and those young at heart.

This is a very different time for all, but especially for the children. Whose life has been turned upside down.

Tell the children the truth of what is happening. Let the know the information they were being taught in school was wrong, and misleading.

Read the news to them and Show them how to research  different topics. But most of all, let them explore their imagination.

The Little Princess

Growing up I was always fond of old movies. This one happened to be one of my favorites, along with Bringing Up Baby with Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant.

So when writing this article for children I knew it would find a place on the shelf.

Not only is it a wonderful film showing the resilience and strength of a “pint-size” little girl. It also offers great allogorical insight into the methods used by foreigners to usurp the inheritance of the indigenous people. (i.e., “take off that party flock, and put on this Black dress.” From the movie.)

There is a musical number which should be examined, “Knocked ‘Em in the Old Kent Road”. Knock who? And what were the mechanisms used to “Knock” them?

And on that note, don’t let them write the narrative to YOUR STORY. They will continue to write the same boring narrative that’s been disproven every-time. Now, write your own story where you are the hero. You Win and they die by their own weapons and deceptive means.

And you awaken, refreshed, from a deep sleep.

A Little Princess is a children’s novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published as a book in 1905.

According to Burnett, after she composed the 1902 play A Little Un-fairy Princess based on that story, her publisher asked that she expand the story as a novel.

The Little Princess (1939), full movie, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtqETOgYx7Q

“She slowly advanced into the parlor, clutching her doll”: Illustration from Sara Crewe; or, What Happened at Miss Minchin’s (1888)

A Little Princess (1905)  The Novel

Captain Crewe, a wealthy English widower, has been raising his only child, Sara, in India where he is stationed with the British Army. Because the Indian climate is considered too harsh for children, British families living there traditionally send their children to boarding school back home in England. The captain enrolls his young daughter at Miss Minchin’s boarding school for girls in London, and dotes on his daughter so much that he orders and pays the headmistres for special treatment and exceptional luxuries for Sara, such as a private room for her with a personal maid and a separate sitting room (see Parlour boarder), along with Sara’s own private carriage and a pony. Miss Minchin openly fawns over Sara for her money, but secretly and jealously despises her for her wealth.

Despite her privilege, Sara is neither arrogant nor snobbish, but rather kind, generous and clever. She extends her friendship to Ermengarde, the school dunce; to Lottie, a four-year-old student given to tantrums; and to Becky, the lowly, stunted fourteen-year-old scullery maid. When Sara acquires the epithet “Princess,” she embraces its favorable elements in her natural goodheartedness.

After some time, Sara’s birthday is celebrated at Miss Minchin’s with a lavish party, attended by all her friends and classmates. Just as it ends, Miss Minchin learns of Captain Crewe’s unfortunate demise. Furthermore, prior to his death, the previously wealthy captain had lost his entire fortune; a friend had persuaded him to cash in his investments and deposit the proceeds to develop a network of diamond mines. The scheme fails, and Sara is left an orphan and a pauper, with no other family and nowhere to go. Miss Minchin is left with a sizable unpaid bill for Sara’s school fees and luxuries, including her birthday party. Infuriated and pitiless, she takes away all of Sara’s possessions (except for some old frocks and one doll), makes her live in a cold and poorly furnished attic, and forces her to earn her keep by working as an errand girl. She forces Sara to wear frocks much too short for her, with her thin legs peeking out of the brief skirts.

For the next several years, Sara is abused by Miss Minchin and the other servants, except for Becky. Miss Minchin’s kind-hearted sister, Amelia, deplores the way that Sara is treated, but is too weak-willed to speak up about it. Sara is starved, worked for long hours, sent out in all weathers, poorly dressed in outgrown and worn-out clothes, and deprived of warmth or a comfortable bed in the attic. Despite her hardships, Sara is consoled by her friends and uses her imagination to cope, pretending she is a prisoner in the Bastille or a princess disguised as a servant. Sara also continues to be kind and polite to everyone, including those who treat her badly. One day, she finds a coin in the street and uses it to buy buns at a bakery, but despite being very hungry, she gives most of the buns away to a beggar girl dressed in rags who is hungrier than herself. The bakery shop owner sees this and wants to reward Sara, but she has disappeared, so the shop owner instead gives the beggar girl bread and warm shelter for Sara’s sake.

“He was waiting for his master to come out to the carriage, and Sara stopped and spoke a few words to him”: Illustration from Sara Crewe; or, What Happened at Miss Minchin’s(1888)

Meanwhile, Mr. Carrisford and his Indian assistant Ram Dass have moved into the house next door to Miss Minchin’s school. Carrisford had been Captain Crewe’s friend and partner in the diamond mines. After the diamond mine venture failed, both Crewe and Carrisford became very ill, and Carrisford in his delirium abandoned his friend Crewe, who died of his “brain fever”. As it turned out, the diamond mines did not fail, but instead were a great success, making Carrisford extremely rich. Although Carrisford survived, he suffers from several ailments and is guilt-ridden over abandoning his friend. He is determined to find Crewe’s daughter and heir, although he does not know where she is and thinks she is attending school in France.

Ram Dass befriends Sara when his pet monkey escapes into Sara’s adjoining attic. After climbing over the roof to Sara’s room to get the monkey, Ram Dass tells Carrisford about Sara’s poor living conditions. As a pleasant distraction, Carrisford and Ram Dass buy warm blankets, comfortable furniture, food, and other gifts, and secretly leave them in Sara’s room when she is asleep or out. Sara’s spirits and health improve due to the gifts she receives from her mysterious benefactor, whose identity she does not know; nor are Ram Dass and Carrisford aware that Sara is Crewe’s lost daughter. When Carrisford anonymously sends Sara a package of new, well-made, and expensive clothing in her proper size, Miss Minchin becomes alarmed, thinking Sara might have a wealthy relative secretly looking out for her, and begins to treat Sara better and allows her to attend classes rather than doing menial work.

One night, the monkey again runs away to Sara’s room, and Sara visits Carrisford’s house the next morning to return him. When Sara casually mentions that she was born in India, Carrisford and his solicitor question her and discover that she is Captain Crewe’s daughter, for whom they have been searching for years. Sara also learns that Carrisford was her father’s friend and her own anonymous benefactor, and that the diamond mines have produced great riches, of which she will now own her late father’s share. When Miss Minchin angrily appears to collect Sara, she is informed that Sara will be living with Carrisford and her entire fortune has been restored and greatly increased. Upon finding this out, Miss Minchin unsuccessfully tries to persuade Sara into returning to her school as a star pupil, and then threatens to keep her from ever seeing her school friends again, but Carrisford and his solicitor tell Miss Minchin that Sara will see anyone she wishes to see and that her friends’ parents are not likely to refuse invitations from an heiress to diamond mines. Miss Minchin goes home, where she is surprised when Amelia finally stands up to her. Amelia has a nervous breakdown afterwards, but she is on the road to gaining more respect.

Sara invites Becky to live with her and be her personal maid, in much better living conditions than at Miss Minchin’s. Carrisford becomes a friend to Sara and quickly regains his health. Finally, Sara—accompanied by Becky—pays a visit to the bakery where she bought the buns, making a deal with the owner to cover the bills for bread for any hungry child. They find that the beggar girl who was saved from starvation by Sara’s selfless act is now the bakery owner’s assistant, with good food, clothing, shelter, and steady employment. (Wikipedia)

The Little Princess (1939) The Movie Storyline

Captain Crewe (played by Ian Hunter), called to fight in the Second Boer War, has to leave his daughter Sara (Shirley Temple) with her pony at Miss Minchin’s School for Girls. With all the money Captain Crewe can offer, Miss Minchin gives Sara a fancy, private room.

Although worried about her father, Sara is distracted by riding lessons. It is during these riding lessons that Sara helps contrive meetings between Miss Rose (Anita Louise), her teacher, and Mr. Geoffrey (Richard Greene), the riding instructor, who is also the grandson of the mean-spirited next door neighbor, Lord Wickham (Miles Mander). Sara hears news that Mafekingis free and expects her father will soon come home. Miss Minchin throws Sara a lavish birthday party. During the party, Captain Crewe’s solicitor (E. E. Clive) arrives with the sad news that Captain Crewe has died and his real estate, the basis for his wealth, has been confiscated. Miss Minchin ends Sara’s party abruptly. Without her father’s financial support, Sara becomes a servant, now working at the school she used to attend. Sara gains new solace in a friendship with Ram Dass (Cesar Romero) who lives next door. She also receives support from Miss Minchin’s brother, Hubert, who does not agree with her treatment. Miss Rose and Mr. Geoffrey are found out and fired. Geoffrey joins the military.

In her new role, Sara gets hungrier and more tired from her arduous duties and sneaks off to veterans’ hospitals, convinced her father is not dead. After a string of episodes, including a performance of the film’s most well-known song “Knocked ’em in the Old Kent Road“, Sara is at her wits end. Things start to worsen, when Sara gets into an argument with Miss Minchin, who cannot tolerate her faith in believing her father is still alive and tries forcing her to face reality. She later receives taunting from Lavinia (Marcia Mae Jones) the next day, eventually causing her to lose her temper and dump ashes on her. Miss Minchin arrives in the attic to punish Sara for “hurting” Lavinia. She discovers blankets that Ram Dass left Sara, assumes they are stolen, and locks her in the attic, calling the police. Sara escapes and runs to the hospital with Minchin in hot pursuit.

Meanwhile, the hospital is preparing to transfer a newly arrived patient, who is unable to communicate except to repeatedly say, “Sara, Sara”; it is Captain Crewe, but “his papers have been lost” and no one knows who he is. Sara is initially barred from entering the hospital but sneaks in, only to burst in upon a visit by Queen Victoria (Beryl Mercer), who grants her permission to search for her father. During her search, she is reunited with a wounded Mr. Geoffrey and Miss Rose. Sara searches the wards unsuccessfully, but happens upon her father as she hides from Miss Minchin and the police.

Miss Minchin, who pursued Sara to the hospital, is appalled that her brother thinks Sara is innocent. A staff member announces Sara has found her father, Miss Minchin exclaims: “Captain Crewe is alive?!” to which her brother retorts, “Of course he’s alive! How could she find him if he wasn’t alive?” The film ends with Sara helping her father stand as the (false) Queen departs.

Other interesting stories

The Last Unicorn (1968) is a fantasy novel by Peter S. Beagle.

It follows the tale of a unicorn, who believes she is the last of her kind in the world and undertakes a quest to discover what has happened to the others.

The Last Unicorn animated movie (1982).

“You rack the leaves, you remove the debris, but you keep the natural order.”

Walking paths that has been provided by nature and the creatures that live in those areas. And not paths outlined by that which intrudes, bulldoze, and chop its way through.

From: Nature’s Lost Messages, https://domoregooddeeds.wordpress.com/2018/06/29/nature-and-its-lost-messages/

A Disney movie, “So Dear To My Heart”, which was kind of a period-piece of the early 1900’s, and was about a little boy and his pet, a black lamb who always gets into trouble. In the opening musical montage for this film, animated scenes are shown of old-timey things from that era, and a picnic scene is shown, with no people around, because it has started to rain. The cake that is set out with the picnic food has begun to melt in the rain, and it is kind of sad when you think about it, how long it took somebody to make that cake and now there it goes, all ruined. (By the way, the cake was Green, not brown. Someone tampered with the video, and possibly the song too.)

Listen to the song the cake is be referenced in. 

A Shining Tramp, MacArthurs Park

https://domoregooddeeds.wordpress.com/2019/07/19/a-shining-tramp-macarthurs-park/

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

A 12 years old girl falls off her horse, and when she hits the ground, she’s way back in the year 528, in England, near Camelot.

From:  The Arthurian Mythos

https://domoregooddeeds.wordpress.com/2019/08/15/the-arthurian-mythos/

Source: https://domoregooddeeds.wordpress.com/2020/09/03/something-for-the-children/