April 2, 2011: International Children’s Book Day

~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
April 2, 2011

Updated: April 2, 2012

★~Today’s Quote: “My life is a lovely story, happy and full of incident.” Hans Christian

★~Today is “Fairy Tale Day” official known as International Children’s Book Day:

Denmark’s most famous author, Hans Christian Andersen, was born on this day in 1805. His life was a true tale of the boy who went from rags to riches. He was born to a poor family; his father, a shoemaker, died when Hans was 11 years old. When he was just 14, Hans left his hometown of Odense, Denmark and traveled to Copenhagen where he, literally, became a starving artist (actor, singer, dancer). It was there that he met the man who became his lifelong friend and benefactor, Jonas Collin. With Collin’s help, Andersen received a royal scholarship and completed his education. By his 25th birthday, Hans was on his way to a writing career that would make him one of the most widely-read authors in the world. His first recognition came for his many plays and novels. Five years later, he penned his first of 168 fairy tales.

★~ Today in History:

★~1956 – Two very successful daytime dramas premiered. The Edge of Night and As the World Turns were seen for the first time on CBS-TV.

♥~ 1968 – The science-fiction film “2001: A Space Odyssey” had its world premiere in Washington, D.C.

♥~ 1992 – Mob boss John Gotti was convicted in New York of murder and racketeering.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1945 Reggie (Carl Reginald) Smith baseball: Boston Red Sox [World Series: 1967/all-star: 1969, 1972], SL Cardinals [all-star: 1974, 1975], LA Dodgers [World Series: 1977, 1978, 1981/all-star: 1977, 1978, 1980], SF Giants

♥~ 1947 Emmylou Harris singer: Grammy Award-winning singer: Elite Hotel [1976], Blue Kentucky Girl [1978], That Lovin’ You Feeling Again [w/Roy Orbison – 1980], Trio [1987], At the Ryman [w/the Nash Ramblers – 1992], Wrecking Ball [1996]; Mr. Sandman, The Last Waltz, Pledging My Love, In My Dreams, Amarillo, ’Till I Gain Control Again

♥~ 1962Billy Dean singer: Only Here for a Little While, Somewhere in My Broken Heart, You Don’t Count the Cost, Only the Wind, Billy the Kid, If There Hadn’t Been You, Tryin’ to Hide a Fire in the Dark, It’s What I Do, Let Them Be Little

♥~ 1982Marco Amelia soccer [goalkeeper: Italy]: Livorno, Lecce

★~Did you know: Fairy tales help to develop imagination and creativity and they help children to understand their own emotional dilemmas in an imaginative way rather than through direct instruction.

♥~ The story of Snow White shows that underlying the physical diversity there can be greater kindness and generosity than is found in the stereotypes of beauty and wealth so lauded by celebrity-worshipping cultures.

♥ ~ In many fairy stories (Goldilocks for example), the smallest and weakest in the group is the one with whom the heroine identifies and in The Emperor’s New Clothes, vanity and pride are revealed as vacuous posturing without substance, masking stupidity and obstructing the use of common sense.

♥~ Fairy tales, as some believe are not cruel and discriminatory; rather they help children to understand, firstly, the quirks and weaknesses of human behavior in general, and secondly, to accept many of their own fears and emotions

♥~ Classic fairy tales are now often rejected because parents insist they might emotionally damage their children. Little Red Riding Hood is criticized because she walks through woods alone and finds her grandmother eaten by a wolf, the dwarfs in Snow White are not political correct, Rapunzel is to dark, and Cinderella is treated like a slave. Those who favor fairy tales as a teaching tools point out that through classic fairy tales children learn about joy and sadness, love and loss, growth and degeneration and that life does have unpleasant events that you must gather your strength to deal with and push through.

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I’m dying to know what your favorite fairy tale or children’s book is? Or both!! Odd Love Company!

Wishing you a Saturday filled with some time to read a book, phone a friend, play a game on or off-line, a little time alone, a little time with with good company!

 

 

 



10 thoughts on “April 2, 2011: International Children’s Book Day

  1. Snow White was my favorite fairy tale. My kids loved Little Red Riding hood and Hansel and Gretel. They are just so much fun and truthfully what speaks better to stranger danger than Hansel and Gretel. I never made this point to my kids but they got it while they enjoyed the story.

    Off to put a nibble into my day–wishing you a STARBUCKS! 😀

  2. Love fairy tales and loved reading them to my children. We most of Hans and Grimm. The original stories are so much better than the Disney do-overs. There is a place for both but I would always start with the originals from the books.

    • If you read the tale first before seeing the Disney movie or illustrations I think the imagery is much stronger. The dwarfs in Snow White are gnarly and have lots of character lines–the dwarfs Disney presents is much different.

  3. Love Emmylou!

    Beautiful day in Austin-heading out to enjoy it. Hope your Saturday is filled with good things. 😀

    Lucy

  4. The very first book I remember reading to myself (probably had it memorized, but still…) was Snow White and Rose Red. I can’t remember the story now, fifty years later, but it had something to do with a blond princess and a black haired princess…and I loved it. Fairy tales were a staple in our house, and I never thought they were scary.

    • I don’t think most kids thing fairy tells are scary–its the adult mind kicking in…the kids get the whole story-the adults focus on the parts of the story. At least that is what I learned from our Waldorf school and it was true for us. Snow White and Rose Red classic fairy tale and in my opinion one of the best.

  5. “The Three Little Pigs” was the first story I read myself when I was three. One of my favourite kids’ books was Heidi.

    I love Emmylou…voice of an angel!

    Hugs,
    Wendy

    • Oh The Three Little Pigs. I read it so many times to Cole-I changed the ending and let the wolf enjoy bacon, and pork chops. Cole was not amused.
      Heidi was a great story. The pictures were so pretty.

      Emmylou, your right a the voice of an angel!

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