The Blue Bird for Children

by Georgette Leblanc

One of the strongest pieces of imaginative writing for children that the past decade has produced and one of the most delicate and beautiful of all times, is "The Blue Bird," by Maurice Maeterlinck, written as a play, and very successfully produced on the stage.

Georgette Leblanc (Madame Maurice Maeterlinck), has rendered this play in story form for children, under the title "The Children's Blue Bird," and in this form it has now been carefully edited and arranged for schools.

Maurice Maeterlinck was born in Ghent, Belgium, August 29, 1862. Although trained for the practice of the law and moderately successful in it, he very early became dissatisfied with the prospect of a career at the bar. In 1887, the young man moved to Paris and turned his attention to writing. Shortly after, at the death of his father, Maeterlinck returned to Belgium where he has since resided most of the time. His career as an author practically began in 1889, when he published two plays. At this time he was quite unknown, except to a small circle, but soon, because of his remarkable originality, we find him being called "The Belgian Shakespeare," and his reputation firmly established.

Amidst his Belgian roses he continued to work and dream, and upon his youthful dreams he built his plays. They are all shadowy, brief transcripts of emotion, and illustrate beautifully his unity of purpose, of mood and of thought. Whether in philosophy, drama or poetry, Maeterlinck is exclusively occupied in revealing or indicating the mystery which lies only just out of sight beneath the ordinary life. In order to produce this effect of the mysterious he aims at extreme simplicity of style and a very realistic symbolism. He allows life itself to astonish us by its strangeness, by its inexplicable elements. Many of his plays are really pathetic records of unseen emotions.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Fantasy, Childrens, Canon, Literature

138 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1913

Reviews

[Ramona Cantaragiu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember writing a review for this one, but apparently it somehow got lost. I don't know the details of the story anymore, but I know that it was written in a very clunky and dusty manner (cannot explain it any better) and that it made me a bit uneasy because it seemed to suggest that we should all accept our conditions and never ask for more. While learning to find happiness in everything is a good lesson, I think we should also teach children to think aspirationally and work towards something more (not necesarilly in materialistic terms).

[Nguyễn Phi Hùng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Những phẩm chất tốt đẹp nhất của chúng ta có thể trở thành những lỗi lầm, khi chúng ta thực hành chúng mà không biết phân biệt đúng sai. (Chương VIII).
Một lựa chọn tuyệt vời của các cha mẹ dành cho con.

[MinhHuong · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Con chim xanh hạnh phúc" phù hợp với mọi lứa tuổi. Nó không chỉ mang đến cho người đọc những bài học quý giá về cuộc sống mà còn khơi gợi trí tưởng tượng và sự sáng tạo. Là một món quà tinh thần ý nghĩa dành cho những ai muốn tìm kiếm hạnh phúc trong cuộc sống.
Hạnh phúc không phải là thứ có thể tìm kiếm bên ngoài mà nằm ngay trong chính bản thân mỗi người.
Hạnh phúc đến từ tình yêu thương, lòng dũng cảm, sự vị tha và biết trân trọng những điều giản đơn trong cuộc sống.
Mỗi người đều có thể tìm thấy hạnh phúc trong cuộc sống.

[Huỳnh Mai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nội dung của quyển này ban đầu cử tưởng như 1 câu chuyện tuổi thơ nhưng thật ra đậm chất nhân văn và ý nghĩa.
Tác giả dùng phép nhân hoá và ẩn dụ rất tài tình.
Các sự vật được ẩn dụ để nói lên gần như trọn vẹn đức tính của con người và giúp người đọc dễ so sánh và nhận ra được những bài học sâu sắc.
Mỗi chương và mỗi một giai đoạn trong quá trình sinh tồn của loài người. Đó là những hoài niệm về quá khứ. Hướng đến tương lai. Bóng đêm trong mỗi con người và đặc biệt là bất ngờ trong những nghịch cảnh. Bất cứ ai chắc chắc cũng sẽ trải qua. Chỉ là cta có nhận ra và tiếp thu được hay không.
Thật sự rất ngạc nhiên về toàn bộ sự tinh tuý của quyển này và highly recommend for everyone.

[Sinh · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 sao, trừ 1 sao vì bản dịch không mượt nên còn 3 sao.
Một câu chuyện đẹp, một chuyến phiêu lưu thú vị của các bạn nhỏ, một hạnh phúc giản đơn luôn hiện hữu quanh ta.
Nếu muốn nhận lại, thì trước tiên hãy học cách cho đi trước đã. Thấu hiểu được những khó khăn trước khi gặt hái được thành quả, sẽ dạy cho ta biết trân trọng nhiều hơn thứ quả ngọt hạnh phúc kia!

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw the movie 10/14/16 and finally found the kindle version of the story and was not disappointed! This is a delightful story! A poignant story of a selfish young German girl's search for The Bluebird, happiness and goes on a wonderful journey to find it!

[Lex · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've been meaning to read this for years and years because of Pauline and Petrova's first starring roles in Ballet Shoes. Turns out it's preachy and rather nauseating, and most of the story is summarised in Ballet Shoes anyway. Oh well - at least it's set at Christmas, so nicely seasonal :)

[Lê Tuyền ICHI · Rating 3 out of 5]

Một tác phẩm văn học Thiếu nhi với chất liệu Cổ tích và Cổ điển, kiểu như Peter Pan hay Alice lạc vào xứ sở thần tiên.

[Luyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading several versions of translations of different languages, I was able to find a little wisdom in this book.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is a surprise for the publication date of 1913. The simple message of finding happiness in your surroundings is one that feels forward looking and not really part of the 1910s; everybody seemed so wrapped up in the progress of the machine age, right before WWI. The thought of parents reading The Children's Blue Bird to their kids, during the second decade of the 20th century, is eyebrow raising for me. I wonder how it was received. The main theme and the knowledge that is bestowed upon Tyltyl appear mystical for a Western book and aligned to the concept of mindfulness. The narrator starts out by declaring that the tale about how the hero and heroine went in search of

[Cat SamLos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shelved it on my precious reads. I had a picture book of this when I was 4 or 5. The illustration of old Berlingot was very ugly and I used to get scared of her. I have forgotten about this book for more than 2 decades. And I read Ballet Shoes and this was mentioned and I felt like crying because I just remembered and I miss my childhood where my family is complete and everything is happy. We were poor but happy.

[Isabel (kittiwake)]

I downloaded this book for the Reading Envy Summer Reading Challenge’s ‘something blue’ category. It caught my attention among the books with blue titles because I remembered Pauline and Petrova acting in the play of The Blue Bird in Ballet Shoes.

A very preachy Edwardian era children’s book. Too preachy for me to want to continue reading it.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

the book I have is copyright, 1913. Reading it for fun! I love it so far. Fairy fantasy -not just for children. There are several movie versions of this story but they all seem to deviate from the nature of the story. I nominate Johnny Depp to produce this!
recommend!

[Kym · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful story about two children's search for the blue bird of happiness.

[Sparkledaisy]

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27991/...

E book of the Children's Blue Bird

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another of my antique children's books. It's a fun fantasy story from the early 1900's.

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Tyltyl and Mytyl who go on a marvellous adventure in search of the blue bird. Apparently this children’s book was adapted from a play, and this certainly shows in the writing. It’s a very visual and theatrical story, with a large cast of characters. I enjoyed it, but not enough to give it more than four stars.