CDs

I mentioned my favourite CD in the previous blog (it's a CD for babies by Ragga Gisla). Well, I've got several CDs, from Mozart for babies to lullabies from all around the world (the one of the pigmies is a bit scary!) and we listen to these CDs quite alot. I even know how to ask my mum to play them for me, I just have to fix the CD-player with my eyes and mumble something and she chooses a CD to listen to. Among my CDs there are some plays for children written by Torbjorn Egner. My mum says that she listened to them alot when she was a child, and I can tell, for she knows all the songs and much of the rest by heart. But I've started wondering if she has actually ever LISTENED to these plays. She says these plays are so good for children, but I have started to have some doubts. Let's take Kardemommubaerinn (FOLK OG RØVERE I KARDEMOMME BY) as an example and let's sum up a bit the character of Aunt Sophie (on the picture), which is the major female character in the play. She is unmarried, but is the custoder of her niece Kamilla. I'll fill you in on some of the things she does in the play.

1. Kamilla does not get to go to the annual festival in town, for although it's a festival for children and family, Sophie thinks it's unappropiate that Kamilla goes there and she doesn't go herself, for she can't leave little Kamilla alone at home.
2. When the oldest man of town invites her to the festival, she goes, although reluctantly and takes Kamilla with her. At the festival, all Kamilla gets to do is sit and make sure that no one takes her seat. The major of town Bastian convinces Sophie to sing a song for everyone, and she sings a song about how much better she is to everyone and how terrible the young people and the whole town actually are since they are not like her.
   
3. When the 3 thieves of town rob Aunt Sophie one night (they wanted a female to do the housework for them) but then want to send her back home for she is really a slave driver and orders them to do things by themselves, she doesn't want to go home. Not even when the local police comes to free her does she want to go home. But she thinks nothing of poor Kamilla that is at home by herselfall alone -now it's ok for her to be alone!
4. When one of the three thieves, Kasper, just out of jail is made the director of the new fire brigade of Kardemomme-town and then asks Aunt Sophie to marry him (they'd only met the one day when the thieves robbed her) she doesn't even wait for him to finish to pop up the question when she is all eager to say I do!
   

Now you tell me, is this something for young children? You just wait until I take one of these characters as a role model!!! And don't get me talking about Lille the climbing-mouse, for if there is an annoying little creature in any of Torbjorn Egner's plays, then he is one...!