded the movie. I was disgusted - they had left out half the book. The novel had a lion-like monster at the end which I wanted to show my lion-obsessed little brother, but it wasn’t in the movie. He saw that I was upset at the end when the Roadshow Films logo appeared on the screen. That ‘upside-down triangle’ has continued to traumatise him for years to come!

The Secret Garden was entirely different to the story by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Surprisingly, the movie was a lot better than the book. It wasn’t so bad that each Mary Lennox had different features such as eye colour and hair colour, but the movie had an earthquake that took away her parents and in the book it was an illness called cholera. Overall, the book was more complicated and a little disappointing.

I have just finished A Little Princess also by Frances Hodgson Burnett, but this time it was brilliant. I wonder what the movie will be like?

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