nPostednon January 30, 2016
n
n
n
n
n
nHerenare some of my favorite friends from my childhood: Taran, Eilonwy,nand Gurgi. Here are some of my kids’ favorite friends, from theirnchildhood: Taran, Eilonwy, and Gurgi. n
n
n
n
n
n
nI’mnsure you realize that when I say friends, I really meann“friends” with quotation marks. Really, they were belovedncharacters from oft-read, much-loved books.
n
n
n
n
n
n
Andntherein lies the beauty of books – new generations can enjoynwonderful characters and engaging plots just as much as their parentsnand maybe even grandparents before them did!
Andntherein lies the beauty of books – new generations can enjoynwonderful characters and engaging plots just as much as their parentsnand maybe even grandparents before them did!n
n
n
n
n
nGettingnback to Taran, Eilonwy, and Gurgi:
n
n
n
nTaran was a wanderer; a boy whonhad no station in life, no known parents; a boy who really wanted to be a hero.
n
n
n
nEilonwy was a princess with a non-stop tongue, anhandy bauble that serves as a flashlight (among other things), and a stick-up-for-herself attitude.
n
n
n
nGurgi was…well,nnobody really knew what Gurgi was. He wasn’t quite human, but he couldntalk, after a fashion. He was mussy and hairy and always hungry –n“crunchings and munchings” were big in his life (and in mynfamily’s discussion of snacks as well)!
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nThesenthree are some of the characters of the five-book Chronicles ofnPrydain. They were written by today’s birthday. Lloyd Alexander, innthe 1960s, and two of the five were honored with a Newbery Honor and a NewberynMedal. An honor that is even harder to get is a Disney movie; inn1985, Disney released a Prydain animated movie that wasn’t very likenthe books (and wasn’t, in my opinion, all that good).
n
n
n
n
n
nMaybenI was just disappointed because the Disney Taran, Eilonwy, and Gurginwere not MY Taran, Eilonwy, or Gurgi!
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nLloydnAlexander wrote more than just Prydain books…
n
n
n
n
n
nBornnon this date in 1924, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lloyd Alexandernloved to read the books his parents bought at the Salvation Army.nAlexander’s childhood was shadowed by the Great Depression, whichnhugely affected his stockbroker father (and most Americans) – butnAlexander could get his escape by reading.
n
n
n
n
n
nBynage 15, Alexander wanted to be a writer. He worked the job that hisnparents found for him, as a bank messenger, while finishing highnschool by age 16, but he only went to college for one year before hendecided to launch out on his career. He thought that he needed tonhave adventures before he began to write about others’ adventures, sonhe enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was lucky not tonbe deployed until late in the war; he trained and served innintelligence and counterintelligence.
n
n
n
n
n
nSpynstuff!
n
n
n
n
n
nOnenof the places where he trained was Wales.
n
n
n
n
n
nAfternthe war, Alexander went to university in Paris, got married, andnmoved back to the U.S. to write.
n
n
n
n
n
nHenwrote books for seven long years before he got any of his booksnpublished!
n
n
n
n
n
nHisnfirst hit was fantasy, meant for children: Time Cat. Because of thatnsuccess, Alexander decided to stick with children’s fantasy. Henrevisited his wartime home, Wales, for the settings of the Prydainnbooks. The books are about Welsh names and were inspired by aspects ofnWelsh mythology – although the beloved main characters and thenplots of the Prydain books were entirely Alexander’s own!
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
- n
-
n
Ton celebrate Alexander’s birthday, check out his books!n
n
n
n
n
n
n
- n
-
nIfn you already know and love the Prydain books, did you know that theren is a wiki about Prydain?n (Don’t check this out if you haven’t read the books – loads ofn spoilers!)
n
n
n
n
n
- n
-
nTheren is a helpful pronunciation guide for the Prydain books on Embracing the Child.
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nAlsonon this date:
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nFrednKorematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nAnniversarynof the First Lifeboat
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nBubblenWrap Appreciation Day
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nBirthdaynof Thomas Rolfe, son of Pocahontas
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nAnniversarynof the discovery of the world’s tallest geyser
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Plannahead:
Plannahead:
n
n
n
n
n
nChecknout my Pinterest pages on:
n
- n
-
n
-
nJanuaryn birthdays
n
-
n
n
n
n
n
nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
n
n
- n
-
n
-
n
-
n
n
n
n
