At the Guardian:
Blyton wrote 21 Famous Five books, the first, Five on a Treasure Island, was published in 1942. As Dr Joan Ransley, honorary lecturer in human nutrition at the University of Leeds, notes: "The food eaten in the books anchors the Famous Five to a definite period in dietary history. During and immediately after the second world war British children ate well but austerely and Blyton is true to this." In other words, they ate healthily but not heartily. Well over half of the books were written during food rationing. Perhaps Blyton is consciously enticing her readers with elaborate descriptions of foods way beyond the ration book allowance.
I'd like, very much, for someone (not me, because I'm lazy) to take a similar look at the food served up in the Nancy Drew books.
Thank you.
Regretsy found another one.
And it's amazing.
Two words: Christmas lights.
I vote yes.
From the CBC:
Descendants of J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Dickens are working together to release two children's fantasy books, in a project that should be completed later this year.
From Vulture:
Speaking on the floor of the National Association of Broadcasters convention, Netflix chief Ted Sarandos confirmed that all ten episodes of Arrested's long-awaited fourth season will premiere together on a single day sometime next year.
Every single time there's an article about Arrested Development, someone in the comments posts:
STEVE HOLT! \o/
And it makes me laugh. Every. Single. Time.
Tom Taylor is a bit like Christopher Robin Milne, if Christopher Robin Milne had made his living off of Pooh. See, Tom Taylor's father wrote an insanely popular series of Harry Potter-ish books about a character named Tommy Taylor—and then, thirteen books into the series, he just... disappeared, leaving the series on an extremely down note.
Years later, fans are still understandably dismayed, and although Tom makes his living doing appearances at conventions and so on, he still finds it annoying that A) they never think that being abandoned by his father might be, you know, a sore subject, and B) they seem to be completely incapable of differentiating between Tom-the-real-live-adult and Tommy-the-teenaged-fictional-character.
He's used to weirdo fanboys—like the dude who dresses up like series villain Count Ambrosio and interrogates him about Tommy Taylor minutia at every opportunity—but he's thrown when, at his latest appearance, a seemingly completely sane woman stands up and basically accuses him of being an imposter:
His agent tells him not to worry about it, but clearly knows more than he's telling...
Artwork? Good stuff. Depending on what is being depicted—whether it be Tom's story, an excerpt from a Tommy Taylor novel or movie, a newscast, etc.—the style, color scheme, and sharpness of the lines change, and the difference between the sadsack Count Ambrosio fanboy and the [SPOILER] possibly-real Count Ambrosio is staggering.
Storyline? So, first, there's the backstory, the hilarious parallels to Harry Potter, the fab opening scene that depicts a celebrity experiencing the obsessive end of geek culture, all of which are awesome. But then there's the introduction of all sorts of mysteries: A Big Conspiracy and maybe even (okay, probably) an Actual Fantasy Realm; the suggestion that Tom Isn't Who He Thinks He Is; that possibly there's more to those damn books than anyone ever imagined. Also, there's stuff about Destiny and the Importance of Story, and there's also a cult based around Tom/Tommy. BASICALLY, IT'S FULL OF BIG FAT WIN. Totes looking forward to the second issue. Which, luckily, I have right next to me in this handy-dandy trade.
Read the next one? YES. YES YES YES YES YES. YES YES.
From The Hub:
It shows that the number of words students read peaks in 6th grade and remains relatively stable through 8th grade. Yet starting in 9th grade, when students traditionally enter high school, that number drops significantly by more than 100,000 words a year and remains at that lower level through 12th grade.
Someone pointed out, in the comments section, that high school students are REALLY, REALLY BUSY PEOPLE, which could have a serious affect on reading time, and someone else pointed out that the study doesn't take online reading, magazines, etc., into account.
Regardless, click on through for more graphs!
