I just read a lovely children's book as part of my Birth Year Challenge. The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl is about a little girl with a big bit of magic up her sleeve...or rather at the end of her sleeve. Whenever anybody makes her very angry, she sees red just like any other person but then the tip of her finger turns red and before she knows it the Magic Finger has launched a suitable revenge. In this case, it's the Gregg family. The little girl cannot stand hunting. She thinks it's a horrible thing to do and she tries to persuade the Gregg father and two sons to stop hurting the defenseless animals. But they only laugh at her. This makes her angry and the Magic Finger takes over--turning the entire Gregg family into birds. Soon the Greggs have a bird's-eye view of what life is like in the forest and they learn a very important lesson.
A very nicely told story about putting yourself in the other person's shoes (or, in this case, feathers). The Gregg family learns to think about what it's like for the animals involved in their hunting. I enjoyed this one very much.
Balances out the Stoppard, eh? :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd wouldn't this be a great superpower to have?!
Yes, it does.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes it would...but I think I'd want a little more control. Her Magic Finger seems to have a mind of its own.