Book Review: Stories for Children by Oscar Wilde

Book: Stories for Children by Oscar Wilde, Illustrated by P.J. Lynch
Genre: children's illustrated short stories
Rating: ★ ★ ★


I picked up this one to read because we are doing The Happy Prince for the Kpop bookclub this time around and I found it in this compilation and decided to just read all the stories here, because it will also fulfill another category on the book challenge I'm doing!

This particular edition included six stories. Here's a summary of each:

The Selfish Giant: A giant gets bugged when he discovers children playing in his garden, so he bans them from coming. But then his garden is cursed with winter until he realizes why and has the kids come back. One particular kid catches his eye...

The Nightingale and the Rose: A young boy wants to give something to a girl to make her fall in love with him. The nightingale learns of this plight and sacrifices himself to create the perfect rose, but the boy takes no heed and all is in vain.

The Devoted Friend: A miller has a very warped definition of friendship and works his "friend" to literal death.

The Happy Prince: A statue of a the prince notices the suffering people in his kingdom and he gives everything he has, with the help of his sparrow friend, to ease their suffering.

The Remarkable Rocket: A firework, intended for the celebration of the marriage of the prince and princess, decides to start bragging about how wonderful he is and ends up exploding in a very unremarkable way.

The Young King: A pauper turned king has three dreams on the eve of his coronation which makes him decide he does not want to be a pompous king and he refuses to wear the riches prepared for his coronation.


Basically, every single story is extremely depressing! Except maybe the Selfish Giant which still ends in death. Yeah. Every story is also quite sarcastic and expresses the author's feelings (I'm assuming they are his feelings) in quite an unsubtle way. Of course, most of this would go over a kids head, so I was baffled they are considered "for children." They are pretty morbid for children too! More like parables for adults here! They did feel like twisted Bible stories in a way.

Anyway, still I learned lessons. Things like: be a true friend, don't be selfish, don't be a braggart, help the poor people, don't be prideful, give of yourself, know the true meaning of love. Etc. :) Also, I know I was supposed to pay attention to the illustrations, and they were okay, but they didn't really stand out to me.

I.M aka Im Changkyun of Monsta X

We read this one because recently I.M (aka. Im Changkyun)  from Monsta X read The Happy Prince for an audiobook production. I found it on Youtube and thoroughly enjoyed listening to him read it to me! He knows English well, but has some interesting pronunciations for some words which made me smile and was so very cute.  Here it is if you are interested. I know he did a Korean version too, which I would love to listen to. But I haven't found it yet.




We are also reading The Little Prince for this bookclub this time around, so look for that to come later!

Book Reviews: Korean Folktales

So I mentioned the other day about finding some fun Asian folktales, Chinese and Korean, at the library and how I was looking forward to them. These two were very short tales, told in a picture book form. Here's what I thought about each of them:

Older Brother, Younger Brothers retold by Nina Jaffe

From what I understand, this one is a very old, very well known story told to everyone in Korea (even North I know since the boy in that recent book I read referred to this story many times) and probably other Asian countries. It reminded me a little bit of the Prodigal Son from the bible, except that the "bad" son is a brother and comes begging back home to the other brother and not the father.

The story is about two brothers who have very different personalities. (I guess this could be kinda like Cain and Able too actually.) One is loving and kind and generous. The other is selfish and mean and spiteful. When the dad dies, the older mean brother brother takes the house and kicks his younger brother out.

So the younger brother finds a new place to live and struggles and grows and learns. He is nice to a wounded bird, and later, that bird comes back and rewards him with many riches.

When the younger brother learns about this, he figures he can do the same thing. So he hurts a bird, then fixes it and then sits back to wait for his reward. Only instead he gets bad fortune. Terrible things happen. And he and his family lose everything. So he has to go begging to his brother.

Of course the younger brother takes him and welcomes him with open arms. The older brother finally sees his terrible ways and vows to do better, which he does and they live happily ever after.

I'm sure kids are told this story and learn a ton of lessons from it! Karma being one I'd think. Forgiveness. You reap what you sew. All sorts of lessons!



The Princess and the Beggar retold by Anne Sibley O'brien

This is the story of a royal family, with a princess who always seemed to be crying. She was called The Weeping Princess. But in fact, she just felt a lot of sympathy for those around her. Especially one day when she saw the local beggar boy being harassed in town. She felt so bad for him. This boy was eventually banned to live in the forests outside of town and people sat around and told stories about him.

When the Princess continued to cry over every little thing, her dad the King joked that he might just have to marry her off to the Idiot in the forest. The joke got around and everyone teased her relentlessly.

Then one day she was to be married off to another kingdom. She knew she wouldn't be even a little bit happy. So she refused. Her dad was so mad and tried to force her to obey. She said "I would rather be married to the Idiot!" And so the king made it so and banished his daughter.

When she went to the forest, the Idiot (his name was Ondal by the way) found her and asked her why she was there.  When he learned she was there to "marry" him, he thought he was being mocked. But then he realized she was for real. He was very nice then and they become friends and partners. She taught him a ton of things and he learned fast. Of course, he was not an idiot at all.

Gradually, they became brave enough and one day they decided to go back to the town to the festival. She managed to convince him to compete in the games and guess what, he won! And now everyone had to know who he was!

Imagine everyone's surprise when they found out he was the "idiot" and had learned everything from his new wife, the weeping princess! The king decided to welcome them back but they said no thanks and stayed living in the forest, only coming to visit and help the kingdom now and then.

I loved this story and could see all the potential romance and sweetness. And another tale of forgiveness too. I think it would make a great drama or a YA story. I wonder if someone has already thought the same thing?

Lovely lovely stories. I'm so glad I thought to check out the folktale section at the library! I always forget it even exists! I might have to see what else it hides...

Book Review: The Magical Monkey King retold by Ji-Li Jiang

Book: The Magical Monkey King retold by Ji-Li Jiang
Genre: Chinese folktale
Rating:★★★☆☆

Inspired by the crazy drama I was watching (done now, review of that soon if I can tackle it... AHH!!!) I picked up this funny little book at the library one day in order to learn more about this very popular folktale.

We learn first how this silly monkey came to exist. Basically, a storm swept across the land. At the top of a very very tall mountain, there was a stone. After the storm, the stone was shattered in pieces, leaving only a black stone egg. It sat there for 99 days and then a dragon came and breathed fire on it. Then it burned for 9 days. After which, the egg was gone and a stone monkey sat there.

Eventually, the monkey came to life and he found a clan of monkeys to live with. He helped them to discover a beautiful secret garden where they lived happily for many years. They loved him so much, they made him their Monkey King.

But the monkey got sad because he wanted to live forever. So he goes on a quest and finds a sage who, after much trouble, finally teaches him a lot of life's secrets. Among them, magic. But he caused so much mischief, the sage kicked him out.

And so it goes, many other adventures follow. The Monkey King happily causes grief wherever he goes, but also saves his monkey clan from the demons. Also, later on he gets banned to a peach orchard, his favorite thing of all, and eats the peaces of immortality, but he gets in big time trouble. Eventually he meets up with Buddha himself, loses a bet and gets banned to live under a mountain for 500 years.

This is one crazy monkey! And in my drama, he was also very much crazy! But oh so lovable!

A very fun and enjoyable little tale filled with all sorts of lessons to learn in life. As I said over at Goodreads, this one would be a fun one to read to kids. I think they'd get a big kick out of it. I also enjoyed learning a bit of the background and basis for which the characters on my drama were based. What a blast.

Book Review Thoughts: Finding Wild by Megan Wagner Lloyd

Book: Finding Wild by Megan Wagner Lloyd
Genre: Picture book
Rating:★★★★☆


I've rarely done a picture book review, mostly because I've been out of that genre forever and it's not often I have a chance or opportunity to read one these days! Most awesomely I'm getting back into that now that I have a baby girl in my life again, even if I won't get to see her much. I'll be on the look out!

The other day at book club one of  our members gave us copies of this picture book that her sister has written. And so here are my thoughts!

It's a lovely story about two kids who go on a walk and discover all the cool things that are wild out in the world.

It contrasts things in nature that are both tiny and soft and fragile and those that are prickly and itchy and stingy. It makes use of all the senses and really makes a case for all the things you can experience out on a walk.

But then there's the problem of nature and wild things in a city. Is it there? Yes, of course it is!

Bottom Line: Cute story with fun colorful pictures all about nature and how it's everywhere around us.

Other Reviews:

And hopefully it will make kids want to get off that couch and go play outside. From Alternate Readality

...a delightful gift for anyone with an affinity for determined city blossoms and wide, green spaces. From Book Page

Book Review Discussion: The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

Book: The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
Genre: Children's classic
Rating:★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
For: the readathon and family book club
From: the library

Short Synopsis: A family moves into a nice old house and is very emphatically warned by the previous owner that the house is haunted. They just shrug and say, whatever. We'll deal. Turns out, the house really is haunted and the family does just shrug it off. They confront the ghost, they yell at him, they set traps for him, they undo all his mischief and they generally make his ghostly life miserable. The tables are completely turned. He ends up one very depressed ghost. Then the daughter of the family talks to him, learns his story and helps him to find peace and release.

My Response: Cute story! Lots of funny moments. Though you do feel sorry for the ghost, even though he really did mean things when he was alive. The end is bittersweet and I'm sure has all sorts of symbolism and stuff, but I didn't try too hard to figure those out. The writing is fun and light-hearted. I was surprised and expected it to be a little heavier coming from Mr. Wilde, but I did learn that he has written a ton of kids stories. So that was interesting.

Bottom Line: Fun story. Kids will love it. I know there are several picture versions of the story and it can be read in long sitting, or over a couple of nights.

Let's Talk About: I'm wondering if you are all familiar with this story? I wasn't until we decided to read it for our first family book club pick. I mean, the name sounded familiar but I didn't know at all what it was. How about you all? I know there are lots of movie versions too. Anyone seen one?

Other Reviews:

It’s funny, imaginative, and so easy to read it’s suitable for younger readers as well as adults. From She Reads Novels

What I am continually impressed by is how modern and fresh Oscar Wilde’s prose still sounds given it was penned in the late 1800s. From Book Lover Book Reviews

What I liked most about the Canterville Ghost was his fish-out-of-water experiences. Not being able to scare the residing family like he should. From AllReaders.com


Here's a fun trailer for one the movies:

Review: I Believe in Jesus Too by Mark S. Nielsen

Book: I Believe in Jesus Too by Mark S. Nielsen
Genre: Picture Book, Religious
Rating: ★★★☆ ☆  
For: Blog Tour
From: The author





So here I am, stepping out of my comfortable box for a moment to review a sort of book I've never reviewed here on the blog before! That's what happens when you get a nice, personable, email request from the author to participate in a blog tour!

This is a picture book filled with beautiful illustration about kids from all over the world. There's Katri in Finland, Ming in Taiwan, Dimitri in Russia, and many others. This book is a sweet reminder to kids everywhere that other children who live in places different from them, are actually just like them, despite the fact that their life experiences and cultures are different.

Even though the book is aimed to kids that are members of the LDS faith (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) I feel like children from all sorts of religions will relate because not only does it point out the different (yet same) ways the children worship all over the world, it also points out things like their different languages, their different food, their different geographical situations, their different modes of transportation and so on. Any child will learn about how kids live.... all over the world.

And as I said above, the pictures (illustrated by Craig Stapley) are beautiful! I very much enjoyed them, and it made me realize how I've missed reading and experiencing good picture books around here! Ah, to have little kids again. Maybe some day soon? Wait, not so sure I'm QUITE ready for that next phase of life yet! :)

Bottom line: I liked this one a lot.

Other Reviews:

Bloggin' 'bout Books
Fire and Ice
Swinging on Small Hinges
Green Jello With Carrots