Reflections: The Lost Prince

Stefan Loristan, his young son Marco Loristan, and their faithful assistant Lazarus live in the most poverty-ridden part of London. They have a secret mission of their own - they hail from Samavia (a fictional European country), and are planning to bring about a revolution to overthrow the existing dictatorial regime in their country and bring in the rightful heir to the throne. A few decades back, the noble prince of Samavia had been usurped. There were mixed stories about how the prince survived the cruel mutiny. If that were true, the benevolent prince must surely have tried to get his Kingdom back, or at least would have passed on his burning desire to his sons. Marco is optimistic that the lost Prince’s bloodline can be traced, and he is passionate about restoring Samavia to its rightful heir. Along with his street friend, The Rat, Marco embarks on an adventure across Europe to pass on the sign to all the secret members of the confederation, to set out a revolution.

This book is packed with beautiful themes on patriotism, friendship, resilience and righteousness. Marco’s good upbringing makes him wise, while still retaining his precociousness and innocence. Burnett yet again shows the power of the human mind. In this book, she brings in Buddhist philosophies, such as embracing the universe and all its creatures as one, deep meditation to distill your mind and seek out what you want, the power of prayers, peace, etc. to demonstrate Marco’s strength and maturity. Such elusive philosophies are broken down and shown in simple contexts to inspire young boys.

The little adventure, and the suspense of finding the Lost Prince will keep children engaged. But it unfortunately wasn’t enough to maintain my attention. I found the pace of the book a little slow and repetitive, and I struggled to stay focused. Perhaps this is a good enough hint that I have sadly grown up and should stop my current stint of indulgence. However, this is one of the first children’s book that I’ve read that deals with patriotism, and the attributes of being a noble and courageous leader. These aspects have been beautifully conveyed.

This book as a whole has excellent morals to mold young minds.

Reflections: The Land of the Blue Flower

I think I’m going to start sounding like an old broken record when I write about children’s classics. But I can’t help marveling at these authors and wish so dearly to go back in time and relive my childhood days with books such as these teaching me wonderful little principles of leading my life in such simple and enchanting ways.

King Amor’s father was a selfish and greedy ruler of his beautiful land. His foul temperament reflected on his people too, for a shaky, ruthless governance leads to conflicts within locals. When Amor was born, his father got killed in a battle, and  his mother, the Queen didn’t wish her son to grow up in a place filled with hatred and vengeance. She handed him over to a wise old man who lived in the nearby mountains. She asked him to raise him well and bring him to his rightful throne when he was old enough to be King. The old man took the child to a serene palace up on the mountains, and taught the child how to commune with Nature, and to regard every animal and plant as his own kin. The child was infused only with good and positive thoughts and energy, that he never experienced any negative emotion such as hatred, anger or pain. When Amor grew up, he was as peaceful and wise as the old man himself. The tale is all about how this young prince goes to his kingdom and reforms his land and people - using his refreshingly positive attitude and clean and peaceful spirit.

If you’ve read Burnett’s The Secret Garden, you must be familiar with the themes she teaches kids. This tale has the same themes, but is conveyed through a slightly different story. She warns kids against harboring negative thoughts, gently showing that negativity only depletes our energy and prevents us from doing anything constructive. If we focus on creating something beautiful, and put our heart and energy into it with an open and positive spirit, we can create magic.

Burnett loves gardening and growing flowers (my kindred spirit!). So she uses the same example to show us the world of good that can come out of going out in the Sun and interacting with Nature. If we truly appreciated Nature and lived one with it, Nature and her children will reciprocate our kindness. And the best way to reform people is through kindness and compassion. 
 
Can a children’s book that covers themes on peace, the importance of respecting Nature and our environment, the power of positivity and the human will, and the futility and risk of negative thoughts, get any better? Plus, it’s all spiced up in a cute fantasy story that flows with Burnett’s wonderful prose. Children should not miss this book.

Reflections: The Secret Garden

After all these years, I still keep discovering so many more truly timeless Children's Classics. Enid Blyton's books reigned supreme as children's books in India, that people like me somehow never got around to reading other classic books as kids. The Secret Garden is quite easily one of the most wonderful and charming books that I would heartily gift to little boys and girls. I would lovingly mandate all my little cousins, nieces and nephews to read this before they hit their teens. As a matter of fact, I would be that annoying lady who would insist on shoving books in front of children who haven't taken to reading yet. And if I come across an adult deeply wallowing in their furrowed discontentment, this is a book I would give to rekindle the child within them and bring a little smile and hope.

Mary is a scrawny little girl, who is completely abandoned and neglected by her parents; so much so, that sometimes people even forgot she existed. Not knowing what it means to be loved or cared, Mary grows up as an indifferent, obstinate girl. Following her parent's death, she is shipped off to live with her uncle - a supposedly grumpy and ill-tempered man with a hunchback. Her uncle's house is a sprawling mansion housing its own mysteries and secrets. Despite living by a beautiful Yorkshire moor, the mansion exudes an eerie air, with its locked rooms, unused corridors, mysterious cries... and a locked garden. Mary slowly gets used to her new environment and unravels a few mysteries. Her gripping loneliness makes her reach out to people, animals and even plants. The locked garden piques her innocent curiosity and she sets on a little adventure to battle her boredom. She finds the key to the mysterious garden and works hard on replenishing it, till it thrives with beautiful flowers. She hoards her little secret with two other young boys and together they discover how simple pleasures in life and positive thoughts can create Magic.

I expected this book to be about fantasy and magic, with elves, pixies and fairies leading the children on a little ride into their fantasy world, but what a pleasant surprise the book was! The book teaches kids that we all can create magic and miracles without the need for pixie dust and powerful wands. Burnett carefully guides children into the realities of our world, but without ripping apart their delicate and rich imaginations. The children find out that magic lies within them; "good magic" is about invoking good, positive thoughts of what we would like to see happen, and then trying our best to act on them. Magic is that fleeting power that combines the forces of Nature along with human will and unadulterated faith, to bring those things which we resign as being impossible, to fruition. Burnett beautifully expounds a weighty topic dealing with the power of the human mind, with simple and intelligent grace. She slowly builds a little mystery in the story, gently tugs thought-provoking questions and explains it all in an endearing tale of optimism and hope. The book also intersperses little morals on kindness and compassion. The story reaffirms that laughter is a wonderful medicine for the mind, and that the world can be viewed in a different light if we called out to the child inside of us. I marvel at how eloquently the book is written to appeal to children and adults alike.

I loved how refreshing the book was, with its beautiful and vivid descriptions of a garden blooming to life, and the promising revival of the children into healthy, happy kids. I couldn't have found a better time and season to read this book. With Spring marching its way into our gardens, the book would egg any reader to go out into the sunshine, revel in Nature's bounty and free their mind of clutter and negativity with every caressing breeze. The book is a bundle of happy, positive vibes sure to cast a spell on any reader.