Let's Have Some Happy News!

Reading the news is always so depressing... recently we've seen stories on:

• The old lady who left the government £520,000 to spend "as they see fit". (Was she CRAZY?) David and Nick called it a "party donation", split it between them, and were all set to spend it on champagne and cigars (probably). It was only when publicly chastised by Labour (and even Conservative) MPs that they handed it over so it could be spent on hospitals and schools and other such frivolities.
• Oprah Winfrey getting the Pretty Woman treatment in a Swiss boutique. (Big mistake. Big. Huge.) So was the shop assistant racist or just rude? Either way it doesn't fill my heart with gladness. 
• The judge who gave a paedophile a lenient sentence because the 13-year-old girl involved had been a "sexual predator". Is the whole justice system a gigantic paedophile ring? I ask because surely only someone who was a pervert could possibly think that a child was responsible for an adult's sexual crimes? Isn't that why we have statutory rape laws? 

"I am going to tell you something very strange: it was she who seduced me." Yeah, right. 

But things aren't all bad; when they're not trying to make adults have sex with them (!?) kids are actually doing some really awesome stuff.

Firstly there's Malala Yousafzai, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize after becoming a feminist icon in her teens. Last year she survived an assassination attempt from the Taliban, who got the heebie jeebies at the thought of a 15-year-old campaigning for girls' education. (This reminds me of Eileen Colwell's famous quote on Enid Blyton books: “What hope has a band of desperate men against four children?”) In the 21st century, who knew that such big bad men could be terrified at the idea of females being able to read and write?

Politically active kids isn't a new thing; back in 1992 Severn Suzuki addressed the UN regarding environmental issues: 

Actually, this one's a bit over the top for me, what with the mournful music and the "I know I'm just a child so aren't I precious for making a speech" feel of the video. Still, kudos to her for creating an eco-action group – at about the same time, I was going around the house turning off light switches and making draught excluders out of a pair of tights and some screwed up newspaper in my own efforts to be green. Today, 33-year old Severn Cullis-Suzuki is still known as an environmental activist and campaigner. 

More recently, this Egyptian kid went viral – nobody seems to know his name, but I'm pretty sure he has a bright future in politics. Call me a cynic, but I wonder if the interviewer was expecting such a young boy to have only vague, flimsy reasons for being at a protest (you know, the sort of answers we get when they ask some trustafarians in this country).

How about we get rid of newsreaders and get kids to explain everything instead? 11-year-old Yemeni girl Nada Al-Ahdal tackles the subject of forced marriages for children with eloquent self-possession:

They might be dealing with depressing subjects, but the fact that these children are so smart, articulate and vocal gives me hope. In the age of the internet, they can be heard in a way that would have been impossible otherwise. In fact, the internet  has become our "normal" so quickly that we've come to take it for granted: you only have to take a peep at whitewhine.com to see just how insanely privileged we are (and how entitled we've become because of it).

Seriously, how can anyone who has access to the internet ever consider themselves lacking in anything? Much as I hate to sound like a grandma, when I was a kid and I wanted to watch a film I had to go down to the video shop or wait for said film to come on the telly (so I could stealthily record it onto a VHS tape). If I wanted to look something up I had to find an encyclopedia (which was probably out of date). If I wanted to see a music video I had to wait for The Chart Show on a Saturday morning. When you're older than the internet it gives you a certain perspective on life, and it kind of scares me that stories of my youth will now sound as archaic as my parents' tales of playing 45s on the record player and using the cine-camera to make home movies. (Actually, we still used this when I was a kid; the smell of burning dust and the whirr of a projector takes me back to my childhood "Film nights" when we turned off all the lights and made popcorn and watched the silent movies. And yes, I realise this makes me sound ANCIENT.)

So let's just remind ourselves that everything in the world isn't miserable and hopeless, and there are some kids who have more to offer the world than atrocious spelling and the constant repetition of the word "legit". I leave you with the happiest news of all: there are sheep like this and there are people who record them and put the results on the internet for all to enjoy:

Books books books! What's your favourite?

Well, fellow bibliophiles, the time has come. I've come across a few "30 days of books" things on Facebook, Tumblr etc – the idea is that every day you write about a book that has affected you in a particular way, and after a month, everyone reading has a somewhat creepy level of insight into your brain. (And you possibly feel violated in the same way I did when someone used my email address to read my entire Amazon wishlist. I've got some crazy shit in there.) 

Now, we all know that my writing is way too sporadic to commit to an "every day" thing, so I'm just going to drop in one of these as a lovely surprise every so often. (Yes, I mean when I'm totally out of inspiration and have nothing to write about.) I also might not stick strictly to the approved list of questions. What can I say? I'm a rebel.

However, I will start with the conventional question #1: What is your favourite book of all time? 

Go in with the big guns, why don’t you? It’s hard to choose a very favourite (especially if you read a lot and constantly find new books to love) but my desert island, must-have-a-copy-until-the-day-I-die book, is The Chronicles of Narnia. I know it’s seven novels, but I do also have a large tome with all of the volumes, so technically I’m not cheating.

It totally counts as one book.

Oh, Narnia, how do I love thee? Everyone knows The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (it shaped my childhood) but some of the other books are less popular. I have no idea why The Magician's Nephew has not yet been adapted for the big screen – the scenes of Aslan singing Narnia into life, as well as the desolate city of Charn, all demand to be filmed.  

I found The Horse and His Boy a little dry as a small child, but I grew into it and later spent hours acting it out with a rocking horse. (Prior to this luxurious toy, I made do with a makeshift version; the top of a large arm chair adorned with sellotaped-on paper eyes, ears and nostrils makes a FINE horse, actually. I have pictures. I might post them sometime.) 

As I mentioned, the cheapo BBC series of the books is my guilty pleasure – to me, Tom Baker is not Doctor Who but Puddleglum. Every time I see Big Mick I cry "Trumpkin!" like a delighted, demented child. It's "Mike from Neighbours" syndrome, and I don't care.

C.S. Lewis not only had the inspiration to create the most magical world ever, but he writes in such a warm, friendly style that you feel as if you’re being read to by a favourite uncle. He has a rare gift for creating works which are accessible to children, meaningful to adults, and full of insight and beauty for everyone.

My favourite character was always Reepicheep the mouse; I was in awe of his unfailing courage. His first choice in every situation was to take the brave, noble option  – even if it meant death. Especially if it meant death. He jumps at the chance of sailing on alone to the world's end in the hope of finding "Aslan's country". When faced  with a cloud of darkness, the crew of The Dawn Treader are reluctant to sail on, asking "What's the use?" of ploughing into the blackness. 

"Use?" replied Reepicheep. "Use, Captain? If by use you mean filling our bellies or our purses, I confess it will be no use at all. So far as I know we did not set sail to look for things useful but to seek honour and adventure. And here is as great an adventure as ever I heard of, and here, if we turn back, no little impeachment of all our honours." 

When faced with strangers, his greeting is "If you are foe we do not fear you, and if you are a friend your enemies shall be taught the fear of us." Which is perhaps more aggressive than is ideal, but you're got to admire his moxie. 

 

Other favourites:

Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, although that doesn't really count, does it? Everyone loves that book. I often make notes of lines from books that I find especially profound or funny or beautiful – when it came to this book, I scribbled a note to myself "Just read it again. It's very short and easy". I advise you to do the same. 

The Color Purple: everyone who flicks through this book hands it back with an expression of confused disgust, because it's written in a pretty extraordinary style. I once excitedly described it as being written "in Lolcat" and was accused of being racist. But.... it really is lolcat language! 

"She tell me, Your skin. Your hair. Your teefs. He try to give her a compliment, she pass it on to me. After a while I git to feeling pretty cute."

It's also an amazing story with memorable characters and a striking take on theology and images of God:

“My first step from the old white man was trees. Then air. Then birds. Then other people. But one day when I was sitting quiet and feeling like a motherless child, which I was, it came to me; that feeling of being part of everything, not separate at all. I knew that if I cut a tree, my arm would bleed.”

“I believe God is everything,” say Shug. “Everything that is or ever was or ever will be. And when you can feel that, and be happy to feel that, you’ve found it.”  

The film's not as good as the book, but it does have Oprah in it – and she's an amazing actress. Is there nothing the woman can't do?