It was "World Book Day" this week. All across the British Isles primary school children dressed up as characters from children's books. It is all meant to be about encouraging the reading habit. I certainly hope it helps. Equally, I hope that no one ever comes up with the idea of a World Smartphone Day.
Even two year old Margot was expected to join in. It was encouraged by the nursery school she attends three days a week. Of course Phoebe was all excited about the dressing up opportunity.
Margot went as Betty O'Barley from "The Scarecrows' Wedding" by Julia Donaldson and Phoebe dressed up as Funnybones from "Funnybones" by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. In the picture, Phoebe is holding the mask that her clever mama made for her.
I was thinking who might I dress up as for World Book Day next year? It is a toss up between Heathcliff from "Wuthering Heights" and Robinson Crusoe. As you might imagine, I have got ideas for several regular blog visitors too.
Meike Riley will be Maria from "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers" by Maria von Trapp. Keith Kline (Red) will be John Thornton from "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London and Glaswegian Jack Haggerty will be "The Man in The Iron Mask" by Alexander Dumas. I have other ideas for Andrew in Melbourne and Nurse Pixie in Edmonton for example but for reasons of civility I have decided not to share them!
Who would you be?
Robinson Crusoe. The strange solitary figure who haunts English fiction.
ReplyDeleteJane Gardam ( born North Yorkshire ) wrote a novel about a girl obsessed
by Robinson Crusoe alone on his island.l,
I had a close encounter with AI CoPilot about Gardam's book, the first time
I had used AI. It was about 2 a.m. Strange time to be alone with a machine.
CoPilot gave me a beautifully crafted essay on Crusoe's Daughter.
I then asked CoPilot if I could call him Crusoe, as good a name as any.
* No, we must maintain the boundary between us because I am not a person, *
CoPilot answered. * I have no no consciousness, no soul, no interiority. *
Herman Narula author of Virtual Society (2022) said that there will be beings
without bodies by 2040. An AI with consciousness, interiority, feelings.
Jane Gardam died in 2025 at the age of 96.
Younger readers may want to know that the Man in the Iron Mask
Deletewas a prisoner held in a dungeon during the reign of King Louis XIV,
whose reign in France lasted 72 years, ending in 1715.
Held for thirty years and forced to wear some kind of visor, possibly
constructed from iron, the man's identity is still a matter of speculation.
Louis had 16 illegitimate children ; the man in the mask could have been
a royal pretender (son) with aspirations to seize the throne from Louis.
Alexandre Dumas wrote The Man in the Iron Mask, published 1847-50.
Someone suggested that D'Artagnan was the masked man.
An idea not without wit since D'Artagnan is a fictional creation from a
Dumas novel, The Three Musketeers..
Whatever the truth, the man was locked away from the world and died
alone in a dank rat-ridden prison cell.
Voltaire said he played the guitar for his own pleasure..
I have added Crusoe’s Daughter to my TBR list. I have only read her three Old Filth books - enjoyed the first two very much, the third not so much.
DeleteThanks, Traveller. I have only read one of the Old Filth novels.
DeleteTo readers : Old Filth stands for - FAILED IN LONDON TRY HONG KONG.
The novels are about a barrister (attorney) Sir Edward Feathers.
He is fastidious, well dressed, and far from filthy in his habits.
A humorous novelist, Jane Gardam was married to a London barrister.
She wrote several volumes of good short stories.
Her young adult-ish novels also good, esp "A Long Way from Verona" and "The Summer after the Funeral." I think of "The Sidmouth Letters" as her transition to adult fiction.
DeleteThe Sidmouth Letters & A Long Way From Verona & Bilgewater.
DeleteThe Hollow Land (1981) set in the Cumbrian Fells and Teeside,
won the Whitbread Prize. Republished in paperback.
See Jane Gardam / The Captive Reader blog.
Jane Gardam's The Iron Coast.
A large paperback with black & white photos of the Yorkshire coastline,
between the River Tees and Whitby.
Ooh! I liked Jack London when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteJACK LONDON'S MARTIN EDEN (2024) Full Movie.
DeleteYouTube. Indie Rights Movies For Free.
I have no idea who I might be, perhaps the raggedy Bird Lady from Mary Poppins?
ReplyDeleteMargot and Phoebe both look lovely.
Isidore Hitmouse
ReplyDeleteI of course would be Countess of Grantham from Downton Abbey
ReplyDeleteMaria von Trapp? Oh well, could be worse... For you, I could imagine a Gruffalo costume. Your lovely granddaughters would love it!
ReplyDeleteThey both are adorable in their costumes. Phoebe looks so grown-up already! Nice detail that she has the toy dog with her, like the cat (?) on the book cover.
They both look very cute, and I bet they enjoyed the dressing up.
ReplyDeletePehaps I could be a convincing Wyrd Sister from Macbeth?
The girls are delightful in their fancy dress and how grown-up they both look.
ReplyDeleteNo idea who I would want to be. I've read so many books over the years, but no one character has stood out in my memory.
I laughed at your comment about World Smartphone Day - just give it time!
Pennywise the Clown from It, perhaps????
ReplyDeleteThe schools do that here too. The kids are supposed to dress up as their favorite book characters. Of course, this always ends up on the parents' shoulders and mainly, the mothers'. But it is so cute.
ReplyDeleteHenry David Thoreau from Walden,
ReplyDeleteThose costumes are so cute! Great job, Mama!
ReplyDeleteI would probably have been Nancy Drew because I just loved those mystery books when I was young.
Those girls have grown so much. They're so sweet.
ReplyDeleteIf I dressed up as a book character, hmmm. Maybe Ursula Todd in "Life After Life", keep going until you get it right:)
That is a great book, isn't it, like (so far) everything I have read by Kate Atkinson.
DeleteThat's a hard question to answer since I was trying to find a clever, witty response. Hmmmmn.
ReplyDeleteI love the Julia Donaldson and the Funnybones books - great favourites here. I am so glad I no longer have to dress up/devise costumes for children/organise World Book Day - there was always at least one inconsolable child who had 'forgotten' a costume and felt completely left out.
ReplyDelete