Some books to chew and digest

Part 11

Books - they are like a wonder vehicle that could transport you into a truly magical world and stretch your imagination to the very limits... It's so fascinating to leaf through each page and conjure pictures of the unravelling story in print. With the objective of rekindling an interest in the habit of reading books, which unfortunately seems to be on the wane among children of today, we introduced five interesting children's books last week.Today too we feature four more books you could read and enjoy if you have not already read them .Do not miss out on the wonderful experience you could have by reading, by being trapped in the cyber- world.

Pollyanna

by Eleanor Hodgman Porter

If you ever hear anyone with an optimistic outlook being called a Pollyanna then they are reffering to the title character of the book Pollyanna , a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Portert which is now considered a classic of children's literature.

The book was such a success, that Porter soon produced a sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up (1915). Eleven more Pollyanna sequels, known as "Glad Books", were later published, most of them written by Elizabeth Borton or Harriet Lummis Smith. Further sequels followed, including Pollyanna Plays the Game by Colleen L. Reece, published in 1997.

Pollyanna has been adapted for films several times. Some of the best-known include Disney's 1960 version starring child actress Hayley Mills, who won a special Oscar for the role, and the 1920 version starring Mary Pickford.

Like Anne of Green Gables,the title character Pollyanna Whittier, is also a young orphan. She goes to live in Beldingsville, Vermont, with her wealthy but stern Aunt Polly. Pollyanna's philosophy of life centres on what she calls "The Glad Game", an optimistic attitude she learned from her father.

The game consists of finding something to be glad about in every situation. It originated in an incident one Christmas when Pollyanna, who was hoping for a doll in the missionary barrel, found only a pair of crutches inside. Making the game up on the spot, Pollyanna's father taught her to look at the good side of things "in this case, to be glad about the crutches because "we don't need 'em!"

With this philosophy, and her own sunny personality and sincere, sympathetic soul, Pollyanna brings so much gladness to her aunt's dispirited New England town that she transforms it into a pleasant place to live.But Pollyanna's robust optimism is put to the test when she is struck down by a motorcar while crossing a street. The novel's success brought the term "Pollyanna" (along with the adjective "pollyannaish" and the noun "Pollyannaism") into the language to describe someone who seems always to be able to find something to be "glad" about no matter what circumstances arise.

The author of Pollyanna was born as Eleanor Hodgman in Littleton, New Hampshire on December 19, 1868. She was trained as a singer, attending New England Conservatory for several years, but later turned to writing.

In 1892, she married John Lyman Porter and moved to Massachusetts. That is when she began writing and publishing her short stories and later novels. She died in Cambridge, Massachusetts on May 21, 1920 and was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery.Porter mainly wrote children's literature, adventure stories and romance fiction.

Her most famous novel is Pollyanna (1913), later followed by a sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up (1915).

Porter achieved considerable commercial success: in 1913, Pollyanna ranked eighth among bestselling novels in the United States, second in 1914, and fourth in 1915 (it went through forty-seven printings between 1915 and 1920.)Pollyanna is still available in reprint editions.

Bambi, a Life in the Woods

by Felix Salten

The novel originally published in Austria as Bambi. Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde, is a 1923 Austrian novel written by Felix Salten ( 1869-1945) and published by Paul Zsolnay Verlag . Bambi is a roe deer fawn born in a thicket to a young doe in late spring one year.

The book traces the life of Bambi, from his birth through childhood, the loss of his mother, the finding of a mate, the lessons he learns from his father and experience about the dangers posed by human hunters in the forest.

An English translation by Whittaker Chambers was published in North America by Simon & Schuster in 1928 the novel has since been translated and published in over 20 languages around the world.

Salten released a sequel, Bambis Kinder, eine Familie im Walde (Bambi's Children), in 1939.Considered to be one of the first environmental novels published, the novel was well received by critics and is considered a classic.

During 1933, he sold the film rights to director Sidney Franklin for only $1,000, and Franklin later transferred the rights to the Walt Disney studios.

Walt Disney released its movie based on Bambi during 1942 .It was adapted into a theatrical animated film, Bambi, by Walt Disney Studios in 1942.Two Russian live-action adaptations were done in 1985 and 1986, and a stage production in 1998.Janet Schulman released a children's picture book adaptation in 2000 that featured realistic oil-paintings and many of Salten's original words.

Salten was born Siegmund Salzmann in Budapest, Hungary on September 6, 1869 . When he was four weeks old, his family relocated to Vienna, Austria.

When his father became bankrupt, the sixteen-year-old Salten had to quit school and begin working for an insurance agency.

During 1900 he published his first collection of short stories.He was soon publishing, on an average, one book a year, of plays, short stories, novels, travel books, and essay collections.

He also wrote for nearly all the major newspapers of Vienna.His most famous work is Bambi (1923).

Mary Poppins

by P. L. Travers

Mary Poppins is a series of children's books written by Pamela Lyndon Travers (1899-1996) and originally illustrated by Mary Shepard. The books centre on a mysterious, vain and acerbic magical English nanny, Mary Poppins who is blown by the East wind to Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane, London and into the Banks' household to care for their children. Encounters with chimney sweeps, shopkeepers and various adventures follow until Mary Poppins abruptly leaves. The adventures take place over a total of eight books. However, only the first three books feature Mary Poppins arriving and leaving.

The later five books recount previously unrecorded adventures from her original three visits. As P.L. Travers explains in her introduction to Mary Poppins in the Park, "She cannot forever arrive and depart."

The books were adapted in 1964 into a musical Disney film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. In 2004, Disney Theatrical produced a stage musical adaptation in the West End theatre. The stage musical was transferred to Broadway in 2006. Pamela Lyndon Travers OBE (born Helen Lyndon Goff on August 9 ,1899 - April 23, 1996 was an Australian-born British novelist, actress and journalist,

Helen Lyndon Goff was born in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia.It is likely that she lived in Bowral when she originally came up with the character that became Mary Poppins.She toured Australia and New Zealand with a Shakespearean touring company before leaving for England in 1924. There she dedicated herself to writing under the pen name P. L. Travers.

The 1934 publication of Mary Poppins was Travers' first literary success. Seven sequels followed (the last in 1988), as well as a collection of other novels, poetry collections and works of non-fiction.

The Disney musical adaptation was released in 1964. Primarily based on the first novel in what was then a sequence of four books, it also lifted elements from the sequel Mary Poppins Comes Back. Travers was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1977. She died in London in 1996.

Anne of Green Gables

by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Initially written as fiction for readers of all ages, Anne of Green Gables has now been accepted as a children's book. Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874 - 1942 ) was published in 1908.

Set in 1878, it is a story about an orphan girl. It is said that Montgomery found her inspiration for the book on an old piece of paper that she had written at a young age about a couple that were mistakenly sent an orphan girl instead of a boy, but decides to keep her anyway.And the story revolves around this orphan with Montgomery also drawing upon her own childhood experiences in rural Prince Edward Island to enhance the plot.Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, a brother and sister in their fifties who live together at Green Gables, a farm in Avonlea on Prince Edward Island in Canada, decide to adopt a boy from an orphan asylum in Nova Scotia as a helper on their farm. They end up with a precocious eleven year old girl named Anne Shirley instead.

Anne is bright and quick, eager to please and talkative, and extremely imaginative. Being a child of imagination, Anne takes much joy in life, and adapts quickly, thriving in the close-knit farming village.

The book goes on to explain the manner in which Anne wins over the Cuthberts and recounts her adventures in the country school, where she excels in her studies.Since publication, Anne of Green Gables has sold more than 50 million copies.In addition, this book is taught to students around the world.

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in Clifton (now New London), Prince Edward Island on November 30, 1874 is believed to have written the novel in the twilight of the day, sitting at her window and overlooking the fields of Cavendish.

Being brought up by her maternal grandparents after the death of her mother when Montgomery was 21 months old her early life in Cavendish was very lonely Montgomery credits this time of her life, in which she created many imaginary friends and worlds to cope with her loneliness, as what developed her creative mind.

In November 1890, Montgomery had her first work in the Charlottetown paper, Daily Patriot.In 1895 and 1896, she studied literature at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.