The Hobbit,<\/em> along with my not-inconsiderable resistance to doing so, and wondering if there are any larger lessons to be drawn from any of it? Such as:<\/p>\nLesson the First:<\/em><\/strong> Don\u2019t be a contrarian \u2013 and always be prepared to get over yourself and try the new! A lesson I’m always relearning, to be honest, although often in different contexts.<\/p>\nLesson the Second:<\/em><\/strong> The important part libraries play in allowing readers to explore the new by offering a wide range of works, both developing young and new readers, and also enabling adult readers to both continue reading full-stop as well as to explore the new.<\/p>\nFor example, the small country library referenced in last Monday\u2019s post was really just a corner of the local hall, with volunteers opening it a couple of times a week. The books were provided and \u201crotated\/renewed\u201d by the National Library of New Zealand\u2019s Country Library Service, so The Hobbit<\/em> and The Lord of the Rings<\/em> would not have been permanently available.<\/p>\nHowever small, it played a vital role because our community was eighty kilometers from the nearest small town, so without the local \u2018branch\u2019 readers would have had far greater difficulty in sourcing new reading material\u2014and my discovery of Tolkien, facilitated by a nexus of specific circumstances, might have been delayed even longer, or never happened at all. O:o\u2026<\/p>\n
Lesson the Third:<\/em><\/strong> The equally vital part parents play in encouraging and facilitating reading and learning generally in their kids. I recall my parents reading to us and encouraging us to read independently from a very early age. I am particularly mindful, too, that in The Hobbit<\/em> anecdote recounted last week, my Mum was actively looking for books she thought I would like, as opposed to what she would necessarily choose for herself. She didn\u2019t care for science fiction and fantasy, you see, but knew I did…<\/p>\nThe Giveaway — Just ICYMI (\u201cEyeroll\u201d \ud83d\ude00 )<\/strong><\/p>\nThe \u201cpaying it forward\u201d giveaway (although in this case I think it may be \u00a0more paying it back \u2013 even if I can\u2019t personally account for the full 85 years of ‘back’ \ud83d\ude09 ) of The Hobbit \/ The Heir of Night<\/em> is still running. Full details are here<\/strong> and there\u2019ll be a reminder post before it closes, which is on August 15.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/The-Hobbit_2-200x300.jpg\")
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As For That Postponed WALL#4 Update \u2013 It\u2019s Coming Very Soon!<\/strong><\/p>\nBy way of reassurance amid all these other reflections, I haven\u2019t forgotten the WALL #4 update post that I postponed from July 7. I\u2019ve just about finished the section I wanted to get done before updating, so if not next week (fingers crossed!), it should definitely be on for the week after.<\/p>\n
On which note\u2014back to the writing desk!<\/p>\n
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Over the past week I\u2019ve been reflecting on the last two weeks\u2019 Monday posts: \u201cThe Hobbit\u201d, Tolkien\u2019s Legacy — & A Giveaway! \u201cThe Hobbit\u201d: There & Back Again \u2013 85 Years On! Yes, exclamation marks are much in evidence, but that\u2019s not the source of my reflections. \ud83d\ude00 Chiefly, I\u2019ve been mulling further on eighty-five […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,19,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-what-im-doing","category-funstuff","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40470"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40478,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40470\/revisions\/40478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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