Crossing into children’s classics – Bridge to Terabithia

Dec 11

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This one’s on me. I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed the message, and I enjoyed the illustrations. But overall I think I went in with too high of an expectation for a Newbery Medal winner. I did not study Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson in school, but I had always heard of it. A few years ago I even saw the movie. I normally enjoy a book more than its movie version, but this is one time where I enjoyed the movie version more than the book. The writing is good in its own way, but the style is not for me.

I appreciate the message. I really do. It’s truly traumatizing for anyone to go through a loss like Jesse does at any age, let alone for a 10-year-old boy. But some people come into your life and they change it forever, like Leslie did for Jesse. It’s also a very mature move on Jesse’s part to be able to grasp the lesson that Leslie left him the gift of imagination that allowed him to escape his world and go into another one, while at the same time move on from his loss. That is something we all need every once in a while at any age.

I need to find better timing and better time commitment to classics like this one so I can truly absorb it all in.