My Science School

               This famous children’s novel tells the story of a pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a barn spider named Charlotte. When Wilbur is in danger of being slaughtered by the farmer, Charlotte writes messages praising Wilbur in her web in order to persuade the farmer to let him live.

               ‘Charlotte’s Web’ is a children’s novel by American author E. B. White.

               The book was first published in 1952, with illustrations by Garth Williams. ‘Charlotte’s Web’ was adapted into an animated feature by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Sagittarius Productions in 1973. ‘Charlotte’s Web’ is considered a classic of children’s literature, enjoyable to adults as well as children. A live-action film version of E. B. White’s original story was released on December 15th, 2006. A video game based on this adaptation was also released in 2006.

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              The story revolves around a poor young boy named Charlie Bucket, born to penniless, starving parents. He resides with both his paternal and maternal grandparents, who are bedridden.

               Along with Charlie’s mother and father, they dwell in a dilapidated, tiny house. Charlie is fascinated by the universally-celebrated chocolate factory located in his hometown, owned by famous chocolatier Willy Wonka.

               One day, Charlie gets a ticket to visit Mr. Wonka’s factory, and he visits it with his grandfather. Do you know what happened next? Charlie Bucket became the successor of Willy Wonka!

               ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ is a 1964 children’s book by British author Roald Dahl. The story was originally inspired by Roald Dahl’s experience of chocolate factories during his school-days.

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               ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ is a book by Dr. Seuss. It was first published in 1960, and as of 2001, was the fourth-best-selling English  language children’s book of all time.

                The plot centres around Joey who refuses to eat green eggs and ham. One sunny morning, Mr. Sam asks Joey to eat his breakfast-green eggs and ham.

                Joey tells him that he doesn’t like that food at all by saying, “I do not like green eggs and ham”. Sam continues to ask Joey if he would eat that food in and on eight different locations (house, box, car, tree, train, dark, rain, and boat) and with Sam’s three different animals (mouse, fox and goat), but Joey still refuses by saying, “I do not like them here (this place) or there (the other place). I do not like them anywhere”.

                Finally, he gives into Sam’s pestering, and tries the green eggs and ham; Joey is so surprised to find that he does like them after all.

               ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ is loved by children around the globe.

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              Hobbits are a race of small humanlike creatures. Bilbo Baggins, the leader of the race is persuaded to join Thorin and his 12 dwarfs to recover their stolen treasure, which is being guarded by the dragon Smaug. During the expedition, Bilbo finds a magical ring that renders the wearer invisible. It tells, how later Bilbo became a strong fighter, for the greater good.

              ‘The Hobbit’ is a 1937 children’s adventure fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien. It has had many adaptations, most significantly the three Hobbit films by Peter Jackson.

               The novel introduced Tolkien’s richly imagined world of Middle Earth. The novel is loved by children around the globe.

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               ‘The Harry Potter’ books make up the popular series written by J. K. Rowling. The series spans seven books. The books have been made into movies by Warner Bros. Movies based on the last book-were split into two films.

               The books concerns a wizard called Harry Potter, and his journey through the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The stories tell of him overcoming dangerous obstacles to defeat the Dark Wizard Lord Voldemort who killed his parents when Harry was 15 months old. The first book, ‘Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone’, was published in 1997 by Bloomsbury in London. The last book ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ sold more than 12 million copies in the US.

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               Harold is a curious four-year-old boy who, with his purple crayon, has the power to create a world of his own simply by drawing it. Harold wants to go for a walk in the moonlight, but there is no moon, so he draws one. He has nowhere to walk, so he draws a path. He draws a forest with only one tree, and a dragon that guards the apples on the tree.

               He creates an ocean and a sailboat to navigate it, and land to land on. On the land, he draws a picnic with nothing but pies, a hill with only one side, a hot-air balloon to save him from a fall and a big city with lots of windows. But none of the windows are his, and it’s time to go home. He has many adventures looking for his room, and in the end, he draws his own house and bed, and goes to sleep.

               ‘Harold and the Purple Crayon’ is a 1955 children’s book by Crockett Johnson. This is Johnson’s most popular book. It led to a series of other books, and inspired many adaptations.

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               Once there lived three little piglets. But on one ocassion, they happened to jail a poor wolf! Do you know how this happened?

               The popular book ‘The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs’ narrates it from the perspective of Alexander T. Wolf, a big bad wolf. The wolf has spent ten years in pig prison for the destruction of the three little pigs, but he has a different story to tell.

               At the beginning of the book, he is baking a cake for his grandmother’s birthday, but he has run out of sugar. He goes to ask his neighbours, the pigs, for some sugar. They all say no to him. As he has a bad cold, he sneezes, and blows the first two pigs’ houses down. Since they were already dead, he eats them. The third pig’s house does not break. But the third pig provokes Mr. Wolf into a fit of sneezing, because of his insults to the wolf’s grandmother. When the police arrive and see Mr. Wolf yelling, he is arrested.

               ‘The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs’ is written by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith.

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           ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ is a science fiction adventure novel by the French author Jules Verne. It was first published in France in 1864. The first of its several English translations was published in 1871.

               The main characters in the novel are Axel, a young German, and his uncle Professor Lidenbrock, a professor of geology at Hamburg University who also prides himself on his ability to speak, and read several languages. The two men discover a piece of parchment which carries a coded message. The message tells them that it is possible to descend to the centre of the Earth, from one of the three craters on an Icelandic volcano. Axel and the professor travel to Iceland. They hire a local guide, Hans Bjelke, who leads them to the volcano and then accompanies them on their journey deep underground.

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               ‘The Little Prince’ is a classic children’s story written and illustrated by the French author and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery. It was written during the Second World War, when Saint-Exupery was living in the United States, and was first published in 1943. The book has been translated into 250 different languages and dialects, and has sold more than 80 million copies.

               At first a pilot meets a young prince visiting Earth from a tiny asteroid. The prince speaks about life on the asteroid. He describes spending his earlier days cleaning the volcanoes and weeding unwanted seeds that infest his planet’s soil.

               In the end the prince is bitten by a snake. The story ends with a drawing of the landscape where the prince and the narrator met, and where the snake took the prince’s corporeal life.

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               ‘The Colour Kittens’ is a children’s book by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen, and published as part of the Little Golden Books series in 1949.

               The story revolves around two green eyed kittens, “Hush” and “Brush”, who attempt to create green paint through mixing their other paints. During the process, they create a lot of colours, but none of them is green. Their colour making is the central theme of the famous children’s classic ‘The Colour Kittens’.

               ‘The Colour Kittens’ famous catch phrase is “Blue is blue, and red is red! They still need green!”

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            This story is about a little mouse that is walking through the dark forest, who encounters a number of animals that want to eat him as a tasty meal. The clever mouse explains to the animals that the mouse is on its way to meet ‘The Gruffalo’, and its favourite food is the animal that is trying to steal the mouse for a meal. It is not until towards the end of the story that the mouse realizes that this imaginary creature is actually true!

            This is the story of ‘The Gruffalo’ written by Julia Donaldson, and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The book has sold over 13 million copies. ‘The Gruffalo’ was initially published in 1999. ‘The Gruffalo’ is a great book to read to children between the ages of 3-5, as Julia enables the children to create an image of this mystical creature throughout the story. It is a funny, brightly coloured and interactive book.

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          On Christmas Eve, around 1812, Pip, an orphan who is about seven years old, encounters an escaped convict in the village churchyard, while visiting the graves of his parents and siblings. Pip now lives with his abusive elder sister, and her kind husband Joe Gargery, a blacksmith. The story narrates how Pip becomes a successful man from his early miserable conditions. It depicts the personal growth and personal development of an orphan. In the end, Pip realizes that the one who helps him to achieve success is none other than the ex-convict whom he had encountered during his childhood. This novel is set in Kent and London.

          ‘Great Expectations’ is a novel by Charles Dickens written and published between 1860 and 1861. ‘Great Expectations’ is considered one of the greatest and most sophisticated novels by Dickens. The novel has had more than 250 adaptations on stage and screen.

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            ‘Just So Stories for Little Children’ is a 1902 collection of original stories by the British author Rudyard Kipling. It is a collection of whimsical tales accompanied by the author’s excellent pen-and-ink drawings, and humorous verse. The stories are written in the first person, and addressed to “O Best Beloved”. Actually, ‘the beloved’ is Kipling’s eldest child Josephine, who died at the age of six in 1899. The narrative tone is the intimate voice of a doting father talking to his child.

            The stories describe how one animal or another acquired its most distinctive features, such as how the leopard got his spots, how the elephant got his trunk, how the whale got his throat etc.

            Kipling illustrated the original editions of the ‘Just So Stories’. Later illustrations of the book were done by Joseph M. Gleeson.

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            The story revolves around the lives of four sisters growing up during, and after, the American Civil War. With their father away, fighting the war, the girls face the hardships of poverty.

            The challenges faced by these young girls, from their childhood to adulthood, make up the plot of the classic ‘Little Women’.

            ‘Little Women’ is the first book in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women series. The book has been adapted for cinema twice.

            Loved by generations of women worldwide, ‘Little Women’ is a truly universal coming of age story. Its universal theme has gained the novel global acceptance.

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               Jess, an eleven year old, befriends Leslie, the class outsider. The children create an imaginary world called Terabithia, which is inhabited by all manner of magical creatures. Though difficulties fill their ordinary lives, Jess and Leslie rule as king and queen in Terabithia. Leslie dies in an accident in Terabithia.

               Published in 1977, ‘Bridge to Terabithia’ by Katherine Paterson, is a children’s book about the friendship between Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke.

               Paterson was inspired to write ‘Bridge to Terabithia’ when her son’s close friend was killed by lightning.

               It has been adapted for the screen twice - as a 1985 PBS TV movie, and a 2007 Disney/Walden Media feature film.

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