I respect the work you're doing and look forward to what else will be going
up, but I thought I'd spend a moment disagreeing with you about A Little
Princess, the movie, versus the book.
A classic is never outdated; I read A Little Princess when I was about 10
years old, and never forgot some of the images of beauty vs. ugliness,
generosity vs. selfishness, and the overall theme of compassion, hope and
forgiveness that was in the story. I only found out the title again of that
book in the past five years (oh yes, I'm 33 now, so that means almost 20
years went by) and was so glad to know that the treasure I had when I was a
child was still around.
I looked forward to watching the movie with my own (twin) 10 year-old
daughters this past year, and found that neither they nor I were very moved
by what we saw, and I found myself disappointed by the changes that the
screen adaptation brought to the original story.
I studied Eng. Lit. (including Children's) at the University of Western
Ontario (Canada) and am grateful that I learned to be a critical reader,
because I am happy to pass on the deeper meanings that I've picked up in my
reading, and also when I watch movies or other entertainment. I've never
studied A Little Princess for any reason, but I think that you should
reconsider your original opinion of it, and if any of your children are
girls, I am sure that they will find the book very worthwhile and inspiring
reading.
AF