bananaquilts: Totoro

There's not much going on to blog about I am afraid. DD had a birthday, and I made her a special birthday banner. You should see the appliqued Totoro I made for it pop up in my instagram photo slideshow over there on the right. Totoro is from a Japanese kids' movie called "my neighbour Totoro", and he is a gigantic, friendly, mostly mute creature who shows up when the little girls in the story need him most. DD just loves Totoro and is trying to convince us to take her to Japan for a holiday so she can meet him. Well, I would love to visit Japan, but mainly so I can see this breathtaking sight (is that a road sign at the bottom?) Click to go through to the original on Flickr.

In fact, sometimes when I get bored or am stuck on a bus or whatever I have a debate with myself about whether to visit Japan in springtime for the sakura - cherry blossoms or in autumn for the turning leaves.

Speaking of leaves, here is a pretty treasury I made on the theme of Katherine Paterson's novel 'Bridge to Terabithia'. This book has been a favourite of English teachers for many years. It was a classic when I was in high school and we are still making kids read it today. The themes include
* bullying
* acceptance
* friendship
* not feeling 'understood' by your parents
* sibling rivalry
* worrying about finances
* Jesus, God, the Bible, religion and Hell
* teachers and their humanity
* art, literature and creativity
* love and death
* grief and how we react to horrible situations

That is an awful lot of themes for a novel about two ten year olds! The movie I can take or leave, but I do like to watch it with my class. I do think the actors did a good job, and it is nice to see a movie that is filmed in New Zealand, but the CGI is rather groanworthy.

I tried to do the novel justice in my selection of 16 items, but there were a few things that Etsy just does not have.

If you have read the book, or seen the film I would love to read what you thought about it.

'Bridge to Terabithia' by bananaorangeapple

Garden photography, cottage ... GardenHomeArt $25.00	Alde - Baby Troll Gemstone G... gypsyrosecreat... $90.00	The Wonderworld Readiness - ... wonderdiva $15.00	TV card venerate $4.00
Jarvis the Zombie - creepy a... DollsAfterDark $41.00	Bridge to Terabithia CheshireWood $19.00	Handmade Medieval Queens Cro... sparklybitsjew... $275.00	Fruit Orchid House Digital C... CollectiveCrea... $3.60
Crabapple Tree Jack Russell ... ToddYoungArt $12.00	Vintage Childrens Paintbox, ... keepsies $8.00	The New Dawn ACEO Signed Pri... KarenHull $6.00	Perfect day - Hand painted ... misterstiltski... $19.00
Counted Cross stitch Pattern... CharlotteAlexa... $4.00	Additional Rope for Peg and ... PegandAwl $20.00	Lost in reminiscence, dark a... shashamane $14.99	Vintage Bridge to Terabithia... enchantedbookr... $2.00