Kiss us…we’re too shy!  Regardless of whether or not you’re Irish, we hope you had a great Saint Patrick’s Day!

Books really took the spotlight this week at TStS.  Do you remember the books you read as a kid?  Some of them might even appeal to you now.  Courtney wrote about children’s books for big kids.

“Children’s books often include morals applicable to people from all walks of life. Think Crockett Johnson’s animation-turned-book Harold and the Purple Crayon (Harper Collins), a picture book that shows young Harold creating his own world with only a crayon and his imagination: fantasy bedtime story, or inspiration for the aspiring artist? These books also feature sly humor that makes kids giggle and grown-ups smirk. William Steig, who’s original book Shrek inspired the movies, includes gems of word play on nearly every page.”

Maybe you were more interested in comic books as a child.  Did you know that many comic books have been adapted for the big screen?  Mary discussed the challenges of translating your favorite comic book adventures into films.  She sat down with David McKenna, a professor at Columbia University and story analyst for Focus Features and asked him about the challenges of reinterpreting comic books.

“Once Warner’s saw the cash cow quality of Batman, they chose to de-emphasize Burton’s dark vision and concentrated on creating whiz-bang sequels that would generate toy sales,” said McKenna.  “The idea for toy sales arose years before from [George] Lucas and Star Wars, and the toy sales became more important than the dramatic content of the films.”

Melissa discussed the ways that The Reader changed when it was adapted for film from the original novel.  When I was watching The Reader, I didn’t think about the book. I didn’t think about anything that came before, or indeed anything that might come after it.

Happy reading!

Love,
Laryssa Wirstiuk
Founder and Editor-in-Chief
laryssa@tooshytostop.com