With World Book Day upon us once more, books and our favourite characters are once more enjoying the spotlight across schools and the media. I love the fact that parents are now involved and each year I marvel at the costume creativity of children and parents alike.
Nothing better than driving to work in a morning whilst watching 4 Umpa Lumpa's, Alice in Wonderland, 3 Harry Potter's and a Hungry Caterpillar walking into school, it's certainly not something one see's every day!
The value of books; their stories, characters, concepts, information and indeed our ability and appetite to read or listen to them should never be underestimated. They unlock our imagination, set us on a path of discovery and lead us into secret worlds, with characters entirely unique to us. I love it when a favourite book becomes a film. I love absorbing the story that had consumed me with each turn of the page. However I have to admit that a directors poetic licence, morphing a story does rial me a little and I'm always surprised of the directors view of a character in comparison with mine.
Without realising it, as we read, our amazing imagination subtly and sub-consciously creates a visual image of the characters. They emerge from the pages with evolving clarity; hair colour, clothes, overall essence of the character. The fact that a film director or fellow Book Club members don't visualize the character as I do, is rather shocking to me.... of course Sheila would have dark, glossy, shoulder length hair, why on earth would a Sheila sport a short blond bob.... you've got to be kidding me!
So back to my original point modern technology is great, online blogs, articles, TV programs and films alike but really is there anything much better than a good old retro book; the feel and smell of the pages, the authors ability to slowly suck the reader into their world, creating an urgency to turn the next page, concluding with an unexpected twist or turn and leaving the reader wanting more, exhausted, disappointed, shocked or with that warm fuzzy glow of a wonderful, gooey, daisy chain, sunny day happy ending.
Be retro, embrace the written word, optimize the looming wet weekend, grab a book, snuggle down and let your imagination firmly out of the box.
By Jules at Juunipa Tutors, providers of bespoke private tuition; www.juunipatutors.co.uk
