Mad As A March Hare

It’s the 1st of March and our thoughts turn to March Hares. In the world of stories the most famous hare appears at the Mad Tea Party in “Alice’s Adventures… Continue reading
It’s the 1st of March and our thoughts turn to March Hares. In the world of stories the most famous hare appears at the Mad Tea Party in “Alice’s Adventures… Continue reading
“The March wind roars Like a lion in the sky, And makes us shiver As he passes by. When winds are soft, And the days are warm and clear,… Continue reading
“If apples were pears And peaches were plums And the rose had a different name. If tigers were bears And fingers were thumbs I’d love you just the same.” Continue reading
Sharing stories and poems, the importance of libraries, creative writing, and the potential of books to change lives … all these things are at the heart of Litrasaurus. Whilst we… Continue reading
Hillside Narcissus by Nora McFarlane “There’s a grassy slope not far away Where thousands of Narcissus bloom, And I catch my breath, as I… Continue reading
In a world fixated by online and screen based activities it is refreshing to remember just how revolutionary and dangerous the good old fashioned book was … and still can… Continue reading
February arriving reminds us of that lovely poem “Afternoon in February” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow “The day is ending, The night is descending; The marsh is frozen, The… Continue reading
Litrasaurus is a privately funded charitable endeavour whose aim is to encourage and develop imagination and creativity in the young, and young at heart, by the reading, writing, and sharing… Continue reading
This year marked the 135th anniversary of the birth of A.A. Milne, the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh. This enigmatic, and slightly dishevelled, bear still holds a treasured place at the heart… Continue reading
The ability to read well is so fundamental to success of any kind, yet too many children in this country, through no fault of their own, are held back by… Continue reading
Winter by Walter de la Mare Clouded with snow The cold winds blow, And shrill on leafless bough The robin with its burning breast Alone sings now. The rayless sun,… Continue reading
I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library” Jorge Luis Borges Click on the image below to see twenty… Continue reading
At a ceremony tonight in Stockholm Bob Dylan will formally be presented as this year’s laureate for the Nobel Prize for Literature – being famously shy he will not be… Continue reading
According to the National Literacy Trust the number of children reading for pleasure every day in the UK fell by 25% between 2005 and 2012 to less than one in… Continue reading
Stories are as old as humankind itself and they are integral to every part of our lives, so much so that they resonate with our very being. They draw us… Continue reading
Human beings nowadays really do not appreciate just how integral stories and reading are to their very being. Reading has developed from myths and legends being told around the fireside… Continue reading
“Whenever I’m asked what advice I have for young writers, I always say that the first thing is to read, and to read a lot. The second thing is to… Continue reading
Stories have been an essential part of human life longer than recorded time. In the days before books stories were told around the fire and were not just entertainment but… Continue reading
Napoleon once said “Imagination rules the world”. Many people only know this part of the quote, but he actually went on to say “The defect of our modern institutions is… Continue reading
“Come, little leaves,” said the wind one day, “Come over the meadows with me, and play; Put on your dresses of red and gold; Summer is gone, and the days… Continue reading
This month’s featured story on Litrasaurus as picked by Arbus Magicus is “Dear Wolf” by Bish Bash 123. To read it CLICK HERE Save Save Save Continue reading
The great US President Theodore Roosevelt once said: “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care”. More recently Barack Obama said in 2006: “There’s… Continue reading
Empathy is a relatively modern concept, indeed it had not even been ‘invented’ as a concept when Shelley wrote this great statement effectively defining it: “A man, to be greatly… Continue reading
The great philanthropists of the early 20th Century invested heavily in libraries (Carnegie alone built a total of 2,509 libraries around the world between1883 and 1929). This was not an… Continue reading
The recent anniversary of Edgar Allen Poe’s death brings to mind this great quote of his: “They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who… Continue reading
“Children are our future” the song goes. Indeed they are and nothing is more important than developing their imagination and creativity. “Individuals make the future, and they do it by… Continue reading
Poet and novelist Ben Okri was born in 1959 in Minna, northern Nigeria, to an Igbo mother and Urhobo father. He started by writing poetry but moved on to write… Continue reading
Creativity is developed when you are young. As David Walliams recently said: “I had a very happy childhood, but I wasn’t that happy a child. I liked being alone and… Continue reading
Muhammad Ali once said “A man who has no imagination has no wings”. There is a great truth in that quote because, as is often said, imagination can take you… Continue reading
This month’s featured story on Litrasaurus, as picked by Arbus Magicus, is “The Underwater City” by Mariana Gordan. CLICK HERE TO READ IT Mariana Gordan is a visual artist, writer… Continue reading
October by Robert Frost O hushed October morning mild, Thy leaves have ripened to the fall; Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild, Should waste them all. The crows above the… Continue reading
The golden-rod is yellow; The corn is turning brown; The trees in apple orchards With fruit are bending down. The gentian’s bluest fringes Are curling in the sun; In dusty… Continue reading
Matilda is just my favourite book – it was written by Roald Dahl whose 100th birthday is commemorated today. Unusually for me, I think the film is equally wonderful and… Continue reading
‘Tis moonlight, summer moonlight, All soft and still and fair; The solemn hour of midnight Breathes sweet thoughts everywhere, But most where trees are sending Their breezy boughs on high,… Continue reading
This month’s poem is by Walter De La Mare and is called, appropriately, “Summer Evening” The sandy cat by the Farmer’s chair Mews at his knee for dainty fare;… Continue reading
This month’s poem is “Bed in Summer” by Robert Louis Stephenson In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer quite the other way,… Continue reading
Song On A May Morning “Now the bright morning star, day’s harbinger, Comes dancing from the east, and leads with her The flowery May, who from her green lap throws… Continue reading
“And Spring arose on the garden fair, Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere; And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast rose from the dreams of its wintry… Continue reading
“A poet is a nightingale, who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds” This wonderful quote is by the great poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. … Continue reading
This is an amazing TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson, in which he makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines)… Continue reading