From: Connie Rockman <connie.rock>
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 16:29:53 -0400

On May 23, 2006, at 3:54 PM, Steven Engelfried wrote:

> But looking back, I think "The Chronicles of Prydain" had as big an
> impact as anything. What really resonated with me was the choices
> Taran had to make. Keep the magical brooch or trade it for the evil
> cauldron? Raise a dangerous gwythaint chick or leave it to die?
> Choose the path of blacksmith, weaver, or sculptor?
>

Steve, your post takes me back nearly 20 years to when my daughter was writing college application essays. She used Taran Wanderer - that wonderful tale of looking at career choices, trying to find your way in the world - as a metaphor for what she hoped to gain from a liberal arts education. She wrote of how much she loved those books as a child, but that Taran Wanderer was her least favorite - until she re-read the series later as a teenager.

At that point Taran Wanderer became her favorite book of the five because she herself was on the brink of figuring out what she wanted to do with her life . . . and that's why she wanted to go to a liberal arts college, to "try on" different ideas, different choices, before making up her mind what to do.

Truly, books make a difference in our lives - and they make different differences at various ages. That same daughter grew up to work for quite a while in the children's book field . . .

Connie Rockman
Received on Tue 23 May 2006 03:29:53 PM CDT