Little Thinkers' Quotes (13 of 16): Charles Dickens

Today's quote is from Charles Dickens, a favorite author of my friend Tom Angleberger, now a well-known children's book writer. Dickens is best-known for penning classics like "A Tale of Two Cities," "Oliver Twist" and "A Christmas Carol."

A new film about Dickens' love interest entitled "The Invisible Woman" stars Felicity Jones. The film is now showing at the Grandin Theatre in my hometown of Roanoke, Va.; and Jones recently made the cover of "Film Comment" in a photo still from the film.

Here is the Dickens quote:

"There is wisdom of the head, and wisdom of the heart."

http://www.filmcomment.com

http://www.grandintheatre.com

Special Quote for the Birthday of Charles Dickens

Since my good friend Tom Angleberger is a fan of Charles Dickens' works, we thought we'd quip the author for his birthday, which is actually on Monday (yes, we know the author of "Oliver Twist" has been dead for a good while now).

There is also a Charles Dickens Museum in London, a city I haven't been to since 1975 when I was five years old. Perhaps, it's time to go back.

And, Christopher Hitchens wrote a scathing piece on Dickens a few months ago in "The Atlantic." I was meaning to show Tom the article, but I thought unlike Hitchens, who has been known irk people on the right and left alike, I like having pals!

Here is the quote from Dickens:

"Charity begins at home, and justice begins next door."

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Sock Monkey

It is getting proverbially close to that time of the year again, and we are not talking about exams (well, they will be here before Christmas).

My good friends Tom Angleberger and Cece Bell, a husband and wife children's book author team (though they do their own work; Cece writes the Sock Monkey series) are among those who look forward to this time of year in the hope that parents all over America will ignore the recession and buy lots of lots of books so they can add a chimney to their farmhouse in Boones Mill, Va. (not really where they live; in-joke!).

So, in their honor, we are posting this photo.

Cece Bell would probably want me to mention that her Sock Monkey series should not be confused with the adult comic strips/books by Tony Millionaire which also featues a Sock Monkey character, though his is considerably more demented!

Happy Star Wars Day! (with Kudos to Tom Angleberger)

Since I found out through Twitter that today is Star Wars Day, which I'm sure my friend Chris Knight of Reidsville, NC, is recognizing (he once dressed like a Jedi knight to a local school board meeting to protest a proposed dress code ordinance), I thought I would plug my friend Tom Angleberger's new book (Tom and Chris are actually my only two friends-nudge, nudge, wink, wink) "The Strange Case of Origami Yoda."

Angleberger, who previously wrote another children's book under the pen name Sam Riddleberger, is also a coulmnist for "The Roanoke Times" in Roanoke, Va. He was interviewed by that paper's reporter Ralph Berrier Jr. about how he got permission from George Lucas to use Yoda in his book. Angleberger replied that he actually dealt with the Star Wars licensing department instead. And, a woman who works for Lucas took the book home to her ten-year-old boy. He loved it, and thus the force was with Tom (we couldn't resist).

Ironically, Angleberger once interviewed me about a midnight screening of the famous/infamous film "Turkish Star Wars" (1982) with legendary cult action star Cuneyt Arkin, who is now 72 years old (a year younger than Warren Beatty!) that I was hosting at the Grandin Theatre in Roanoke, Va., in May of 2005 on the eve of my graduation from grad school.

Out of curiosity, I just looked the film's Wikipedia page, and I found that in addition to "Flash Gordon" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark," the science-fiction film had 'borrowed' music from the likes of "Moonraker," "Ben Hur" and "Planet of the Apes" (that's two Charlton Heston movies!).

Those who live in DC metro area can meet Angleberger at Hooray for Books in Alexandria, Va., on May 14.

The book has been published internationally though we aren't sure if one can buy it in Oslo or Istanbul, but it should be available at the Boulder Bookstore in Boulder, Colo., which happens to be our favorite indy bookstore on planet Earth!