Kurt Mahlburg mercatornet.com Kurt Mahlburg is a writer and author, and an emerging Australian voice on culture and the Christian faith. Since 2018, Kurt has been the Research and Features Editor at the Canberra Declaration. He is also a freelance writer, and a regular contributor at the Spectator Australia,
I grew up reading Roald Dahl. I enjoyed the adventures of Charlie Bucket as he explored Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. I enjoyed following James on his voyage on the Giant Peach. I was entertained by the shenanigans of Mr Fox and was charmed by the Big Friendly Giant. However,
Mike Butler In a new book titled New Zealand’s History Curriculum – Education or Indoctrination? educator Roger Childs eviscerates what he calls “a deliberate, pre-meditated attempt at social engineering”. The push for a compulsory anti-colonist curriculum started in 2014 when pupils from Otorohanga College on a field trip were told
Sue Reid ‘Read By Reid’ 25 years in the book industry. familyfirst.org.nz As a passionate book enthusiast and avid reader, I can only lament the latest delivery to the publishing world. The imagination and dark, fun characters from the genius that Roald Dahl was has been totally trashed
Michelle Smith Senior Lecturer in Literary Studies Monash University Although several of his best-known children’s books were first published in the 1960s, Roald Dahl is among the most popular authors for young people today. The recent decision by publisher Puffin, in conjunction with The Roald Dahl Story Company, to
George Ford Smith mises.org George Ford Smith is a former mainframe and PC programmer and technology instructor, the author of eight books including a novel about a renegade Fed chairman (Flight of the Barbarous Relic) and a nonfiction book on how money became an instrument of theft (The Jolly
We are running yet another fantastic book giveaway for our members. The prizes are three copies of Dr John Robinson’s new book Regaining A Nation; Equality and Democracy. On the 23rd of February, we will give away three copies to three lucky BFD members. We will use an online
Roald Dahl’s books are being rewritten. Publisher Puffin has employed sensitivity readers to rewrite Dahl’s books. Words like fat, ugly and female have been removed. For example, “Augustus Gloop in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is now described as ‘enormous’.” Is that much better than fat? To bastardise
Chris Wilson Programme Director, Master of Conflict and Terrorism Studies University of Auckland Since the horrific attacks in Christchurch in 2019 there has been substantial and growing attention paid to the extreme right in New Zealand. The pandemic – and the conspiracy theories and anti-government sentiment that developed in response – increased
We are running yet another fantastic book giveaway for our members. The prizes are three copies of Dr John Robinson’s new book Regaining A Nation; Equality and Democracy. On the 23rd of February, we will give away three copies to three lucky BFD members. We will use an online
“The book is better than the movie” is an old truism: but is it always true? Mostly, yes. The added bonus of books is the freedom of the reader to interpret, and the freedom of the author to add layers of complexity and nuance that cinema simply can’t encompass.
As I wrote in a previous post, J R Tolkien’s Catholic faith had a profound, if subtly expressed, influence on his most famous fictional work, The Lord of the Rings. But his religious expression is even more pronounced in his magnum opus, the collection of legends of “the Elder
We are running yet another fantastic book giveaway for our members. The prizes are three copies of Dr John Robinson’s new book Regaining A Nation; Equality and Democracy. On the 23rd of February, we will give away three copies to three lucky BFD members. We will use an online
The 2019 biopic Tolkien was heavily criticised for almost completely omitting what was one of the central pillars of the author’s life: his Catholic faith. Trying to tell the story of Tolkien’s life without mentioning religion is like trying to tell the story of Hunter S Thompson without
We are running yet another fantastic book giveaway for our members. The prizes are three copies of Dr John Robinson’s new book Regaining A Nation; Equality and Democracy. On the 23rd of February, we will give away three copies to three lucky BFD members. We will use an online
