Children’s Book of the Month – Piglet is Entirely Surrounded by Water

The children’s book of August is a classic. Winnie the Pooh stories have been around for a long time, and there are some who love these books and some who don’t find them as interesting as other options. For me, Winnie the Pooh stories played a big part in my childhood, so I am definitely biased. But I love to share these stories, so for this month, I decided to review Piglet is Entirely Surrounded by Water by A. A. Milne. This story is part of a classic collection of children’s stories, usually included in a single book with all the short stories. But this little story also comes as a single, telling of Piglets run-in the bad weather.

There have been so many fun stories that blossomed from A. A. Milnes’ original tails of Pooh Bear and his friends, both in book and movie format. The stories have such a great cast of characters who each have some great personalities that offer an avenue for teaching children to overcome personal obstacles without trying to be comfortable with who they are by finding friends who come to their aid rather than trying to change them. One of these characters is Piglet.

As you may know, Piglet deals with fear-based personal struggles. But thankfully, he has his friends around him to help him through the moments he faces overwhelming odds. In this little story, Piglet finds himself trapped in his home in a horrendous rainstorm. The waters are coming up too high for such a small animal to handle, and he needs his friends to help. Thankfully, they are willing.

Book Information

Book Title: Piglet is Entirely Surrounded by Water

Author: A. A. Milne

Illustrator: Ernest H. Shepard

Theme: Friends helping friends

Plot: Piglet is trapped, and his friends come to the rescue

Page Count: 10 Pages

My Review

This quick little book tells the tale of Piglet’s friends coming to his rescue. The story is very simple but contains some charming lines (my favorite being “It’s a message…I must find Christopher Robin or one of those Clever Readers.”), and some adorable art that makes it that much more special. This short story starts off getting right to the point, showing Piglet and his struggle to stay above the water line. It then moves briskly to the lighthearted solution found by Pooh and Christopher Robin. Put simply, this book is adorable, both in length and in content. It portrays wonderful comradery and willingness to help a friend in need while also inviting creativity and a lighthearted approach to the whole situation. With its cute story and great examples of friends helping those in need, I give this little book about a very little piglet a five-star rating. But not everyone is as big a fan of Winnie the Pooh as I am. Let’s take a look at what some families thought about this book.

Family Reviews

Alyssa and Chandler

Alyssa gave this book a five-star rating saying, “The classic is simplified for little ones and yet holds all the tone and presentation of the original story!” Chandler, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be as impressed as her mom, rating it with a sad face. However, she did say that her favorite part was “Piglet!”

Kate and Josiah

Kate rated this book with three out of five stars, saying, “I appreciate how each Winnie the Pooh character represents a different psychological disorder in a relatable way.” Josiah seemed to hold a similar view of the book to Chandler, rating it with a sad face as well. But nevertheless, his favorite part was “Pooh.”

Have you read this book? Leave a comment and let me know what you liked about this book. I would love to hear from you!

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Let’s Talk Books! – Books into Movies

What makes a book’s movie adaptation work? This is purely my opinion, but I think there are two key elements in movie adaptations of books that make them successful. What are they? Accuracy and anchor elements. Today, I will discuss these two elements and why I think they help the transition between books and movies.

Accuracy

If you are a big book fan, you probably have your favorite series, one you read over and over and over again. Each time you love it just as much as before! Within this series, or book, you probably have a favorite character and a favorite scene, maybe more than one. Then one day, you wake up and discover that your favorite book is being adapted into a movie. This is great! Unless they change too much, right? Sometimes what translates in a book doesn’t translate well on screen. For example, it can be challenging in fantasy movies to make someone or something look exactly as everyone has imagined it, especially if the book leaves room for the imagination. Books are designed to spark the imagination; movies are designed to bring the imagined to life.

Because we all have our favorite scenes, not everyone can be satisfied. We all imagine things differently, and some of us are more attached to our imaginations than others. So, what can people do when trying to bring a beloved book to life on the big screen? They can be as accurate to the book as possible. This rule is not steadfast; I’m sure plenty of book adaptations didn’t follow the books exactly and turned out great. But many times, movies that don’t work out seem to be those movies where the writers change entire characters, sometimes just changing how they look or even getting rid of them entirely. But what I think really messes up movie adaptations is when a character’s “vibe” is not right. We all know why this one is hard to put up on screen. The character’s “vibe” is not always attached to one thing that can be seen or heard. Instead, a character’s vibe is often a combination of how the author portrayed the character and what the reader’s imagination creates based on that information. One such character is Mitch Rapp in American Assassin.

Close, But No Cigar

I love spy novels, and Vynce Flynn is one of my favorite spy novelists. When the movie came out, I was hesitant about it. See, for me, the vibe of Mitch Rapp is very particular. I am not even sure how to explain it here. He is a driver with years of experience and a specific protective personality. But his motivations are not usually based on revenge, but rather a sense of duty and an understanding that he can prevent disasters such as those who took his high school sweetheart from him. The movie, from what I remember, actually wasn’t bad. However, as a Mitch Rapp movie, it didn’t quite hit the mark. My main problem with the movie was the portrayal of Mitch Rapp as seeking revenge. I don’t know if it was just me, but it seems that, in the books, while Rapp is capable of a revenge-style retaliation, his motivations seem distinctly lacking in the revenge area until later on. Even later, when he is sufficiently motivated, he chooses to refrain from following through on his desire for revenge due to the moral implications. I think they tried to do this in the movies but didn’t quite get it right. In my opinion, the subtle but important change in his character made him less mysterious and intreguing in the movies. As in the books, he doesn’t join the fight to get revenge. But then again, as mentioned before, some character traits are a figment of the reader’s imagination. Have you read Vince Flynn’s novels? What did you think of the movie?

Anchor Elements

Anchor elements are elements in a story, often physical objects, that anchor the audience emotionally and sometimes geographically. Sometimes, getting these elements right in movies can be challenging because books don’t always clarify their anchor elements. Sometimes they are very subtle, maybe not noticeable until the end of the book, or they are never truly revealed without someone taking a very close look. However, a movie that gets an important anchor element right is The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

I know not everyone liked the movie adaptations of the Chronicles of Narnia, but the lamp and the first time it is shown in the movie, in my opinion, was spot on! The lamp helps plant the viewer’s mind directly into the iconic moment where Lucy finds Narnia. You immediately feel like you are right there with her, and the lamp’s familiarity brings about a nostalgic feeling that takes the audience back to their childhood, into the land of Narnia!

The lamp of Narnia is an excellent anchor element that stands out clearly in both the books and the movies. I recently dove deeper into why this lamp is such a great anchor element in a recent article. Check it out here!

So many books have been adapted into movies, some well and some not. I would love to hear about the books whose movie adaptations you loved! Which is your favorite? Post a comment and let me know!

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Writing Journal: My Editor and Her Assistant

Dear Journal,

This last month I have been putting the finishing touches on book 1 of the Arlin Trilogy, The Story. It is nearing completion and almost ready for its August release; I am so excited! It took a lot of time and effort from many people to get this book this far, and I can’t wait to share it with the world!

Speaking of all the amazing people who have helped, Laura and her assistant Parmesan (a.k.a. Parm) have been doing a phenomenal job editing! I love Laura’s suggestions, and she is so thorough! I also love how quickly she has picked up on each character’s personality. There have even been multiple times she suggested some dialogue, and her added quote was so spot on for how the character would talk that I barely had any edits to add to her suggestions! It was great, and it made the scene even better than it was before!

In addition to Laura’s skill as an editor, she has a great assistant, though I will say his grammar is not as good as Laura’s, and he tends to nap on the job. Though he occasionally offers an edit by walking across her keyboard. So far, I haven’t accepted any of his edits (clearly, he is better at the other aspects of his job). I think he has a lot to learn from Laura. But he is still young and new to the job. I am sure he will improve his skills as he gets more experience!

Sincerely,

Ondrea Keigh