Imagining books and music in quirky and creative ways
You’ve waited a long time. You’ve lost sleep in anticipation, in fact. But now, FINALLY, ARRRiel the Pirate Mermaid is back with some new adventures (featuring my *cough* super impressive drawing skills).
Previously on ARRiel the Pirate Mermaid, ARRiel met a dinosaur and they sailed off into the sunset.
Now for their next adventure: Continue reading “Create-Your-Own-Comics: ARRiel the Pirate Mermaid and the Trampoline to Space”
So you’ve decided it’s time to get a watch dog to protect yourself from intruders. But the choice is not an easy one… Continue reading “Who Would Make a Better Watch Dog: The Crocodile from Peter Pan or Fluffy?”
This short 3 minute piano piece reveals a facade of beauty that is the perfect match for a birds-eye view of Boo Radley’s town. Both the music and novel invite us to reconsider our perspectives by presenting a world that is both otherworldly and hauntingly similar to our own.
Classical Music Stories is a series that connects music to your favorite books and characters. Since listening to classical music can be like hearing a story, imagining specific stories that match the music can make it that much more fun and accessible! Continue reading “Classical Music Stories: To Kill a Mockingbird”
(No spoilers here.) In Paula Hawkins’ thriller Into the Water, characters aren’t simply “good” or “bad.” While Sean is called a “good man” over and over again he’s done some terrible things, and while Nel is loved by some she’s hated by others (even by the same people at different times). And then there are Lena, Jules, and Louise…
This is part of what makes a thriller work. We can’t figure out “who dun it” because literally everyone has some kind of nasty history that suggests they might be capable of murder (what a terrifying thought)!
And yet, by writing the book through these characters’ perspectives, Hawkins forces us to empathize with them and understand their motivation. This doesn’t make their actions any less screwed up or horrific, but in experiencing the story in this way we are basically forced to view these people as human, and not as demons who hurt and kill people because they’re twisted and like it. Honestly, in a way that would be a lot more comforting–it would make us feel safer from the possibility of committing such horrific deeds ourselves.
And then there are Buzzfeed quizzes. Continue reading “What “Into the Water,” Buzzfeed Quizzes, and Musical Taste Have in Common”
If Mermaids Wore Suspenders 