Did you listen to the Children’s Bible Hour on the radio when you were a kid? Do you remember the voice of Uncle Charlie? Charlie VanderMeer read Christian stories for children for decades in his warm, conversational voice and often posed questions for reflection on the program he hosted. My sister actually got to see him in person when he visited the children at a bible camp she used to work at.
To be honest, I was always hankering for Adventures in Odyssey to come on and only stayed tuned for CBH which aired afterwards if I was really bored and there was nothing else to do. Perhaps I had gotten too old for it at that point. But I am thankful for such a faithful man who loved God and cared about kids. We hear so much scandal going on everywhere in the church these days, unfortunately. But Uncle Charlie was a bright spot in our world, and was a godly ambassador for Christ who reflected God’s love for such a long time. Praise God!
Plot Summary: Once upon a time, Garden-Maker made the stars and space and time, and spoke earth and light into being. He formed Man out of the dust of the earth and created a paradise for him to live in and it was perfect. But then the creature called Shining One grew jealous of the glory of Garden-Maker and enticed Man away from the path of wisdom. And so begins the epic tale told by an ancient storyteller…
My Book Review: This series, entitled “The Story Teller” by Steve Stephens, sat on the shelf in our church library for years and they looked intriguing to me. Finally, I picked up the first one to read and fell in love with the beautiful poem-prose narrative. They are simple retellings of the Genesis stories, yet the words swirl around in a sort of colorful, magical mosaic.
Stephens isn’t the first to write imaginative accounts of bible stories, filling in details and elaborating or simplifying finer points here and there. But I loved his bard-like habit of substituting characters’ names for their signature qualities. For example, the Creator God is referred to as Garden-Maker and later on in the story as Promise-Keeper. Noah is Builder, Sarah is Princess and Joseph is Dreamer. This is also done to place names as well. Canaan is the Valley of the Apples; Egypt is the Land of the Deltas. Describing people and places as such gives the familiar Story a fresh take as well as a timeless feel. But it is still the same.
I found it wonderful to be reintroduced to these ancients of the faith and most especially, to read of the character of Promise-Keeper who never fails us. He gave me such encouragement of heart. If you’re wanting something that will help you understand the heart of God and His Word a little better, this is a great supplement. It is easy enough for children to understand, and adults will find a deep well of truth to rejoice in. I truly cannot wait to read the next installment, “Leaders”, followed by “Kingdoms”, and “Promises”.
Hi, there! Quick post tonight about one of my favorite audiobook voice over talents: Scott Brick. The reason why I hold him in high storyteller esteem is because he, Pat Fraley, and Hilary Huber have conjointly perfected many of the techniques behind the creation of audiobooks. Not only is he easy and interesting to listen to, he just downright knows how to tell a story and do it well. If you have listened to at least 5 audiobooks, chances are he’s probably narrated at least one of them. I think his current tally is 600+.
Recently I’ve become addicted to the youtube channel VO Buzz Weekly. Scott Brick was the featured guest on one of their episodes, which I am sharing here for those interested:
Happy Easter! Do you remember your earliest Easter memories from when you were a kid? I remember one of mine is listening to a dramatized version of the death, burial, and resurrection story of Christ being played on the radio on Good Friday. It was a departure from the norm (usually it was a music station). The solemnity of the event came across very clear to my mind. It felt like I was actually listening in on the true events as they were happening. I couldn’t have been more than 6 at the time.
Audio dramatizations can have such an impact on our lives, especially children. I came across this blog post from Audio Theatre Central listing a bunch of religious, Easter-themed audio dramas for families to enjoy and links to be able to purchase them from Amazon. I have listened to a couple of them and I have to say that Ben-Hur is my favorite! Do you have any others you would add to the list?
I hope everyone has themselves a merry little Christmas! It doesn’t have to big, it doesn’t have to bright, it doesn’t have to be loud. But I do hope it is merry, and that we ponder it in our hearts.
Chris Fabry did a recent program with past recordings of Christmas stories narrated by Mike Kellogg. I thought I’d post it here for us to enjoy together.
Version: 2015; starring Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, James Franco
Genre: children’s; animation
Plot Summary: [from IMDb:] “A little girl lives in a very grown-up world with her mother, who tries to prepare her for it. Her neighbor, the Aviator, introduces the girl to an extraordinary world where anything is possible, the world of the Little Prince.”
My Review: Disclaimer*: I have not read the original book, so this review will not by comparing it to that novel. Only as a story in and of itself, totally unrelated to the book.
Growing up, my mom had two copies of the French classic “The Little Prince.” One was in French (and incomprehensible to me), the other in English. Neither interested me very much. The pictures looked bland and too unbelievable. I was sure I wouldn’t enjoy the story.
Not too long ago I saw that Netflix had made an animated version of the book and I didn’t mind sitting down to spend an evening that way. I was mildly curious. I was not prepared to be blown away.
I think I was drawn into it from the first notes of music. The art, the plot, the script were beautifully done. The old phonograph playing was enough to melt my heart alone! I was nearly crying by the end of it. And now I want to read the book very much. It isn’t often that film versions inspire me to read the book, but when they do… 🙂
This movie is actually told in two stories. One is of a little girl who is expected to live a life where childhood is forgotten. She unexpectedly meets her next door neighbor, an eccentric old man (and self-proclaimed ‘hoarder’) who used to be an aviator once upon a time. He begins to woo her friendship by telling her the story of the Little Prince he met in another world long ago. The story of the Little Prince and his rose is told through stop-motion animation, and I loved every bit about it! I enjoyed it even more for it’s nuances, and thought-provoking lines about life that are hidden like gems throughout where you have to mine them to interpret the meaning for yourself. Wonderful!
There are many who abhor this film because they say it takes too many liberties with the book. Apparently the story of the little girl trying to live the expected life of an adult is not in the original. Since I’ve never read it, I don’t even know if the part of the Little Prince is told faithfully. But I know I loved the film and that it has inspired me to pick up a book I never knew I needed to read before. I would say that is the effect of a well-told, don’t you?
One of my favorite lines comes from the Aviator consoling the little girl when she tells him she doesn’t want to grow up. He responds, “Growing up isn’t the problem– forgetting is.” I wish someone had been able to tell me that when I was a kid and afraid of graduating to adulthood. This wisdom makes a world of difference because it is true! I have found that becoming a true adult is really only becoming the person you were meant to be, which includes the parts of childhood that are good and pure and young in heart. Idealistically, the aim is to shed the ‘juvenile’ ways we used to think and act. Juvenility is to be differentiated from being childlike in that it is immature, selfish, and narrow-minded. (1 Cor. 13:11) Childhood, on the other hand is essentially joy, wonder, and innocence.
I have met older adults, even Christians in their 60’s, behave like juveniles. I have met adults who have completely forgotten what is childhood, instead exuding joylessness, hyper-practicality, and busyness. But I have also met other adults who have retained their openness to life, wonder at the world, and quest to learn and grow- the mark of a true ‘child at heart.’ That is what God means for us to be, I think. And for us believers, we are all to be trusting children in relation to Him.
And He said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:3)
I do have a qualm about the movie’s plotline, and that is although it is an indie flick, it does not escape the usual Hollywood storyarc of children being better-knowing than their parents (or more often single parent): rebelling against the ‘status quo’, and teaching the parents they do not know what is best for their kids. See an excellent article on this topic here.
But the voices (esp. Jeff Bridges’ for the Aviator) were great! Bridges has a voice that has aged well, resulting in a friendly, comforting effect. I also loved the Fox, voiced by James Franco. So adorable!
I recommend this glimmering, luminous movie for family viewing, young and old alike. If you approach it being prepared that it’s more loosely based on the book, I think you’ll enjoy it.
Have you ever wondered about the origins of seemingly nonsensical nursery rhymes?
Ring around the rosie,
A pocket full of posies,
Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!
Why in the world do we teach young children these simplistic poems when we don’t even know what they are talking about? Are they clues to some hidden meaning or are their histories long past memory?
In this shortish, informative article by Clemency Burton-Hill, I learned that many nursery rhymes were at one time veiled records of current events. It’s fascinating, and helps to view these children’s poems in a closer light.
But why are they children’s poems? Are they fit for children? The Victorians certainly didn’t think so, and began the campaign to clean the rhymes up. Okay, I’m grateful for that. I’d much rather my young’uns babbling fun repetitive sounds than knowingly reciting tales of torture techniques geared for male genitals. I’m convinced of the educative quality of children learning soothing sounds and rhythms.
But I got to thinking about how ‘shocked’ we are to learn of the real meanings that lie behind these mysterious sing-songs. It was dealing with the world as they knew it at the time, only later being ‘sanitized’ for society. We live in a much more decent world, our children are much more innocent… Or are they? Our world contains much violence today. School shootings, child molestation, human trafficking. However, what worries me more than these issues is what they learn in the home little on up from those nearest to them. Broken homes, where mom’s had three boyfriends in the past month. If dad’s in the picture, he’s never grown up himself and spends his waking time playing violent video games or watching adult “cartoons” that spew forth 4 letter (and 3 letter) words. “Mother”; “It”; “hotdogs and buns”… And we’re shocked over Rock a Bye Baby?
No, I’m not stressed over wool tax. I’m worried about the little boy who lives down the lane, who grows up in a world where his dad was busy texting during his first steps and his mom can’t decide whether or not to give him up for adoption because she spends part of her time in jail. He doesn’t get to be read or sung nursery rhymes. It’s heartbreaking, and it’s not just little Danny. His story is a common epidemic!
Yes– clean up the content for the little ones, but let’s not forget about the overall home we’re raising our kids in. Is it mentally, spiritually, emotionally clean and healthy? Ultimately, the only way for this to be possible is for the people in the home to be rooted in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Eventually, there’s only so much we can protect our kids from. We do not live in bubbles forever, and it’s important to remember history from those who came before. People from long ago passed their experiences down to us in rhymes. What will we pass down?
Not long ago I discovered that Richard Adams, the author of “Watership Down”, passed away this last Christmas. I was surprised, probably because I had assumed he’d died years ago. His book is such a classic and dearly loved by many. I remember staying up late at night while on vacation in Florida when I was fifteen, trying to convince myself to go to bed but too much on the edge of my seat to let go of reading about the adventures of rabbits. I remember being a little bit afraid (and maybe this is why I was intrigued by it) that it was partly evil because of the worship of the sun-god El-Ahrairah and Fiver’s prophetic visions. But I pressed on anyway because I couldn’t stop. This is debatable, but I personally never liked the animated version. It just didn’t look and feel like it did in my head.
I tried recommending the book to my sister years later, but she disdainfully said she didn’t want to read about “bunnies.” Oh, how erroneous an assumption! Only readers (and they must be lovers) of the story know that it is much more than about little fluffy animals. As author Jeffrey Overstreet says about the novel, there is nothing ‘cute’ about it. I am posting a link to a lecture piece Overstreet wrote and read at the 2016 Hutchmoot, which I thought was excellent.
I don’t think I grasped at fifteen how much of a spiritual story “Watership Down” is. Probably one of those that is best not to be consciously appreciated in that sense, but is soaked in through the subtle influence of good storytelling.
Did you listen to the Children’s Bible Hour on the radio when you were a kid? Do you remember the voice of Uncle Charlie? Charlie VanderMeer read Christian stories for children for decades in his warm, conversational voice and often posed questions for reflection on the program he hosted. My sister actually got to see him in person when he visited the children at a bible camp she used to work at.
There are many who abhor this film because they say it takes too many liberties with the book. Apparently the story of the little girl trying to live the expected life of an adult is not in the original. Since I’ve never read it, I don’t even know if the part of the Little Prince is told faithfully. But I know I loved the film and that it has inspired me to pick up a book I never knew I needed to read before. I would say that is the effect of a well-told, don’t you?
I have met older adults, even Christians in their 60’s, behave like juveniles. I have met adults who have completely forgotten what is childhood, instead exuding joylessness, hyper-practicality, and busyness. But I have also met other adults who have retained their openness to life, wonder at the world, and quest to learn and grow- the mark of a true ‘child at heart.’ That is what God means for us to be, I think. And for us believers, we are all to be trusting children in relation to Him.
No, I’m not stressed over wool tax. I’m worried about the little boy who lives down the lane, who grows up in a world where his dad was busy texting during his first steps and his mom can’t decide whether or not to give him up for adoption because she spends part of her time in jail. He doesn’t get to be read or sung nursery rhymes. It’s heartbreaking, and it’s not just little Danny. His story is a common epidemic!
booklearned 