Appreciation

             I am going to begin 100% honest, i didn't like "Bridge to Terabithia". I think i enjoyed the book a lot better when I was younger, and I didn't read searching for big ideas in the text. I still can appreciate the writing; I appreciate how the author, Katherine Paterson, ties in many essential life lessons in a children's book. An important moral in the book was 'A change in perspective can help anyone accomplish a new way of life' and 'All children start out delicate, and unaware of all the harm this world posses. But every person has got to learn sometime.'
                
          I apprechiate how Katherine Paterson ties in essential life lessons in children's books.In "Bridge to Terabithia", Jess is in need of a change in heart and a change in perspective. Leslie Brooks might as well have come prescribed for Jess. Leslie is able to change his perspective on the world that surronds him. 'New perspectives' is what makes this book so special, and timeless. Change is written on every page of this book.  As Jess lets Leslie guide him, and transform him, he lets go of his old self, and becomes a new totally character. I appreciate this book because I am always reminded "How someone can come into your life, and change it, and leave in a flash". 


                 
         One of the most famous scenes in this book/ movie, is the scene where Leslie asks him to see without his eyes open. She is forcing him to take a look around him, without really looking around him. "To use his imagination". It almost sounds as though he is dreaming, when he looks around him with his eyes shut. He sees literally "A whole new world". And throughout the Ferris wheel of seasons, Jess changes. Jess is ruling a fantastical land called Terabithia, meanwhile Leslie is showing him how to master the art of troll hunting. He later applies this skill, of being able to defend himself- while not hurting his opponent, into his school life. He takes everything Leslie teaches him, and applies it to his life.


             This book reminds me how to keep moving forward without  forgetting the past. My friend called this book "The story of my life." Because it is so easy to relate to. when I was a small girl my grandma came to live in New York. I visited her a lot with my Dad. She would bake me cake, listen to music, draw, and speak to me in Portuguese. The more time I spent near her, the more she molded me into creative, growing girl. As quickly as she came, she left. Sometimes all we have left is rituals, and lessons the person left behind for us to use. 




            This is a hard lesson for even an adults to learn. Try explaining it to a little kid. I was assigned to write a kids book in 7th grade, and was amazed how hard it was to tie in a moral into a story, without the story seeming as though it may scare, or harm the poor kids that would've had to read my picture book. That is one very important thing I appreciate about this book. One of the (I realize) MANY THINGS I appreciate about this book.