Akeela and the Bee

Akeelah and the Bee?frankly speaking, .i never heard of this movie before..the title itself seems interesting..Akeela and The Bee..BEE??what does that BEE connote to?the real insect-bee?or..hubby?or what?..hehe:)..here it goes..we finally watched it and it's pretty cool. so, let's spent some time to read my reflection below:

Tutorial 1- My Favourite Childhood Story

                In today’s lesson, I was assigned to select a story that I love most during my childhood time. I choose The Fox and The Grapes by Aesop.

1.       The reason/s you choose the story

I decide on choosing this story because it reminds me of my father. He is the one who introduces this story to me. Once, I did not get the thing I really wanted and felt so stressed. Then he said to me ‘Never mind Midah, that’s just sour grape. Look for another thing..’ It triggers me to ask him what that ‘Sour Grape’ means. Then he told me about this story.

I found it is relevant to our daily lives. Day by day, live becomes more competitive. We cannot guarantee that everything we long for will eventually be ours. Therefore, despite feeling angry and depressed, we ought to handle our feeling over the failure.

2.       What element(s) in the story that make you think that the story is interesting

I think sense of suspense is the obvious element that makes the story pretty interesting. The fox jumped thrice and in each trial, he jumped even higher than the previous. Yet still, he could not reach the bunch of grapes. When I was first told the story, I guessed that probably the third jump would succeed but it turned otherwise. This aroused my curiosity to see what happened next; either the fox kept on jumping, think of another way and so on.

3.       The portrayal of characters in the story

The only main character in the story is definitely the fox. He is seen as a determined character at first, as he really works hard for the bunch of grapes. However in the end, the fox gives up and in order to cover up his grief, he claims that they are just sour grape; not as ripening and tempting as what he thought at first. Moreover, I also see his strength from the way he console his feeling over her failure. Despite his famished tummy, he is strength enough to be optimist that the grapes are not meant for him by claiming as such. I can imagine his facial expression when he said ‘they are just sour grapes’; like he couldn’t care less about the grape while deep inside his heart, he does not want anything but the grape!

4.       The plot of the story

The plot of the story is simple and easy to understand. The climax is when the fox jumped thrice as higher as he could to reach the grapes. The resolution is not a happy ending like most of children stories and this makes it unique.

5.       The suitability of the story as children story

I personally think that this story is suitable for children. At such young age, they always act capriciously when they do not get what they really want. Thus, this story teaches them to handle their emotion and accept the fate. However, it is crucial to try their best first.If you still can't get it, maybe it's not meant to be yours and just leave it to God.:)

Story Review-The Gruffalo

               This is another children story book that captured my interest. The main character centred on a mouse who acted wittily to save himself from being his enemies’ feast. He played a trick on a fox, an owl and a snake by telling that he was planning to dine with gruffalo whose favourite food happened to be those animals. He even described how the gruffalo looked like as they never heard about it. They dashed without any further ; feared of the scary creature; the Gruffalo.  Astonishingly, the gruffalo really existed! It popped out from a tree and the mouse was freaking shocked! He stayed cool though, and thought of another trick to save his life. There he went..telling his tall tale that despite his timid look, all animals in the wood were afraid of him. The gruffalo didn’t believe him at first so the mouse asked him to follow. To his surprise, he found out that all animals they bumped into get off hastily once they saw the mouse! The gruffalo did not know that he was the one whom they scared of and not the mouse. Everything ends well; the little mouse able to save his life because of his wittiness.

                I will definitely recommend this story to children as besides the interesting idea, it also instills moral values into themselves. Though the mouse is a tiny animal which can be associated with children as timid and innocent, the power of thinking has endured all hitch and difficulties that get in his way. Therefore, children need to act smartly when facing problems. Besides that, the story is written in rhyming verse thus make it more fun to be read aloud. It also triggers children’s sense of imagination as the gruffalo is simply what the little mouse had in his mind, yet it turns out to be real! Surely children will love this story and it is a wise choice for parents to read it as bed time story.

Story Review-Edwina the Emu

            Edwina the Emu is an interesting masterpiece by Sheena Knowles which is suitable for children. You’ll let your hair down with its simple structures yet, the use of rhyming verse makes it more appealing. Plus, it is easy for kids to follow the story as some phrases are repeated and the illustrations are quite funny.

Two main characters, a couple; Edward and Edwina were blessed with ten eggs and to Edward surprise, he was asked to take care of the eggs while Edwina set out to find a job. They changed their roles with one another though it seemed weird. Several trials were made; she eventually worked as a waitress at a restaurant. While taking an order, she was shocked when the customer ordered emu eggs for his meal. Within seconds, she whimsically flew back to her nest to ensure her eggs were all right. Edwina learnt a lesson that no one could replace or beat a mother’s prowess towards her kids.From that moment onwards, she took care of the eggs and they lived happily ever after.

                The story is relevant for children as they will merely exposed to the common role of parents; a mother is prevalent to raise children while a father used to be the breadwinner of a family. Though this situation slowly deters in today’s life, but the concept is still the same. It is just a matter of how you balance your work and your responsibility as parents. I strongly recommended this story to kids as well as parents to make it a bed time story for their children. Simple yet substantiated with moral values, I bet the story will surely find a place in the hearts of kids everywhere!