December 4

A couple things have my mind set on kid’s books these days of late.

Day 4: A delicate sleeper, at the best of times.

For one, I just spent thirty minutes rocking Claire to sleep in her bedroom, a very tired little girl splayed across my chest and I reading chapters from the first book in C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series, The Magician’s Nephew. Don’t worry if your only knowledge of this series is of the more famous second book in the series, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Most of us were introduced to the series through that particular volume, too. I opted to start reading to Claire for a couple reasons. First, the resoundingly positive response from an earlier post, and second because just sitting there rocking a baby has it’s moments — but most of it IS just sitting there. I opted to read the Narnia series not because I think Claire will get anything out of the story, in particular — my droning voice, perhaps, but I could read the stock charts for that — but rather because it’s one of those things I’ve been meaning to reread for a few years. This seemed like as good an opportunity as any.

(For those who got the reference in the title, you’ve probably guessed that we’ve just freed Jadis from the enchantment and she’s outlined her plan for absolute control of the universe…)

On a different note, and slightly deviating from the simplicity of merely reading children’s literature, I’m excited to have a gander at “Tin Man“, a mini-series that has begun broadcast on the (American-only) Sci-Fi Network. (Unfortunately there is no indication of it coming to Canada, so I was left to download it. Torrent-torrent-rah-rah-rah! I will buy the DVD if the show turns out to be good.) As I say, I’ve not had a chance to look at it yet, but the premise seems to be a steampunk-style, modern adaptation of the Wizard of Oz:

The series is an epic re-imagining of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that gives the story a heavy science fiction fantasy emphasis and gives only allusionary references to most of the original story. — Wikipedia Entry

I mention this — despite not having yet watched it — for (you guessed it) two reasons: (A) I’m actually quite excited to have a see, and (B) I’m a bit of a Baum-Buff. I’m fairly certain the books are now all public domain, freely and legally download-ready from somewhere. But that said, I’ve got my eyes open and wallet ready for a really nice (as in easy-to-read-aloud — with pictures, of course) bound compendium. That is one collection I definitely want to read Claire when she gets older. If anyone has a lead on that… hey, pass it along.