The Journey of the Hobbit By Owen

Today I will be talking about The Hobbit. The story began before Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring, where Frodo went on the journey to destroy the one ring to rule them all. The story is about a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins of The Shire who one day meets thirteen Dwarfs. I am writing this post to express my anticipation for the movie because of what I have seen. What I have seen so far is the Lord Of The Rings trilogy that happened after The Hobbit. The Hobbit is a prequel to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

For those who have not seen The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, it is about Frodo ,the nephew of Bilbo, who was given the ring by Bilbo. Gandalf then tells Frodo he has to destroy it by taking it to Mordor, which is the only place to destroy it. I think The Lord Of The Rings trilogy was interesting because it has a lot of action. The other thing I liked about it was it was sort of a medieval movie. The movie has Orcs and Elves, Dwarfs, Hobbits, Ents, Goblins, Cave Trolls, Wizards, and last but not least, Black Riders.

I am excited to see The Hobbit because what I have seen so far is energetic. The trailer has a lot of interesting weapons like Sting the Elvish sword, a Double Headed ax, and Maces. It has new creatures like Wargs, which are wolf like animals. What is exciting for me about the story is that I will see the beginning of the story before The Lord Of The Rings. The Lord Of The Rings is a story set in caves and mountains, kingdoms and tunnels. What I specifically like about the story are Shelob the spider and Black Riders. The specific part of the story I liked was when the new king was crowned. Since The Hobbit is about the restoration of the Dwarf king, I think it will be the same but a bit different. The celebration was my favorite part because it represents peace to the new king and the land/subjects. My hope is that The Hobbit will be the same.

I choose to write this post because I want you to see the movie because I think you will love it. So see you at the movies.

Tobuscus Videos By Cameron

Tobuscus is Toby Turner on YouTube. He makes trailers for video games and funny comedy videos, like Tobuscus Canadian Adventures. Tobuscus Canadian Adventures is about how Tobuscus can't call his mom because he doesn't have a service plan on his cell phone, so he wants his brother Gabuscus to call her. The two guys get into an argument and Tobuscus and Gabuscus eventually go to Canada to get Tobuscus a service plan with a no-term contract from Rogers.

The whole point of the video is to be straight up funny. What is so funny is that when he makes a video, he usually fights with his brother (word fights, not fist) and his brother never fights back. Sometimes the stereotypes are funny. Tobuscus talks funny, too. (Fast and annoying sounding) Gabuscus is a different story. He is the big hulky guy that talks in a really low voice.

What makes these videos majorly funny are the endings. (Tobuscus and Gabuscus' big arguments result in physical contact in some of the videos.) They don't really have another way of finishing the fights because they are brothers, and brothers usually can't find out how to resolve a problem. Tobuscus makes something funny by taking our basic expectations and twisting them into something funny. One example of this is when Tobuscus is arguing that Rogers is going to sell his signature. Tobuscus says, "I think that my signature will go down in value." Then Gabuscus says, "I don't think it can be worth less than worthless." That is funny because he is making Tobuscus not understand what's ridiculous and what's not. We see the difference, and that makes us laugh. So, you guys and girls that are reading this blog, please watch the Tobuscus videos if you liked reading this.

(Note: The following video depicts one instance of animated violence and may not be appropriate for younger viewers)

About R.L. Stine and His Book Heads, You Lose (Goosebumps Horrorland #15) By Paige

R.L. STINE is the author of many children‘s books. He has written different series like Hall of Horrors, Goosebumps, and Goosebumps Horrorland. Mr. Stine also has some movies and cartoons based on his books. In Goosebumps Horrorland, R.L. Stine has many different children featured in his stories; for instance, Mickey and Amanda were featured in his newest book Heads, You Lose. This story is about a girl named Mickey who thinks she is being haunted because wherever she goes she is seeing people with no heads! Mickey is a fun tomboy.  She is very courageous and loves to go on many adventures. Mickey is an incredible character. She steps out of her league to get the heads to stop appearing places and for her family and friends to have heads again.

I like this book because if you change the names of the characters to your own, it feels like you’re going on that adventure. I felt like I went on that adventure because when I went down my stairs I could imagine that my parents had no head. That made me scream really hard. I would recommend this book because it is fun to pretend that you are in that story. The end of each chapter in this book leaves you hanging, which makes you want to keep reading. So, please try and read this book without losing...your head!

Click here to visit Heads, You Lose on Goodreads.com

Click here to see what Goosebumps titles are available in the June Rose Callwood Library

Is J.R.R. Tolkien Sexist? By Glenna

In The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien has a major lack of female characters. Whether it was because of the time he wrote it, or because it is just pure sexism, I feel this is wrong.

The Bagginses were said to have been "very respectable people," and they were the type to always follow a strict schedule. On the other hand, there's the Tooks. The Tooks are described as a hobbit clan that often disappeared and went on adventures.

Tolkien says, "Tooks were not as respectable as the Bagginses, though undoubtedly richer."

Bilbo's father was a Baggins and his mother, Belladonna, was a Took. As you will notice, Belladonna is a woman being portrayed as irresponsible. The Took side of Bilbo is supposedly a "bad" trait to have.

Why is it that Tolkien made Belladonna seem naive and foolish?

Besides Gollum's grandmother, Belladonna is the only female character.

When Bilbo and the dwarfs got captured by the wood elves, they became prisoners of the Elven King. Why couldn't he be a she? I don't see why the rulers are always men. Maybe Tolkien stereotyped women as weak, considering that around when the book was written, men viewed females as delicate and powerless. Yet there were Queens before Tolkien wrote The Hobbit.

I personally read a lot of Manga/Anime which happens to be the exact opposite of The Hobbit. Women often take the lead role, proving to young girls that women are both strong and independent.

As a female, I definitely don't support Tolkien's decision to have few female roles. Manga/Anime has a much better balance of both sexes.

Aren't women and men supposed to be equal?

See if The Hobbit is in the June Rose Callwood Library
  

My Story: The Trenches: Billy's View By Ethan

I am reviewing a book called My Story: The Trenches: Billy Stevens, The Western Front 1914-1918 by Jim Eldridge. In this book, an underage boy named Billy Stevens goes into war and gets injured. He is sent to a General’s office until his wounds heal, and if he says a word of what goes on he will be shot for treason. I believe the author’s main massage is that there is a reason for the age limit to go in the army. Also, some war stories aren’t always fun like this one. This book is unique because a very young man is in the army, which is wrong because that’s too intense for a young person like himself.

I would recommend this book because it is a harsh, but thrilling story. Also it really goes into detail with World War I, and it was all true. It is harsh because Billy and his best friend were split up, and Billy does not know if he’s dead or not so he’s afraid for his friend. It is thrilling because Billy’s friend’s uncle is mining under the Russian and German lines and filling that mine with bombs. If you like this review you would probably like the book. It can be found at your local June Rose Callwood library. So check it out!

Click here to see if this book is available at the June Rose Callwood library.

What is Literacy? by Patrick

To answer this question, I went to this website called this IS literacy.ca created by the Child Youth Network of London, Ontario. This group is trying to help people understand what literacy is and it’s trying to develop people’s level of literacy. According to their About link, they explain that literacy is the skills, knowledge, and abilities to understand other people's ideas and to express our own ideas to other people. This website is trying to help people understand literacy by trying to get them to do literacy on their own.

How does this website do this? There are different links for specific groups of people, such as parents, children, teenagers, and professionals. In these links, you can find homework tips for kids, book reviews, like The Hunger Games, video game reviews, like NBA Jam (PS3), and websites, like an online library and a skateboard magazine.

Literacy is a highly difficult concept. This website has good navigation and it helps so you do not get confused or lost in the in the site. I would like it if the concept was easier to understand, but this website helped me understand what the word literacy means. The things I liked about this website were that there was a good variety of sections to look at, and there are lots of things you can learn about. I would use the skateboard magazine and the video game reviews too, in case I was looking for a new skateboard magazine to read, or a new video game to play.  If you’re looking for something interesting, look at the links on the website.

My First Book Review by Mikayla

I am reviewing Never Do Anything, Ever, a book form the series Dear Dumb Diary by Jim Benton. This book is about a girl named Jamie and her friend in middle school. In this book, Jamie tells us what has happened to her throughout the month. Also, the book is about what she likes to do; for example, Jamie and Isabella support an online charity this month. Her experiences are often funny. The author shares with us that you should be yourself. Jamie is jealous of Angeline, Jamie's neighbour and classmate, because she's smarter than Jamie. By the end of the book, Jamie realizes that she can do lots of neat things.

I liked this book because it's interesting. My favourite things about the book are the funny pictures and Jamie the main character. My favourite thing about Jamie is that she's goofy. If you like books that are humourous, then you will like this book too.

Check to see if Dear Dumb Diary is in the JRC library