A children's library of sorts...

Over the past few centuries, books have been a solitude, whisking many a child away into the pages of lore and introducing them to worlds beyond and unknown. Some may be filled with magic and wonder, while others may be a completely different world altogether. The phenomena that literature of the centuries has lived on is simply extraordinary. I myself have been reading since I could hold a book in my hands, and that has in no way, shape, or form hesitated in any way. Whether it be a novel, comic, poem, sonnet, or epic, I have never gone a day without a book in hand.
One of my absolute favourite books as a child was The Shut-Eye Train by world-renowned children's poet Eugene Field. *points at photo* That's him. Ain't he adorable?


The book itself is a children's book of poems that is now, sadly, out of print. I can remember many a night when I would hear this poem being read by my Dad:
Come, my little one, with me!
There are wondrous sights to see
As the evening shadows fall;
In your pretty cap and gown,
Don't detain
The Shut-Eye train -
"Ting-a-ling!" the bell it goeth,
"Toot-toot!" the whistle bloweth,
And we hear the warning call:
"All aboard for Shut-Eye Town!"

Over hill and over plain
Soon will speed the Shut-Eye train!
Through the blue where bloom the stars
And the Mother Moon looks down
We'll away
To land of Fay -
Oh, the sights that we shall see there!
Come, my little one, with me there -
'T is a goodly train of cars -
All aboard for Shut-Eye Town!

Swifter than a wild bird's flight,
Through the realms of fleecy light
We shall speed and speed away!
Let the Night in envy frown -
What care we
How wroth she be!
To the Balow-land above us,
To the Balow-folk who love us,
Let us hasten while we may -
All aboard for Shut-Eye Town!

Shut-Eye Town is passing fair -
Golden dreams await us there;
We shall dream those dreams, my dear,
Till the Mother Moon goes down -
See unfold
Delights untold!
And in those mysterious places
We shall see beloved faces
And beloved voices hear
In the grace of Shut-Eye Town.

Heavy are your eyes, my sweet,
Weary are your little feet -
Nestle closer up to me
In your pretty cap and gown;
Don't detain
The Shut-Eye train!
"Ting-a-ling!" the bell it goeth,
"Toot-toot!" the whistle bloweth
Oh, the sights that we shall see!
All aboard for Shut-Eye Town!

THAT, my readers, is 'The Shut-Eye Train'.
Growing up with Mr. Field's poems was something that very rarely happens nowadays, seeing as so many parents are attached to their precious technology....(See, I wouldn't mind if we all went back to using good old Snail Mail!) That is where my thoughts on the Kindle or Nook come in.
I understand how technology is advancing every day, and everybody and their Grandmother wants the brand new Apple product, but an electronic book?! *heavy sigh* WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO?!
Does the world really want to throw away something as wonderful as paper books just to have a touch screen digital reader? Is that the only way to get people my age to read? I think not.
I still hand-write stories from time to time, and (if I'm feeling up to it) I'll use parchment and a quill!
(And yes, it does make me feel like a student at Hogwarts. It's awesome.)
But to save this generation from getting rid of something so pure and lovely as books, us writers (Well, every writer except for Shmeyer....) and readers have to stand together and show the world what matters: LITERATURE ON PAPER!
Well, dear Readers? What are your thoughts? Leave a comment if necessary.
Sé onr sverdar sitja hvass!

Why Led Zeppelin and Nightwish are relevant:

**Song Lyrics and Titles belong to their respected owners**
Led Zeppelin formed in 1968 and consisted of four strapping young English lads by the names of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones. The four of them started out as a folk-rock n' roll band playing gigs in local clubs in England, and blossomed into one of the greatest rock bands in history. Today, the name 'Led Zeppelin' is a household name, if you will. One hears the word 'zeppelin' and immediately their thoughts see images of a curly-haired, thin blonde man prancing around a stage with his shirt un-buttoned and too-tight jeans hanging off his waist with a microphone in hand, along with thoughts of an equally thin man in a dragon-adorned jumpsuit playing an electric guitar with a violin bow. Being a child who grew up with nothing but Zeppelin and the Beatles playing on my parent's FM car radio, one can conclude that I am one of the very few teenagers of my era who knows a song other than Stairway to Heaven. Thanks to my rocker of a father, my taste in music is quite different from many of my peers, Thank the LORD. Who knows what my life would be like if I listened to today's pop culture? *shudders* Frightens me just thinking about it! Thankfully, I grew up to be a teenager who'd rather burn some peach incense and read C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien novels than one who wears too much eyeliner and not enough clothing. (Anyways, back to blogging...*types frantically*)
Nightwish formed around a campfire in Finland in 1996. Then, the band consisted of three members: Tuomas Holopainen, Emppu Vuorinen, and Tarja Turunen. Originally, the Symphonic/Operatic Metal band were a folk-acoustic band, but drummer Jukka Nevalainen soon joined in to give the music a bit of a heavier beat, and the guitars were switched from acoustic to electric. Tarja's operatic vocals mixed quite well with the new, metal-esque sound Nightwish had, which pleased many a metal-head. Skip ahead about 6 years, and Nightwish had matured into one of the Top Artists in Finland and the US. The classical/operatic sounds attracted the prim and proper rockers out there, while the metal beats attracted the metal-heads and goths.
Quite different as the two bands may be, Robert Plant and Tuomas Holopainen shared one thing in common: A avid fascination of Tolkien's world.
Looking at the lyrics of Led Zeppelin's The Battle of Evermore, Ramble On, Misty Mountain Hop, and Bron-Yr-Aur-Stomp, it is considerably obvious that good ol' Robert was inspired by Middle-Earth. The lyrics from 'Ramble On' read:
"Mine's a tale that can't be told; My freedom I hold dear. How years ago and days of old, when magic filled the air. T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor I met a girl so fair! But Gollum and the Evil One crept up and slipped away with her, her, her, yeah." 
Coincidence? No. Does it reek of sheer epic-ness and show that Robert Plant is AWESOME? HELL YES!
The same goes for Nightwish's Elvenpath and Wishmaster; Tuomas states on the Nightwish site that 'Wishmaster' was simply about his two greatest fantasy loves: Tolkien and Dragonlance. In Elvenpath, dialogue from Ralph Bakshi's animated film J.R.R Tolkien's The Lord of The Rings is heard, along with references to the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins and the Elven-Folk.
"At the grove, I met the rest; The folk of my fantasies: Bilbo, Sparhawk, goblin and pixies. Snowman, Willow, trolls and the seven dwarves, the Path goes forever on! The way to the lands where as a hero I stand; the path where Beauty met the Beast: Elvenpath! It's the honesty of these worlds, ruled by magic and mighty swords, that makes my soul long for the past; Elvenpath!"
Both of these bands are unique in their own way, but they both share a love of fantasy literature that connects them tremendously. Even in today's world, which has been overrun by sparkling immortals and shapeshifters claiming to be werewolves, Tolkien's genius lives on in the hearts of many, touching souls and creating worlds for children and adults alike, leading their way out of the absurdity of stressful days and into the forests of lore.