On the back flap of the children's book The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (a collection of "fractured fairy-tales") Jon Scieszka, the author, tells us he and Lane Smith, the illustrator, celebrate the Stinky Cheese Man's birthday on the second Monday of February. This year it falls on February 11th.
To help you with this festive occasion, here is a list of books that Scieszka and Lane collaborated on:
Baloney, (Henry P.) (1991)
Knights of the Kitchen Table - Time Warp Trio #1 (1991)
The Not-so-Jolly Rodger - Time Warp Trio #2 (1991)
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (1992)
The Good, the Bad, and the Goofy - Time Warp Trio #3 (1992)
Math Curse (1993)
Your Mother was a Neanderthal - Time Warp Trio #4 (1993)
2095 - Time Warp Trio #5 (1995)
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (1996)
Tut, tut - Time Warp Trio #6 (1996)
Squids Will Be Squids: fresh morals, beastly fables (1998)
Summer Reading is Killing Me! - Time Warp Trio # 7 (1998)
It's all Greek to me - Time Warp Trio #8 (1999)
Science Verse (2004)
Seen Art? (2005)
Cowboy and Octopus (2007)
(A couple of notes: Not all of their collaborations are still in print and with the Time Warp Trio books another illustrator has done the covers on the paperback versions. I provided links to the hardcover editions above, unless it is out of print and the paperback version is still in print.)
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
Time Warp Trio series - http://www.timewarptrio.com/
Lane Smith - http://www.lanesmithbooks.com/
Jon Scieszka - http://www.jsworldwide.com/ -
February 9, 2008
February 5, 2008
Parallel Stories
I have a brother in-law who collects versions of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol , the original version being A Christmas Carol: In Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (1843) illustrated by John Leech. Several years ago my wife and I gave him Marley's Ghost (2000) by Mark Hazard Osmun (currently out of print) which tells more about Jacob Marley's life and his activities behind the scenes getting the various ghosts involved with Scrooge.
Around that time, I also read Orson Scott Card's Ender's Shadow (1999) which overlaps the award-winning story in Ender's Game (1985), also by Card, but from the character Bean's perspective instead of Ender's.
I have since then encountered several other classic or favorite stories with other books published telling the story from another character's point of view. Most of the time, the stories fill out the background on some of the minor characters, fill in gaps between events or give behind the scene activities, and then possibly carry the story beyond the end of the original - at least in regards to the originally minor characters.
In fact with Card, he has now created an entire Shadow series that continues the story of several of the characters introduced in Ender's Game, helping to bridge Ender's Game with Speaker for the Dead (1986) and other books in the Ender series.
I was aware that for Hamlet (ca 1600) by William Shakespeare, we have the parallel story of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966) by Tom Stoppard. While I researching this I discovered not one, but two books written with Ophelia as the principal character - Dating Hamlet: Ophelia's Story (2002) by Lisa Fiedler and Ophelia (2006) by Lisa Klein. (Is there something with Lisas and Ophelia?)
Fiedler apparently followed up her Ophelia book with a companion story to Romeo and Juliet (ca 1596) by William Shakespeare titled Romeo's Ex: Rosalind's Story (2006).
For Macbeth (ca 1605) by William Shakespeare, there is Enter Three Witches (2007) by Caroline Cooney.
I wouldn't be surprised if other authors haven't already tackled more of the Bard's work in this way, although there seems to be a recent surge in this type of novel and they seem to be targeted to young adults.
As the movie The Lion King (1994) is draws several plot elements from Shakespeare's Hamlet, perhaps it is not too surprising Disney did a direct-to-video prequel/mid-quel in the vein of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead with The Lion King 1 1/2 (2004), showing that Timon and Pumba's lives intersected and inadvertently affect Simba's story before they actually appeared in The Lion King. (Both of these Disney movies are in moratorium at the moment.)
Gregory Maguire wrote Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1996) which is not really a parallel story to the The Wizard of Oz (1900) by L. Frank Baum and originally illustrated by W. W. Denslow, but rather a story telling the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West in an Oz that is an amalgamation of lands, creatures and characters from the other Oz books Baum wrote, with key elements from the movie The Wizard of Oz (1939), but I think it draws on enough of the original story it can be included here.
The last example I have is from the recent vampire novel Twilight (2005) by Stephenie Meyer. This is told from Bella's point of view. Meyer has started book chronicling this story from Edward's perspective which is currently called Midnight Sun. On Meyer's website you can download and read the first chapter by clicking on the links on this page: http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/otherprojects_midnightsun.html.
With the exception of the stories by Card and Meyer, the parallel versions were written by a different author. Most of these weren't done as a parody, but rather as a means of examining or enlarging on themes or plots covered or suggested by the original. Most of the time characters developed and grew beyond the scope their appearance in the first work allowed, increasing the depth of the original.
While Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a comedy, it stands on its own as it deals with some philosophical issues that the original really couldn't go into. (As does The Lion King 1 1/2, although from what I remember the additional themes it deals with are rather shallow.)
If any of you know of other parallel stories out there, please share them.
Around that time, I also read Orson Scott Card's Ender's Shadow (1999) which overlaps the award-winning story in Ender's Game (1985), also by Card, but from the character Bean's perspective instead of Ender's.
I have since then encountered several other classic or favorite stories with other books published telling the story from another character's point of view. Most of the time, the stories fill out the background on some of the minor characters, fill in gaps between events or give behind the scene activities, and then possibly carry the story beyond the end of the original - at least in regards to the originally minor characters.
In fact with Card, he has now created an entire Shadow series that continues the story of several of the characters introduced in Ender's Game, helping to bridge Ender's Game with Speaker for the Dead (1986) and other books in the Ender series.
I was aware that for Hamlet (ca 1600) by William Shakespeare, we have the parallel story of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966) by Tom Stoppard. While I researching this I discovered not one, but two books written with Ophelia as the principal character - Dating Hamlet: Ophelia's Story (2002) by Lisa Fiedler and Ophelia (2006) by Lisa Klein. (Is there something with Lisas and Ophelia?)
Fiedler apparently followed up her Ophelia book with a companion story to Romeo and Juliet (ca 1596) by William Shakespeare titled Romeo's Ex: Rosalind's Story (2006).
For Macbeth (ca 1605) by William Shakespeare, there is Enter Three Witches (2007) by Caroline Cooney.
I wouldn't be surprised if other authors haven't already tackled more of the Bard's work in this way, although there seems to be a recent surge in this type of novel and they seem to be targeted to young adults.
As the movie The Lion King (1994) is draws several plot elements from Shakespeare's Hamlet, perhaps it is not too surprising Disney did a direct-to-video prequel/mid-quel in the vein of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead with The Lion King 1 1/2 (2004), showing that Timon and Pumba's lives intersected and inadvertently affect Simba's story before they actually appeared in The Lion King. (Both of these Disney movies are in moratorium at the moment.)
Gregory Maguire wrote Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1996) which is not really a parallel story to the The Wizard of Oz (1900) by L. Frank Baum and originally illustrated by W. W. Denslow, but rather a story telling the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West in an Oz that is an amalgamation of lands, creatures and characters from the other Oz books Baum wrote, with key elements from the movie The Wizard of Oz (1939), but I think it draws on enough of the original story it can be included here.
The last example I have is from the recent vampire novel Twilight (2005) by Stephenie Meyer. This is told from Bella's point of view. Meyer has started book chronicling this story from Edward's perspective which is currently called Midnight Sun. On Meyer's website you can download and read the first chapter by clicking on the links on this page: http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/otherprojects_midnightsun.html.
With the exception of the stories by Card and Meyer, the parallel versions were written by a different author. Most of these weren't done as a parody, but rather as a means of examining or enlarging on themes or plots covered or suggested by the original. Most of the time characters developed and grew beyond the scope their appearance in the first work allowed, increasing the depth of the original.
While Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a comedy, it stands on its own as it deals with some philosophical issues that the original really couldn't go into. (As does The Lion King 1 1/2, although from what I remember the additional themes it deals with are rather shallow.)
If any of you know of other parallel stories out there, please share them.
February 2, 2008
Fairy Tales for Grown-ups
Recently I watched Stardust, the 2007 movie based on both the graphic novel (1998) and the novel published in 1999. It has been several years since I read the book by Neil Gaiman, so I don’t remember all of the details, but it is one I recommend to others to read. Since I don’t remember the details of the book I can’t say how closely the movie follows the book. Regardless, I enjoyed the movie so I would guess that it had some things that were done better than the book, and the book had some scenes and plots that were more developed or done better than the movie.
It brought to mind some other fairy tales for grown-ups that have been published and made into movies. (I would prefer calling them “adult fairy tales”, but the term "adult" comes with so many unwanted connotations that I will stick with "grown-up.") Theses stories differ from the children's fairy tales with their level of sophistication with story, character and humor that is lost on younger readers or viewers. I would say there are a few ways the fairy tale format can be successfully translated a story that appeals to and engages an older audience.
The books and movies that came to mind achieve this while continuing with the expected fantastic and magical elements traditionally found in fairy tales, while adding another level of sophistication in story telling and humor that is lost on younger readers and viewers. They accomplish this without crossing over into parody.
One of these books, and its corresponding movie is The Princess Bride, by William Goldman. The book came out in 1973, while the movie in 1987. Since Goldman also wrote the screenplay, and in fact has written many successful screenplays including Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, it isn't surprising that the movie and the book are so much alike - both extemely enjoyable. The only real difference between the movie and the book that I can remember is that the book had a few additional and extended scenes.
Another I thought of is The Last Unicorn (1958) by Peter S. Beagle. I enjoyed this book on many levels. The writing itself, the use of language and metaphors was extraordinary and unforgettable, as were the story and the twists the classic character types. The 1982 movie on the other hand, especially when compared with these other two movies, was disappointment. The Rankin/Bass production tells the basic story, but the underlying meanings and symbolism were lost in the translation to this medium as it felt to me like it was simplified for children. The magic of the language was lost in the visual medium. Except for a few scenes, the pacing and story were not really done in a way to appeal to younger audiences – so no one was really served in the adaptation. On top of this, the soundtrack done by the group America, dates the movie, further undermining the timelessness of the book it was based on.
I am sure there are some other books and movies that are in the traditional fairy tale settings with traditional fairy tale characters, but due to humor and depth are more enjoyable to adults. I look forward to seeing what other ones you can add to this list.
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
Stardust - Amazon (hardcover graphic novel - Charles Vess illustrator, paperback, DVD), Wikipedia, IMDB, Official Movie Website, http://www.neilgaiman.com/
The Princess Bride - Amazon (hardback, paperback, DVD - 20th Anniversary Edition), Wikipedia, IMDB
The Last Unicorn - Amazon (paperback - 4oth Anniversary Edition, DVD - 25th Anniversary Edition), Wikipedia, IMDB
It brought to mind some other fairy tales for grown-ups that have been published and made into movies. (I would prefer calling them “adult fairy tales”, but the term "adult" comes with so many unwanted connotations that I will stick with "grown-up.") Theses stories differ from the children's fairy tales with their level of sophistication with story, character and humor that is lost on younger readers or viewers. I would say there are a few ways the fairy tale format can be successfully translated a story that appeals to and engages an older audience.
The books and movies that came to mind achieve this while continuing with the expected fantastic and magical elements traditionally found in fairy tales, while adding another level of sophistication in story telling and humor that is lost on younger readers and viewers. They accomplish this without crossing over into parody.
One of these books, and its corresponding movie is The Princess Bride, by William Goldman. The book came out in 1973, while the movie in 1987. Since Goldman also wrote the screenplay, and in fact has written many successful screenplays including Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, it isn't surprising that the movie and the book are so much alike - both extemely enjoyable. The only real difference between the movie and the book that I can remember is that the book had a few additional and extended scenes.
Another I thought of is The Last Unicorn (1958) by Peter S. Beagle. I enjoyed this book on many levels. The writing itself, the use of language and metaphors was extraordinary and unforgettable, as were the story and the twists the classic character types. The 1982 movie on the other hand, especially when compared with these other two movies, was disappointment. The Rankin/Bass production tells the basic story, but the underlying meanings and symbolism were lost in the translation to this medium as it felt to me like it was simplified for children. The magic of the language was lost in the visual medium. Except for a few scenes, the pacing and story were not really done in a way to appeal to younger audiences – so no one was really served in the adaptation. On top of this, the soundtrack done by the group America, dates the movie, further undermining the timelessness of the book it was based on.
I am sure there are some other books and movies that are in the traditional fairy tale settings with traditional fairy tale characters, but due to humor and depth are more enjoyable to adults. I look forward to seeing what other ones you can add to this list.
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
Stardust - Amazon (hardcover graphic novel - Charles Vess illustrator, paperback, DVD), Wikipedia, IMDB, Official Movie Website, http://www.neilgaiman.com/
The Princess Bride - Amazon (hardback, paperback, DVD - 20th Anniversary Edition), Wikipedia, IMDB
The Last Unicorn - Amazon (paperback - 4oth Anniversary Edition, DVD - 25th Anniversary Edition), Wikipedia, IMDB
February 1, 2008
Happy 50th Anniversary Lego!
Back in January of 1958 Ole Kirk Christansen settled on a design virtually identical to the plastic bricks used today in Lego sets. You may ask, "What do Legos have to do with story telling?" but I think that they have quite a bit.
First, Lego has created sets to help children come up with their own stories in space, cities, the wild west, with pirates, castles, adventurers, vikings, dinosaurs and hosts of other character types in many settings.
Second, they recently have branched out in creating their own worlds with backup and ongoing stories such as their Bionicle and Exo-Force lines.
Third, Lego has allowed children to continue well known stories on their own. These have included Spider-man, classic monster-types (such as a werewolf, a mummy, and a vampire and a Frankenstein's-monster type creature), Harry Potter, Star Wars, and now even Indiana Jones. A couple of years ago they even did a series of sets based on some of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales as part of an anniversary celebration in Denmark.
I am sure Legos will come up in future posts, but in the meantime, if you haven't seen what they has available currently, visit the Lego website. You can read more about the company's history and this anniversary as well.
Play well!
First, Lego has created sets to help children come up with their own stories in space, cities, the wild west, with pirates, castles, adventurers, vikings, dinosaurs and hosts of other character types in many settings.
Second, they recently have branched out in creating their own worlds with backup and ongoing stories such as their Bionicle and Exo-Force lines.
Third, Lego has allowed children to continue well known stories on their own. These have included Spider-man, classic monster-types (such as a werewolf, a mummy, and a vampire and a Frankenstein's-monster type creature), Harry Potter, Star Wars, and now even Indiana Jones. A couple of years ago they even did a series of sets based on some of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales as part of an anniversary celebration in Denmark.
I am sure Legos will come up in future posts, but in the meantime, if you haven't seen what they has available currently, visit the Lego website. You can read more about the company's history and this anniversary as well.
Play well!
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