Happy Chinese New year to you all. Today becomes the year of the rabbit. To learn more about this significant event for the Chinese click on lantern
Showing posts with label point of view. Show all posts
Showing posts with label point of view. Show all posts
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Saturday, 29 May 2010
The importance of reading
The New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards are the only popular awards for children’s literature in this country. Each year 5 finalists are selected for each of the different categories - picture book, junior fiction, young adult fiction and non-fiction. A panel of judges read these books and award's a winner for each category. Alongside this the children of NZ are able to cast their vote in the "Children's Choice Award". There are also the NZ Post Book of the Year and The Best First Book which encourage new authors to take part. New Zealand Post has been sponsoring children’s literature for the last 14 years and has given numerous opportunities to a variety of talented authors and illustrators. Each year imaginative, stimulating books are released by the publishers, feeding the young impressionable minds of New Zealand.
We, the people of New Zealand should embrace this event and recognise its importance. Reading is the number one skill everybody must have. It is vitally important to be able to understand the written text, use a wide repertoire of vocabulary and have knowledge of sentence structure and grammar. Reading expands the imagination, stretches the attention span and allows one to escape into a world of fantasy and adventure. Books are great. Books widen the horizons, bring history to life, help us develop hobbies and interests, give knowledge and enrich our lives. Books help give children 'a leg up on the ladder of life'. No-one is ever too old to read and a child is never too old to be read to.
Having scanned the newspaper for the results of this year’s awards, I felt very disappointed that the media was unable to give the event the publicity it deserved. I know I am not always the most observant of people {I have been known to drive into a horse truck} but I truly had difficulty in finding information in the newspapers, particularly the New Zealand Herald.
I wonder if the same treatment would have been given to the All-Blacks or the Silver Ferns……. I think not. So, what does this say about literature and New Zealand?
Elaine Minett.
We, the people of New Zealand should embrace this event and recognise its importance. Reading is the number one skill everybody must have. It is vitally important to be able to understand the written text, use a wide repertoire of vocabulary and have knowledge of sentence structure and grammar. Reading expands the imagination, stretches the attention span and allows one to escape into a world of fantasy and adventure. Books are great. Books widen the horizons, bring history to life, help us develop hobbies and interests, give knowledge and enrich our lives. Books help give children 'a leg up on the ladder of life'. No-one is ever too old to read and a child is never too old to be read to.
Having scanned the newspaper for the results of this year’s awards, I felt very disappointed that the media was unable to give the event the publicity it deserved. I know I am not always the most observant of people {I have been known to drive into a horse truck} but I truly had difficulty in finding information in the newspapers, particularly the New Zealand Herald.
I wonder if the same treatment would have been given to the All-Blacks or the Silver Ferns……. I think not. So, what does this say about literature and New Zealand?
Elaine Minett.
Monday, 10 May 2010
Shakespeare
As a teenager, had I been given the choice between having my toenails pulled off and studying one of Shakespeare's plays I would have gone with the former. What could be more boring than having to read something that first needed to be translated into present day english before trying to understand its themes, motifs and symbols. Oh so much hard work! And what would Shakespeare know about the 21st century anyway?
Now as an adult I would definitely choose Shakespeare. My interest in his works were kindled several years ago when our eldest daughter and I went to Auckland to see the play "A Winter's Tale."A perfectly executed production brought to life the themes of suspicion, jealousy, obsession to the point of paranoia and eventually self- destruction.
What about, "To be, or not to be: that is the question."
That is the first line of Hamlet's soliloquy which we all know, but do we know what is being implied?Hamlet is a play about uncertainty, death and revenge.
Macbeth's main theme highlights temptation and the evil side of human nature whilst The Merchant of Venice portrays greed and prejudice.
This is a simplistic view of just 4 of Shakespeare's many plays, but what we must remember about these plays is that these themes are eternal. Human nature is eternal and that is why they are so relevant to us today.
Authors and publishers work hard trying to find creative ways to unpick the old language. John Marsden has written a version of Hamlet in novel form aimed at teenagers which I have read and outlines the play superbly. T.K.Roxborough's novel "Banquo's Son" is a sequel to Macbeth again produced to tempt teeenagers. Orchard Books have published a series of Shakespeare's plays aimed at the junior reader and there are even audio study guides are available for your iPod.
I urge you all to try a Shakespeare play at some point in your life; maybe start out with a novel format and then progress on to the 'real' play. It is worth spending time weeding through the language allowing the themes to surface and appreciatie Shakespeares's view of human nature which is eternal and never changes.
Now as an adult I would definitely choose Shakespeare. My interest in his works were kindled several years ago when our eldest daughter and I went to Auckland to see the play "A Winter's Tale."A perfectly executed production brought to life the themes of suspicion, jealousy, obsession to the point of paranoia and eventually self- destruction.
What about, "To be, or not to be: that is the question."
That is the first line of Hamlet's soliloquy which we all know, but do we know what is being implied?Hamlet is a play about uncertainty, death and revenge.
Macbeth's main theme highlights temptation and the evil side of human nature whilst The Merchant of Venice portrays greed and prejudice.
This is a simplistic view of just 4 of Shakespeare's many plays, but what we must remember about these plays is that these themes are eternal. Human nature is eternal and that is why they are so relevant to us today.
Authors and publishers work hard trying to find creative ways to unpick the old language. John Marsden has written a version of Hamlet in novel form aimed at teenagers which I have read and outlines the play superbly. T.K.Roxborough's novel "Banquo's Son" is a sequel to Macbeth again produced to tempt teeenagers. Orchard Books have published a series of Shakespeare's plays aimed at the junior reader and there are even audio study guides are available for your iPod.
I urge you all to try a Shakespeare play at some point in your life; maybe start out with a novel format and then progress on to the 'real' play. It is worth spending time weeding through the language allowing the themes to surface and appreciatie Shakespeares's view of human nature which is eternal and never changes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
