Hello 
Eleanor Edwards from UK charity Give A Brick here. Welcome to the first in a series of posts based on or around quotes from children’s books. At first glance this may seem like a rather strange choice of subject matter for the blog of a 3D artist. Take into account that this particular artist has told me, more than once, that she doesn’t want children and even I’m perplexed.
However, these quotes are more than just nice little sound bites for children. As I was reading Danny, Champion of the World with my seven year old, these particular sound bites leapt off the page at me. “That would make a wonderful blog post” I was heard saying to myself. But how on earth am I going to make that fit on the Give A Brick blog?! I tell folk that if they have something to share, it will always be welcome at GAB. But as for myself, no chance. It would have to live over at my place and be a little lonely.
Thankfully, Heather unwittingly did me a favour. She popped up and said hello over on msn. She told me what she’s already told you about her work load and suddenly a rather magical thought skipped it’s way between my ears, “I wonder if Heather would like this series of posts?” So I very bravely offered and, lovely girl that she is, said yes.
And so here we are It’s my absolute pleasure to meet you.
Today I’d like to introduce you to a nasty piece of work called Victor Hazell. He’s the baddy in our tale but in case you never get around to reading the book (and you should by the way, it’s wonderful), be assured that there is a wonderful scene at the end involving his over-sized automobile and a flock of scared pheasants. You know how birds react to fear don’t you? It’s a wonderful picture that Roald Dahl paints, genius that he is.
This scoundrel owns a forest full of pheasants and every year he hosts an extravagant party for all the dignitaries. Secretly they all despise him and think he is the nasty piece of work I’ve already painted him as. They come to his party simply because it’s a good bash. He spends a fortune on this event and why? Let’s allow Danny’s dad to take over:
“It makes him feel important. For one day in the year he becomes a big cheese in a little world and even the Duke of So-and-so slaps him on the back and tries to remember his first name when he says goodbye.”
Reading this with my seven year old I was left reflecting on the that things we do to make us feel important. We might not be guilty of buying an assortment of friends (although if that is your thing, head over to Twitter. You can buy followers by the thousand if you check your direct message inbox 
) but if we’re going to be brutally honest, it never hurts to feel that we are significant. A friend of mine told me once that it’s one of our most basic human needs but if he’s right, what makes Victor Hazell such a villain and how can we feel significant without causing the world at large to want to hurl tomatoes at our retreating backs? I know what I think but how about you? Let’s talk about it.
That’s a funny villain needing a party to feel good. I should probably read the story, sounds like there are a number of twists in it.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Silence is Golden? Not according to Heather
I’ve not read it yet either to be honest, but I probably should. There’s at least three really good parts that El’s highlighted (should see them again over the next few weeks).
Heather´s last blog ..Childrens Literature Lesson: Why Do We Feel Important?