Great classics on the 23rd April

This time they are my 1st and 2nd year ESO students the ones who write about those great English classics and stories everybody knows about: Romeo and Juliet, Oliver Twist, The Hobbit, Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes, The Jungle Books...

Roald Dahl (1916 -1990)

This 13th of September marks the centenary of Roald Dahl's birth. Loved by millions of readers all over the world, not many people know that this Welsh children's author was also a Second World War Royal Air Force pilot and spy. He met and worked alongside Ian Fleming, who would later become James Bond's creator . As a screenwriter, Roald Dahl himself would write the script for You Only Live Twice.

His charming characters  are unforgettable. His skilful and magic stories keep the reader enthralled from start to finish. Although they are widely popular nowadays also thanks to their screen versions - like Spielberg's Gremlins,  Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Danny de Vito's Matilda or James and the Giant Peach - he firmly believed in the importance of reading, and he was not always pleased with these adaptations.  "I'm probably more pleased with my children's books than with my adult short stories. Children's books are harder to write. It's tougher to keep a child interested because a child does not have the concentration of an adult. A child knows the television is in the next room. It's tough to hold a child, but it's a lovely thing to try to do."        

Books always make great gifts

Here is Christmas time again, the holiday gift-giving season par excellence. And if all of us always strive for the best and most special present for our nearest and dearest, why not a book this year? A print book, I mean.

Electronic books could also work, but the emotional connection is greater with paper ones. In fact, we usually keep good memories of each single book we have in our home libraries: where and when we got them, who bought them to us... Besides, isn´t it a really depressing image seeing us more and more pushed towards a screen all the time? Wherever we look nowadays, we see everybody attached to their smartphones and digital devices, obsessed with downloading the latest mobile apps or snapping selfies, for instance. 

Books are affordable, they last a lifetime and they can provide hours of emotions, whatever the reader´s age. There are lots of must-reads in the market (and not necessarily the bestsellers of the moment; on the contrary, I´d be ashamed of getting some of these!), ranging from ageless classics to contemporary ones.

Books fire the children´s imagination and they also broaden the teens´ minds. Helping them to understand and deal with this increasingly complex world, they are essential for their growth and development process. But in today´s digital environment, where most of them would rather play a video game or surf the net chatting with friends or updating their Facebook profile, getting them to read may be a challenge. Their love of words and stories can be fostered introducing them to books that match their interests and hobbies. Once they discover they can travel through time, back and forth, with both historical and science fiction or they can become an expert on that subject they are mad about, books will become allies in their pursuit of adventure and learning. Furthermore, they will also realise that any dream can come true within the pages of a book. Can you imagine a more wonderful present than a world of dreams wrapped in pretty colourful paper?

Happy Christmas and happy readings!

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011)

Inspired by The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, hurricane Katrina and a love for books, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore praises the imaginative and captivating power of stories and the magical way in which books feed our soul. It has won the Oscar Academy Award for best animated short film in 2012.

Books fill our life. Every time we open one and we get wrapped up in a good story, we are taken on a extraordinary journey. We are quickly transported into a time and place where nothing else exists. Our minds are broadened and nourished. Books are meant to educate and inspire us, to lift us from our current states of indifference. Our existence is given life only when we start reading.