Two Words, One Answer.
Meredith
 Meredith, the Witch Who Wasn't $6.95 This is a short, sweet story about Meredith, a young witch who really isn't too good at magic spells. Her heart just isn't in it so she isn't careful with the wording of her spells and things never turn out the way she wants them to turn out when she uses magic. The truth is, she really doesn't like magic. She likes to use her imagination and then do things by hand. She enjoys using her creativity. Alas! She is commanded to attend the Annual Assessment of Witchly Powers and she knows that failure to perform will cost her her witchly certification. She ends up learning a great truth about magic and discovers a lot about her own powers. This is a great lesson about not always doing things the "easy" way, about the joy of working things out yourself, and about the satisfaction that comes from making things with your own two hands. The illustrations are big, bright colored romps through the witchy world of spells, flying brooms and zany, eccentric witches. Each character is a quirky individual and even when Meredith botches her spells, the other witches are supportive. I loved their wild, colorful costumes and their funny, show-off hyjinx. There are so many fun-filled, light-hearted touches in both the writing and illustrations that each page was a new treat. The big Assessment takes place on October 31st so of course this is a good Halloween story, but the message of self-sufficiency is a good one any time. I loved it.  Midwest Living (1-year) $29.70 I really like this magazine - it has lots of good articles in it & great pictures.  An Essay on comedy and the uses of the comic spirit $3.65 George Meredith, OM (1828-1909) was an English novelist and poet. He read law and was articled as a solicitor, but abandoned that profession for journalism and poetry shortly after marrying Mary Ellen Nicolls, a widowed daughter of Thomas Love Peacock, in 1849. He was twenty-one years old; she was thirty. He collected his early writings, first published in periodicals, into Poems, which was published to some acclaim in 1851. His wife left him and their five-year old son in 1858; she died three years later. Her departure was the inspiration for The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (1859), his first "major novel". As an advisor to publishers, Meredith is credited with helping Thomas Hardy start his literary career, and was an early associate of J. M. Barrie. Before his death, Meredith was honored from many quarters: he succeeded Lord Tennyson as president of the Society of Authors; in 1905 he was appointed to the Order of Merit by King Edward VII. His works include: The Shaving of Shagpat (1856), Farina (1857), Vittoria (1867) and The Egoist (1879). |
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