phimama alaulah faustyna

[Kiliano Ratha]

BOOKS FOR CHILDREN BY JESSE STUART Vera Grinstead Guthrie As early as 1948 the readers of Classmate, a Methodist magazine for youth, and of Progressive Farmer, a southern farm journal, were being introduced to Jesse Stuart as an author of stories suitable for children. Mr. Stuart's career as a novelist for children did not begin until 1953, however, when McGraw-Hill's Whittlesey House published The Beatinest Boy. Since that time, six other juvenile novels have been published by the same press: A Penny's Worth of Character (1954), Red Mule (1955), The Rightful Owner (1960),Andy Finds a Way (I96I),A Ride with Huey the Engineer (1966), and Old Ben (I 970). Of these, the best-known is The Beatinest Boy. In this novel, Stuart tells about David, an orphan boy who lives with his Grandma Beverly in the Kentucky mountains after the death of his parents. From Grandma Beverly he learns to care for a puppy, to use oak leaves to cover the garden and to make a bed for a cow, to get the honey from a bee tree, and to do many other useful things. The rest of the story tells of David's efforts to earn enough money to buy a Christmas gift for Grandma Beverly, whom he considers the smartest, most wonderful woman in the world. David's problem is finally solved by a neighbor who shows him how to make a tablecloth and napkins from a feed sack. A Penny's Worth of Character is the story of Shan, a boy who loves candy and soda pop. Shan's mother sends him to the store and lets him take paper sacks to sell for a penny each. Although his mother tells him not to take a torn sack, he does so anyway in order to have enough money for candy and pop. His mother discovers what he has done and 150 Vera Grinstead Guthrie makes him return to the store with another good sack and confess his misdeed to the storekeeper. After his confession, Shan is able to enjoy his trip home. In Red Mule, Stuart writes about twelve-year-old Scrappie Lykins and his friend Red Mule, a man who is almost an outcast in their mountain town because he is different. The story tells how Scrappie and Red Mule save as many mules as possible after the tractor has replaced them. Scrappie learns to accept responsibility and to meet a challenge as a result of their efforts. The Rightful Owner emphasizes the struggles of a boy who catches a lost dog and trains him for his own, all the while knowing that someday the rightful owner may reclaim the foxhound. The dog, Speckles, gives Mike and his father much pleasure before his owner finds him. Andy Finds a Way is the tale of a boy who needs a playmate because of the isolation and loneliness of his farm home. Andy makes a newborn bull calf, Soddy, his playmate, but his happiness is threatened because his father needs the money the calf will bring. In order to keep Soddy, Andy sets out to earn the money by digging ginseng to sell. A Ride with Huey the Engineer shows how Sunny Logan's dream comes true when Huey, the engineer of engine number 5 of the Eastern Kentucky Railroad, gives him a ride on the train. Sunny becomes the first member of his family to see the world beyond Clearwater Valley when he accompanies Huey on his run. In Old Ben the reader meets the bull black snake known to Shan's family as Old Ben. The reader learns that the snake is harmless, makes a good pet, and is useful in helping rid the farm of rodents. When the cool days of fall come, Old Ben disappears and Shan is not sure of his fate. In order to evaluate Stuart's place in the world of children's literature , we need to establish criteria for excellence in children's fiction. Huck, in Children's Literature in the Elementary School, says about writing for children: "Good writing, or effective use of language, on any subject may produce aesthetic experiences. The imaginative use of language produces both intellectual and emotional responses. It will cause the reader to perceive characters, conflicts, elements in a setting, and universal problems of mankind; it will help the reader to experience USE (2024-07-27 15:47 GMT) Books for Children 151 the delight of beauty, wonder, and...

Project MUSE promotes the creation and dissemination of essential humanities and social science resources through collaboration with libraries, publishers, and scholars worldwide. Forged from a partnership between a university press and a library, Project MUSE is a trusted part of the academic and scholarly community it serves.

AMERICAN FICTION--Jeffrey Wright plays Monk Ellis, an African American college professor who, under the nom de plume of Stagg R. Leigh, pens a novel ("My Pafology") that's shameless "Black trauma porn." When the book becomes an overnight literary sensation, Monk continues the ruse while guiltily collecting his royalty checks. First-time feature director Cord (HBO's "Watchmen") Jefferson's film is one half biting social satire and one part (not as satisfying) family melodrama. (Monk's mom is dying, and his kid brother has recently come out as gay.) Wright's fantastic lead performance is the movie's true raison d'etre, and he single-handedly makes it a must-see even though it runs out of steam in the somewhat clunky third act. Nice support from Leslie Uggams, Sterling K. Brown, John Ortiz and Erika Alexander, but it's Wright's show every step of the way. (B PLUS.)

ANYONE BUT YOU--After an extended foray into kid-friendly fare (Jamie Foxx's 2014 "Annie" reboot; the "Peter Rabbit" movies), director Will Gluck returns to his "R"-rated, "Easy A"/"Friends With Benefits" roots for a predictable, if fitfully amusing trifle. In rom-coms, casting and chemistry is everything, and Gluck is blessed with two of the most photogenic and appealing young actors working today. Ben (Glen Powell from "Top Gun: Maverick") and Bea ("White Lotus" breakout Sydney Sweeney) are exes who discover to their mutual horror that they're headed for the same destination (Australia, mate) wedding. To avoid embarrassing questions, they agree to pretend they're still a couple for the event. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or rom-com connoisseur to deduce that their play-acting will turn genuine before the flight home. Powell and Sydney strike bonafide comedic and romantic sparks. They're like a junior league Clooney and Roberts and single-handedly make this formulaic programmer (almost) worth leaving the house for. (C PLUS.)

AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM--In what might be his final turn as Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Jason Mamoa's brawny insouciance remains the primary reason this D.C. super hero franchise is easier to take than the average Marvel or D.C. outing. The storyline--Black Monta (Yahya Abdul-Manteen II) unleashes something called the Black Trident, forcing Aquaman to reteam with his estranged Atlantis king brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) to save the world from extinction--is strictly boilerplate, but returning director James Wan brings a certain snap to the rote proceedings and unlike, say, "The Marvels" or "Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3," it's never actively boring. Drive-by cameos by Nicole Kidman, disgraced Johnny Depp ex Amber Heard and Dolph Lundgren add a modicum of spice to the same old-same old template. (C PLUS.)

THE BEEKEEPER--Decidedly not a film about apiaists, Jason Statham's latest starring vehicle--his fifth in the past year alone--is about an ex CIA operative (Statham's Adam Clay) who enacts scorched earth vengeance on weaselly miscreants behind an elaborate online phishing operation targeting senior citizens. (The title stems from the name of Kay's former covert paramilitary outfit.) Better than any January Jason Statham movie has a right to be, it was directed by masculinist auteur David ("Fury," "End of Watch") Ayer who knows his way around turbo-charged action setpieces. Costarring the always welcome Jeremy Irons and, as the designated Big Bad techie, Josh Hutcherson. (B MINUS.)

THE BOYS IN THE BOAT--A pokily paced, dully earnest sports underdog movie whose real-life bona fides don't make it any less tedious to sit through. University of Washington engineering student Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) joins his school's 8-man rowing crew to help pay for tuition--he's currently living in Seattle's Hoovertown--and winds up competing in the 1936 Summer Olympics. (Yes, the same Olympics Games that were held in Hitler's Nazi Germany.) Director George Clooney, working from a by-the-numbers screenplay by "Revenant" scenarist Mark L. Smith, has made a slick, good-looking film that stubbornly fails to come to life. There's nice work from Turner, Joel Edgerton (coach Al Ulbrickson) and Hadley Robinson (Joe's debutante girlfriend), but to little avail. It's the sort of movie your grandparents might enjoy when they catch it on Amazon Prime in a few months. (C.)

THE COLOR PURPLE--Based on the long-running Broadway musical version of Alice Walker's beloved novel, Blitz Bazawule's colorful screen adaptation is so well cast and acted that it's easy to overlook the fact that none of the songs (by Brenda Russell, Stephen Bray and Allee Willis) are particularly memorable. Former "American Idol" winner Fantastia Barrino plays Celia (the same role that catapulted Whoopi Goldberg to stardom in Steven Spielberg's 1985 version), a chronically put-upon Black woman who raises herself up during the course of the story which takes place between the early to mid-twentieth century. Bazawule's movie doesn't really kick into high gear until the third act, but winds up delivering more of an emotional kick than Spielberg's somewhat prosaic version. Taraji P. Hensen (Shug Avery), Danielle Brooks (Sofia), Colman Domingo (Mister) and H.E.R. (Squeak) all deliver memorable performances. Brooks is a real scene-stealer, and Domingo makes Mister's climactic conversion the most moving part of the film. (B PLUS.)

FOUNDER'S DAY--A podunk town's tricentennial celebration is the backdrop for a contentious mayoral campaign in director Erik ("The Weekenders") Bloomquist's intermittently clever, but mostly lame slasher flick. When a masked killer murders the daughter of the challenger (Jayce Bortok), her grieving lover (Naomi Grace) teams up with the dead girl's brother (Devin Druid's Adam) to suss out the identity of the madman. During the course of their, er, investigation the incumbent mayor's daughter--who was secretly dating Adam--also falls prey to the murderer. The hick town's internecine political divisions are obviously intended as a metaphor for the divisiveness that's splintering today's American electorate, but Bloomquist seems more interested in piling on grisly carnage. Revealing the identity of the killer prematurely was probably a mistake, and the half-baked script could have definitely used a rewrite (or two). It's better than the abysmal recent Yuletide-themed slasher flick "It's a Wonderful Knife," but not remotely in the same league as Eli Roth's "Thanksgiving." (C MINUS.)

c01484d022