Alice in Wonderland exhibit opening at ISU's Milner Library

Twelve different illustrators' interpretations of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland will be exhibited in the special collections section of Illinois State University's Milner Library. Included in the exhibit will be Alice related items such as posters and fashion.

Thanks to the Maureen Brunsdale, special collections librarian, and Reiley Bonislawski, Milner library intern and an English major at ISU, who made this exhibit possible.

We have received quite a bit of media attention.

• WMBD-TV reported on putting up the show on Thursday, Nov. 5. http://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/celebrating-150-years-of-alice

• The Vidette's reporter Brent Bader did several interviews to write his article on the show "Milner Library Celebrates Alice in Wonderland's 150th anniversary." (Nov. 3, 2015) http://www.videtteonline.com/index.php/2015/11/03/milner-library-celebrates-alice-in-wonderlands-150th-anniversary/

• WJBC interviewed me and Reiley Bonislawski last month for a preview about the exhibit.

• The Pantagraph had a mention of the show in its roundup article about arts events this weekend. http://www.pantagraph.com/entertainment/go/art-round-the-corner-and-beyond/article_a9fa31a0-c936-5cad-99a2-a3a0e0394012.html

Upcoming fairy tale films and Alice on TV

While working on materials to teach fairy tales, I realized that there are numerous versions of fairy tale films Angelina Jolie as Maleficentand television shows that are coming out within the next few years.  Here are some links. In 2014: Disney's Maleficent (starring Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning). In 2015 Cinderella (dir. Kenneth Branagh.starring Cate Blanchett), Arabian Nights (starring Liam Hemsworth and Dwayne Johnson).The Guardian also has an article on fairy tale related films.

Maleficent could be interesting with Jolie as the film is supposed to portray the Sleeping Beauty villain in a more sympathetic light than her introduction in the 1959 animated film. Here's more plot synopsis:

"Maleficent rises to be the land's fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal -- an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king's successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom -- and perhaps to Maleficent's true happiness as well."

Jolie's young daughter Vivienne Jolie-Pitt will also be in the film from Disney.   According to this article in Entertainmentwise.com, she is the only kid on the set who was not terrified when Angelina came out in full makeup.

The ABC television series Once will be out again this fall as well as a Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Sophie Lowe as Alice on 'Once Upon a Time in Wonderland'inspired version called Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.  The link takes you to the ABC page where you will be able to see clips from the upcoming show.  It looks rather dark, as the original Once is dark and spooky. ABC executives have said they wanted to extend the Once fairy tale brand. The most promising casting is John Lithgow playing the White Rabbit.  The most interesting casting choice is The Who’s Roger Daltrey as the hookah-smoking Caterpillar. According to Executive Producer Edward Kitniss this is going to be a feisty, more grown up Alice than the Lewis Carroll books:

"We never wanted her to be a damsel in distress," Kitsis said when asked how they had conceived of their version of the iconic Alice. "We wanted her to go down that rabbit hole, sword in hand, and find her man." In his address to the press, Lee promised that this would be a very "kick-ass" version of the character. Lowe agrees that she is "tough, and both mentally and physically strong."

That sounds promising, but then here's another less promising quotation from Kitniss:

‘‘But of course we’re telling our own story because Alice was never in a love with a genie before,” added executive producer Edward Kitsis.

Well, it should be interesting to see how this all plays out.  The premiere is Oct. 10.  Tune in.

On The Wizard of Oz, films new and old and the books

James Franco as The WizardIs James Franco right for the Wizard in Disney's new film Oz: The Great and Powerful -- that's a question Laura Kennedy asks when she interviews me in a podcast about The Wizard of Oz films and books.  Here's a link to the podcast on WGLT (our local NPR station), which aired Friday, March 8.  You can hear my answer as well as information about the film of the new Oz and my thoughts on political allegories in the original books.

I also chatted about The Wizard of Oz with Jim Fitzpatrick on WJBC, the Voice of McLean County, two weeks ago.  Jan Susina with The Wizard of Oz bok

The media interest reflects, I think, that there's a genuine excitement about a new film based on The Wizard of Oz books. So far, the film is getting mixed reviews -- see reviews by Richard Roeper in The Sun-Times (reviewing instead of Roger Ebert) or Mahnola Dargis in The New York Times.  Yet, as Laura Kennedy points out in the podcast, the original MGM film was also somewhat panned by the critics.  But it gained a following through its own technological twist, aired repeatedly at Easter time on TV networks, that Baum would have appreciated.  Those annual telecasts insured that the film was cemented in children's imaginations and subconsciousness.  So whatever the critics think, our family is still going to see the film and be captivated.

And, I'm looking forward to teaching The Wizard of Oz in my children's literature class this spring.

File under O-Z.

Speaking on children's book censorship on WTVP's "At Issue"

I will be discussing children's book censorship on the Peoria PBS roundtable discussion show, "At Issue."  The show will air tonight (Thurs, Jan 10) at 8:30 pm on WTVP-HD, on FridaJan Susina speaking on WTVP's "At Issue"y at 8:30 pm on WTVP-World and Sunday at 4:30 pm on WTVP-HD.  Click here for a link to the show information.

Moderator H Wayne Wilson asked me to participate in the discussion about issues concerning censorship and banning of children's and young adult books.  Since I talk about this often in class, I was glad to contribute.  While book censorship may be somewhat on the decline, choosing which books to teach in a class is a difficult challenge for all teachers.  So in my classes I focus on helping education majors understand how and why they choose books and to be able to defend them as appropriate for the classroom.  Two librarians discussed issues of censorship by their patrons.  They noted that censorship is not too prevalent in the Peoria region.  However, challenges to books by parents continues throughout the country, including Illinois.

Thanks to H for inviting me.  He was a very thoughtful leader, just like Charlie Rose.  The other panelists -- Genna Buhr of the Fondulac District Library and Robert Koscielski who is the Associate Director of the Peoria Public Library -- were also engaging and had good perspectives on the topic as well.

Is reading dangerous?

Could reading fiction, especially stories with violence and death, be dangerous?  Mark West, my friend who is a professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, addressed this question on a recent segment of the television show "America Now." Here's the link to 'How reading habits affect personality.'

Mark says if a person habitually reads fiction, its likely a way for them to flee their own reality. It takes you out of your world and puts you into a more exciting world, it's a sense of escape essentially."

One of the appeals of reading is that escape from a typical day into a different world.  Readers learn about how the protagonists solve problems, fight demons, slay dragons.  We all don't have dragons to slay, anymore.  But reading fiction often helps get our wheels turning to think about how we can solve problems -- not with swords and guns -- but intelligently and smartly.

By the way, Mark's office, which is lined with books and objects related to contemporary culture, looks very cool. 

While re-reading Charles Dickens' Our Mutual Friend for the Dickens seminar this week, I am reminded how the novel often parallels contemporary life.  We are still concerned about dust, dirt and recycling, about the rich and the poor, about choosing the right person to marry. Reading Dickens, we can see how the characters approached their problems, and perhaps how we can avoid some of those mistakes, or perhaps not.