~ Akeelah and the Bee ~

I feel good. The movie makes me feel good. The resolution of the plot was a little different from the one that I have illustrated in my mind. Akeelah and Dylan winning together colours the unlimited happiness of sharing one's victory. Sharing is better than celebrating one's victory solely. It is one the ways to dilute happiness to the society. This movie emphasizes on spelling, reminding me the importance of mastering words.

As a third year student of B.Ed TESL, I think I should organize this kind of an activity in the school that I will be teaching soon. I believe that it will motivate my students to read more in order to know more words. The movie portrays the perseverance of Akeelah and her coach Dr.Joshua to give out the best performance. They both practised day and night to win the competition and they made it at the end. It takes me back to my Form 5, when I was about to take part in the District level Debate Competition. I would be having practice everyday in the afternoon with my team member and my teacher, Ms.Yeoh. We were a very new team but somehow we managed to the 2nd runner up. I would really like to thank my teacher for she was there with us through the thick and thin. Greatest luck comes with greatest hardship. This is my fundamental principle and it is proven in this movie. When you work hard and pour sincere effort into anything that you venture, you will succeed because you deserve it.

~The Ugly Duckling~

I have read ,listened and watched several children stories when I was young. However, of all the stories, I love The Ugly Duckling the most. It is a story about a young swan that hatched together with some beautiful duckling. Well, I do not know how this could happen. Perhaps a mother swan mistakenly left its egg among some duck eggs or maybe a naughty girl like me would have stolen a swan egg and placed with the duck eggs. This is just a speculation of mine. 

The mother duck thought that it has got an ugly baby and thus everyone started to call him as The Ugly Duckling.  He was not treated well by anyone, so sad. One day, he ran away to a moor and stayed with some wild ducks. The summer was almost at its end. The Ugly Duckling saw a flock of  white birds migrating to another area. They were so beautiful with their white wings and long necks. The Ugly Duckling did not even knew what they are called.

Summer became winter; winter became spring. The Ugly Duckling went to the water to swim. Unexpectedly, a group that unknown beautiful birds were there and approached him. They praised him for his features. Then, he looked at his reflection in the water and was shocked to his beautiful self. At that point, he realised that he was actually a swan.

The story impresses me because it motivates the readers through the portrayal of the character, The Ugly Duckling. In a way, it resembles the children being young. It was disliked by many for some moments due to its physical appearance but somehow later on it awed others by turning into a young beautiful swan. I like the message of the story which tell that ugly does not mean forever ugly and that everyone has chance to improve.  When the right time comes, everyone will definitely SHINE!

The Ugly Duckling was a very positive character in the story. Despite being disliked by many, he lived all by himself. At the end, he became a beautiful swan. This part also explains that plot of the story;having a twist at the end. This story also depicts that good souls will definitely be helped by God. This is a very good choice of story for children. I hope more parents and teachers will take initiative to narrate this wonderful story for the kids and students. 

~The Gruffalo~

The Gruffalo! What is it? First of all, I would like to thank a talented woman by the name Julia Donaldson to have thought about such a story by creating an imaginary creature called 'The Gruffalo'. Thanks a lot....

Well, the story is about a mouse that had a walk in the jungle. Somewhere (at different points) and somehow during the walk, it came across three preys who were the fox, owl and snake. Afraid of being eaten by one of them, the mouse created a tall tale. It told the trio that is going to see it's friend, The Gruffalo. In addition, it described The Gruffalo as a fierce creature and that has successfully scared the three animals off. 

The mouse was strolling happily and suddenly it came across the described creature. This is where the twist of the story takes place. The mouse introduced itself to The Gruffalo as the most scariest animal in the jungle. It brought the The Gruffalo behind and went to see all the three animals mentioned earlier. They were terrified to The Gruffalo and dashed into their abodes. The Gruffalo trusted the mouse after seeing the animal fleeing. Towards the end, the mouse managed to fool The Gruffalo. 

This is definitely a very good story to impress the children. The mouse in the story represents the children who are small in term of their appearance. However, they need not have to be timid as the most important thing is they can be as smart as the mouse in the story. It is narrated with some repetitions and that would help the children to remember the characters and the story better. 

This masterpiece of Donaldson is very impressing. Her imagination to create The Gruffalo is simply mind blowing. Not only that, her idea to name as The Gruffalo; a name which never existed is amazing too. Donaldson and her story The Gruffalo definitely deserve compliments from all of us. 

~Edwina The Emu~

It is fun to read children stories. Blimey,they help me to travel back into my childhood! I definitely love this feeling. In this case, I should really say that children stories are the best ever time machines on earth.

Edwina The Emu by Sheena Knowles is one of that kind of stories. Edwina is a female emu in this story. She was living a happy life with her lovely spouse, Edward and one fine day, she laid ten eggs. How am I going to bring up all my ten babies later? She was a little apprehended thinking of their future. She became emotional at once and requested her husband to take care of the eggs. She left the nest to look for a job. She found various types of jobs. Unfortunately, none was apt for her and came back home.Edwina realised her role as wife and mother; to take care of the family. She settled back at home and took care all her ten cute newborns. 

This story shows to children the love and perseverance of a mother. The willingness of a woman called mother to  sacrifice her time and energy to feed well her babies. At the same time, from my point of view as an adult, I think the story defines the conventional role of man and woman. I do not mean to condemn the statement wholly. Of course,women are the best care takers of children. However, it is significant to us that the role of man and woman has evolved. Women today have additional role despite being a wife and mother. They share half responsibility as breadwinner for their respective families. 

Knowles wrote the story in a rhythmic way to make sound interesting to attract children to keep their attention. It is indeed a creative way. I hope more humans on earth will get the chance to read this book and experience the joy blossoming from it.