The Time Chamber by Daria Song

The Time Chamber

by Daria Song

WatsonGuptill;

Clr edition

(October 13, 2015)

ISBN 9781607749615

80 pages

9 13/16" x 9 13/16”

I haven’t seen any adults coloring any books but supposedly there’s an adult coloring book

craze. Who knew? So when I got the opportunity to review one of them, I grabbed it. The fact

that the book features a world perfect for fantasylovers

who yearn for sensawonda helped too.

Unlike, say, illustration books where the colors are chosen by the creator of the book, what

makes coloring books so good is that there’s a collaboration between the original artist and

countless colorers around the world. Coloring book artistry is a skill that requires generosity and

patternmaking

as they guide strangers through their created world.

So, the book. There is a story as well. A little fairy who lives inside a cuckoo clock is bored with

her world and decides to visit the human world. The sights the reader/cocreator

sees are tiny

because they are seen through the POV of a tiny fairy. Aspects of the human world would seem

magical to any stranger, but imagine a tiny creature from another world viewing our human

world at night. This is what is so lovely. Our world is full of so many patterns which we barely

notice. The practical created arts of a utensil set or of keys or the haphazard patterns of books

on a bookshelf are what brings delight to our lives. I remember sitting in a dentist chair once and

noticing how the horizontal slats of the window blinds fell against the window sills and how the

light reflected diagonally on the medicine drawer. I’m sure it made me smile. The world is full of

design, color, and patterns we hardly notice unless a child or a fairy brings them to our attention.

Then suddenly the designs on crockery, the parallels of the rise and goings of a staircase, or

even the face of a clock will give us pause. Art and the POV of children truly adds beauty and

magic to our world.

This is the sequel to an earlier work which showed the fairy’s world. That was probably lovely as

well. The book is printed on both sides of the paper. That means that one should warn one’s

child to be careful about what media they use. Recommended for kids and adults who like to

color.

Happy creativity

Review: NLRV Giant Print Holy Bible

NLRV Giant Print Holy Bible

• Age Range: 8 and up
• Hardcover: 2368 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (October 6, 2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310751209
• ISBN-13: 978-0310751205

When I read that this was a Giant Print Bible, I was suspicious. Giant Print Bibles are either very, very large and unwieldy -- often coming in two different books-- or the print isn't "giant" at all. But when the Bible arrived, I really liked it. This Bible actually works. It is giant-print and it's in a handy-sized book.

Another great thing about it is that it's the Bible and little else. There is a small dictionary and a list of 150 famous Bible stories at the back --and a table of contents and a tiny introduction in the front. But other than that it is the Bible without all that pesky "study" that makes Bibles unwieldy or that tells us what to think. The margins are somewhat small so not a lot of room for notetaking -- although one can still take notes. The Bible is told in single column format so the reader will have to get used to reading across the width of the page without wandering into other lines. I would've wanted spaces between each paragraphs but that would probably add more pages. So this Bible works. There are chapters headings and sub-headings within chapters. The typefont is dark and heavy which is good but that sometimes means one can see through the paper to the preceding or the following pages. It's hardcover and solid without feeling ultra-heavy.

This is the kind of Bible that is good for small kids whose eyes have not gotten used to small print or to people with sight issues or eye problems. I was going to give this Bible to a church, which is what I generally do with Bibles after I review them, but I think I'll give this to hubby. He got this great big smile on his face when he opened it to read it.

I was given this Bible free in exchange for a fair and honest review.
 

Review: The Surprising Imagination of C S Lewis -- An Introdution

The Surprising Imagination of C S Lewis -- An Introduction

Jerry Root and Mark Neal

Abingdon Press

www.abingdonpress.com

Have you ever had one of those moments when the perfect book falls into your hands at the perfect time? There I was writing a new story and in a bit of quandary about what direction my imagination in the story would take.

Knowledge of Lewis writings would make this book an even better read but it is not required because the editors/writers have written a book that is an “introduction” to Lewis’ philosophy of the imagination and to his writings.  

It seems --according to the editors-- Lewis has written about the senses and types of imagination. The three senses of imagination are as follows: the first is wish-fulfillment fantasy which is self-referential and narcissistic and imagines the dreamer as the hero. The second sense is invention in which the creative power of the human mind crafts images and depictions to explore, grasp, and understand the world as it is. The third sense is the imagination that helps us to understand what is beyond our understanding and experience horizons that are beyond our experiences.

The types of imagination include: the baptized imagination which is the imagination regenerated which is an awakening and longing for the numinous, and a waking to the grief of the world. The penetrating imagination is imagination that helps in getting deeper knowledge of a kind of reality. There is also the material imagination, the generous imagination, the primary imagination, the transforming imagination, the controlled imagination, the satisfied imagination, the awakened imagination, the absorbing imagination, the shared imagination, the compelled imagination, and the realizing imagination. I think those are all of them. The editors use different works by Lewis to show how these different kinds of imagination are at work in literature, art, spirit, theology, creativity, self-knowledge, and reality.

C S Lewis is a Christian writer who, along with other Christian writers such as George MacDonald and J R R Tolkein-- has influenced much of modern fantasy. I suspect many readers will not want to read this book because they fear they might be overwhelmed with silly Christian nonsense. But trust me on this, unless an atheist writer has a major grudge against an old evangelical aunt, he/she should find this book very enlightening. And certainly those who want to depict the religious mind properly, without spite or injustice, would do well to read a book like this.  

I really want to do this book justice because it is that good! Maybe I just love having my heart opened to how the creative heart opens. The last book that had such an effect on me was Mastermind: How to think like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova and that was a book that used Arthur Conan Doyle to show how memory, neuroscience, and literature works. This book brought back my joyful love of literary criticism and reminded me again why my favorite genre to read and to study is review/criticism. Truly, reading this book caused me to be Surprised by Joy.