Irish books, and a movie
Web-surfing Sunday is taking a break this week so that I can bring you some old-media ways to learn about Ireland with your children.
My all-time favorite movie about Ireland -- and pretty much my favorite children's movie in general -- is The Secret of Roan Inish, a 1995 John Sayles film. The lead character is a strong-willed, whip-smart girl named Fiona, who's all about reuniting her family with a lost baby brother. (Warning: the scene when baby brother is "lost," while not violent, may be upsetting to some children, and even generate a tear in soft-hearted parents. But it's worth it in the end.)
The soundtrack is also wonderful, and never fails to get my daughter dancing.
The Parents' Choice Foundation, a national resource in Timonium that reviews a range of children's toys and media, has compiled a short list of classic Irish books appropriate for children.
I'd like to know about your family's favorite books and movies for learning about Ireland and celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Please tell us about them below.
Comments
"Into the West," a 1992 film written by Jim Sheridan and directed by Mike Newell, is another wonderful vehicle to introduce children to Ireland. The movie chronicles the journey of a "magical" hourse and two children who come to posses it, and then flee with it from Dublin to the west coast of Ireland as they are being pursued by police (unknowing agents of an unscrupulous businessman). The trip is one not normally taken by tourists, beginning in the public housing flats of Dublin, and ending in the camps of the "Travelers" (or "gypsies") of the West. True to form, the children have only one parent, though in this case it's a father, who has turned his back on his "Travelers" heritage and community because of the pain of widowhood. The older the children, the more they'll get out of it, but the scenes with the horse are fun, and the opportunities to explore class stigma and the commonality of human experience regardless of class, many.
Posted by: Peter Sabonis | March 16, 2008 9:26 AM