From: Sheila A Welch <sheilawelch>
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:04:48 -0500

Hi,

When I was about nine, I read the first two Mary Poppins books and was delighted to meet such an unconventional character -- one who is not attractive but quite vain, extremely clever, never sweet , tough but caring, and who can (on her own terms) work magic. The child characters are in awe of their nanny. The movie depicts a totally different character who isn't fascinating at all.

The most recent Charlotte's Web adaptation, I feel, does a good job of catching the mood of the book although I find the additional animal characters annoying -- even though they provide extra humor.

I think The Black Stallion movie, in some ways, especially for younger children, creates a more vivid world than the book. The first part of the movie -- filmed on an island -- is lovely, both visually and emotionally. Some of the later scenes are distracting because I keep noticing that different horses are being used to play The Black.

Another film that works for me is Bridge to Terabithia. It does move the fantasy element up a notch but captures the essence of the book. I like the way the magic of Terabithia slips into the children's real world occasionally through Leslie --which provides a bit of foreshadowing for her death. The use of drawings in the very beginning and then with Jess's sketches really appeals to me as an illustrator. I went to see it with some writer friends who hadn't read the book; I told them to bring lots of tissues. No one had enough. I was reminded of my Irish grandmother who used to say, "It was such a good movie; I had such a good cry."

Sheila Kelly Welch Writer/Illustrator



On Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:47:14 -0400 Amy Goldschlager <amyg at nyc.rr.com> writes:
> To say nothing of the Uncanny Valley effect. I wouldn't be able to
> watch that--the human figures are just too creepy!
>
> Amy Goldschlager
> Freelance editor and reviewer
>
> On Aug 13, 2009, at 11:13 AM, Linda Stanek wrote:
>
> > How about The Polar Express? Such a sweet, calm, comforting book,
>
> > turned into an action film. It didn't keep at all with the tone
> and
> > quiet beauty of the book. Part of the beauty of picture books, I
>
> > believe, is the tight text that tells just enough--and not too
> much.
> > Dragging it out into 90 minutes seems simply unrealistic to me, at
>
> > least in most cases.
> >
> > Linda K. Stanek
> >
> > The Pig and Miss Prudence
> > ISBN-13: 978-1-59572-125-9
> > Star Bright Books, 2007
> > www.lindakstanek.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
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Received on Thu 13 Aug 2009 01:04:48 PM CDT