Giveaway : June 2025 Free Printable Calendar

A colorful monthly calendar: June 2025,

Hello and happy start of the month !

I was almost forgetting to post my printable monthly calendar, but here we are, June 2025 is ready to be downloaded for free.

You can use it as a desktop wallpaper on your pc or you can print it and and keep it wherever you like.
You can also reduce its size with any free app and print it in the shape of a postcard, to keep it in the book you are reading or in your bag.

Simply click on the preview image to download and save it on your device.

@TizianaFragnerGraphic
June 2025 Calendar
Size 1634 x 1264

Wishing you all a sunny and cheerful June and of course many great reads !!
Warm hugs and greetings from Italy --xxx--

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Giveaway : May 2025 Free Printable Calendar

May 2025 free printable calendar

Hello dear friends !

It's been a while since I last posted a monthly calendar. I admit I've been feeling particularly lazy to use Photoshop and create graphics.

I had a difficult time this winter, as I lost my job last January.
I couldn't even focus on my reading, let alone find any creative inspiration.

Things aren't much better currently, but Spring usually brings more opportunities and the color and perfume of flowers are certainly magical for improving one's mood.
So, here it is: the May 2025 monthly calendar, which you can download for FREE and then print (or use as a desktop wallpaper).

To download, simply click on the preview image and save it on your device.

@TizianaFragnerGraphic
May 2025 Calendar
Size 1634 x 1264

I was inspired by all the blooming trees in my garden and scattered along the road and in the fields I see when walking with my dog.

I hope you like it! Enjoy :-)

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Giveaway : Carnival Mask Bookmarks

A freebie for you : colorful Bookmarks suitable to all those fascinated by masks

Those of you who still use paper books can print them out and use them as bookmarks. .

CLICK ON THE PREVIEW IMAGE and then DOWLOAD FOR FREE

@TizianaFragnerGraphic
Carnival Masks Bookmark #1
Size 300 x 700

@TizianaFragnerGraphic
Carnival Masks Bookmark #2
Size 300 x 700

I hope you will like it. :-)

Hello friends,
Happy Mardi Gras ! :-D

I've always felt captured by the colors, the sparkle and the mystery of Carnival masks.
That is why every yearin this period, being Italian, my readings are mainly set in Venice, the city of masks par excellence and where Carnival was and still is a very important and eagerly awaited event.

I can't explain why I prefer historical fiction rather then contemporary ones. So I love the settings in Venice of bygone eras, especially the 18th century, with ladies in evening gowns with full skirts, tight bodices and fabulous wigs, lace, ribbons and jewels. men with tricorn hats and large dark cloaks hiding behind masks...
So much liveliness against the backdrop of a mysterious Venice made of water, fog, bridges and gondolas.

I love spy and secrecy games and the Venice of ancient times, in its splendor and its corruption, is the perfect background for this kind of stories.


Would you like some good suggestion
about historical mysteries set in 18th century Venice ?

Here you are :

Scherzo:
Murder and Mystery in 18th Century Venice
by Jim Williams
GENRE: #Historical-mystery
My rating: ★★★★☆


__IN A NUTSHELL __ Ludovico the German, a young eunuch who works as a singer in the theater of the splendid and corrupt Venice, finds a corpse hanged from a bridge.
The man who is with him, a well-known French philosopher named Voltaire, insists to begin a dangerous investigation. A friend of Ludovico, Giacomo Casanova will help to find the truth while the mysterious Count of Cagliostro...well you have to read it by yourself !

... Or first you can read MY REVIEW HERE.

Ascension:
The Alvise Marangon Mysteries book #1
by Gregory Dowling
GENRE: #Historical-mystery
My rating: ★★★★★


__IN A NUTSHELL __ Venice under the Dogeship of Pietro Grimani ( 1741-1752 ). Alvise Marangon is a young cicerone, i.e. a tourist guide that worksin tandem with his friend gondolier Bepi. When one day a couple of customers are stalked by shady characters, Alvise tries to help and finds himself involved in a murder. Arrested by the Doge's men, he has only two choices: rot in prison or act as an ape for the Doge to foil a political plot.
Luckily some good friend as the gondolier Bepi, the librarian Fabrizio and his beautiful daughter Lucia will be a great help in a complicated and really engaging investigation.

I really loved the main character and you can read MY REVIEW HERE

The Four Horsemen:
A Venetian mystery with surprises at every turn
The Alvise Marangon Mysteries book #2
by Gregory Dowling
GENRE: #Historical-mystery
My rating: ★★★★★


__IN A NUTSHELL __ Venice, 1749. Alvise Marangon,a young man raised in England, but born in Venice officially works as a cicerone (tourist guide) for English nobles on tour, but secretly he is also a confidential agent who operates in espionage to protect Venice from intrigues and dark plots. This time too he will find himself involved in the political plots of some rebels and in the greedy greed of Venetian nobles of ill repute.

This one is even better and more compelling than book #1, I loved it very very much ( but please, don't skip the first book, you'll have a better enjoyment of the characters and their stories and a better vision of the whole setting and story ).
----> MY REVIEW HERE


Something for those who love romantic fiction

The Venetian Mask
by Rosalind Laker
GENRE: #Historical-suspence-romance

__ NOT YET READ _ IN MY WISHLIST__


__IN A NUTSHELL __ Enduring friendships and long-held vendettas come alive against the splendor and decadence of eighteenth-century Venice.
Venice, 1775. Elena and Marietta are two great friends who marry men from two feuding families.
As the French Revolution unsettles all of Europe, Elena’s husband frames Domenico and he becomes a political prisoner. Marietta and Elena plot to save him even if they have to put their life at risk. The two women will discover that the tradition of mask-wearing is not only allowing adultery and debauchery, but can have noble purposes too.


Thanks for stopping by and have a nice day !


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Giveaway : March 2024 Free Printable Calendar

March 2024 free printable calendar

Hello everybody,
the month of spring is about to arrive!

Like every month, I have prepared a colorful and lively planner, which you can freely download and print.

I use to do it for myself, printing it in original size to keep on my desk, but sometimes I like to print it in a postacard format ( you have only to reduce the size with a free app ) and then I use it as a bookmark or I put it in my bag, just to have a mini-calendar to consult on the fly.

To download, simply click on the preview image and save it on your device.

@TizianaFragnerGraphic
March 2024 Calendar
Size 1634 x 1264

Please forgive any errors in my text, since English is not my native tongue :-)

Enjoy my monthly planning and have a happy March ! See you soon :-)

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Giveaway : February 2024 Free Printable Calendar

February 2024 free printable calendar

Hello dear friends !

The shortest month of the year has begun, but the celebrations didn't end with Christmas.

This month we have Carnival's celebration (at least as far as Italy is concerned), that started last January 28th and lasts until Mardi Gras on February 13th.

February 14th, however, is the day of all couple in love and all lovers in general and it is precisely to them that I dedicate February planning.

You can download it for free and use it as a PC desktop wallpaper or you can print it, in its original size or postcard format and use it as you prefer.

To download, simply click on the preview image and save it on your device.

@TizianaFragnerGraphic
February 2024 Calendar
Size 1634 x 1264

As for Carnival, I hope to find time to make a couple of bookmarks to download and print. I will post in the next few days.

Please forgive any errors in my text, since English is not my native tongue :-)

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Giveaway : January 2024 Free Printable Calendar

January 2024 free printable calendar

Good morning, the first day of the new year !
Here I am to post a giveaway for the new year, a useful monthly desktop calendar.

You can download it for free and use it as a wallpaper on your PC screen or you can print it ( with his original size or in a smaller size, for example in postcard format ) just to always have the days of the month in view.

To download, simply click on the preview image and save it on your device.

@TizianaFragnerGraphic
January 2024 Calendar
Size 1634 x 1264

I hope my graphics will give you a bit of joy coloring your days between one commitment and another of the normal everyday life.
Greeting you warmly and wishing you a good start to the new year!
Love, Tizi

NOTE : Any errors in my text? Well, I certainly need to improve my English.
You know, I'm from Italy, so English is not my native language. :-) Thanks for reading anyway!

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Advent Calendar 25th December

Advent Calendar 25th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 It's Christmas !

Good morning and MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY !

And to remember the true spirit of Christmas, which story should I choose if not the one that has become the Christmas story par excellence almost all over the world?
Here you are: A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens, first published in London in 1843 ( by Editor Chapman and Hall and illustrated by John Leech).

__THE STORY __ A Christmas Carol tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a very rich and very miserly old man, who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas past, present and future. After their visits, Scrooge realizes how stupid and mean he has been, and deciding that he no longer wants to waste his time in such a manner, he transforms into a kinder, gentler man.

Dickens wrote his best Christmas tale at a time when the British were exploring and re-evaluating Christmas, celebrating it with cristian carols, decorating Christmas fir trees, sending Christmas cards and so on.
He was influenced by the experiences of his youth and the Christmas stories of other authors.

The attitude towards the poor and a person's ability to redeem themselves, opening up to the world and others, becoming more empathetic, are the keys to the story, this is also expressed very well by the quote that I chose to put in my graphics..

Published on December 19, the first edition sold out on Christmas Eve; by the end of 1844 thirteen editions had been published.

Since cinema was born, there have been countless transpositions on the screen both with actors and as cartoon animations :-)

... Again : HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY !!!! --KISS--

(Thanks fo reading and please forgive any errors in my text since English is not my native tongue. :-) )

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Advent Calendar 24th December

Advent Calendar 24th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 24th day Christmas countdown

Happy Cristmas Eve everybody !!

We have reached the next-to-last image of the Advent calendar and for today, Christmas Eve, I wanted to choose an iconic film, which I use to watch regularly each year without ever getting tired of it and continuing to move me like the first time I saw it as a child : IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE ( 1946 by Frank Capra ) starring James Stewart and Donna Reed.

The movie is based on the short story and booklet THE GREATEST GIFT self-published by Philip Van Doren Stern in 1943.

THE STORY : George Bailey, an honest and unfortunate young family man, wants to take his own life.
His guardian angel appears to him in the guise of a friendly old man and shows him what the world would have been like if he had never been born, giving George reason to understand how, through his very existence in the world, he is contributing to making it a better place.

SOME CURIOSITIES : Due to the film's disappointing sales, some studios viewed Capra as having lost the ability to produce popular and financially successful films.

It became a Christmas classic after its copyright expired in 1974 due to non-renewal and it entered the public domain, which allowed it to be broadcast without licensing or royalties.

Today It's a Wonderful Life is considered one of the greatest films of all time and among the best Christmas films.

THE BIIGEST SNOWSTORM EVER DEPICTED ON FILM : Some newspaper articles reported that two weeks into filming, three hundred tons of limestone and fifty tons of white plaster had already been used to reproduce snowstorm.
The special effects curator was Russell Shearman, who used an innovative type of chemical snow to allow the actors to speak during filming ( previously, snow was produced using crushed cornflakes, which did not allow the actors to speak, therefore requiring a subsequent dubbing phase).

Using modern (for the time) technology, Shearman mixed foamite, a material used in the composition of some fire extinguisher powders, with water and sugar, creating a solution which would then be pumped at high pressure through the machine used to reproduce the wind ; a quantity of over 22,000 liters was used to cover the entire set.

The result was a snowfall effect that was much more realistic than anything seen in any film in the past.

I hope you enjoyed today's image too and at this point all I have to do is send everyone a hug and wish you a happy Christmas Eve together with all the people and animals you love.

(Note : English is not my native tongue, please forgive any errors in my text )



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Advent Calendar 23rd December

Advent Calendar 23rd December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 23rd day Christmas countdown

Wow ! The weekend befor Christmas ! I can't believe that these 23 day are gone so fast...

Well, as yesterday night I attended (as I do every year, but unfortunately only rarely live and too often only in front of the TV) the Nutcracker ballet ( 1892 by Marius Petipa e Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky), inspired by the very famous classic Christmas story : THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING (1816 by E.T. Hoffmann ), I thought to include in my graphic a nice retellis of that well known old tale, a 2018 Disney animation : THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS .

Unlike Hoffman's fairy tale and Tchaikovsky's ballet, this Disney film, contrary to what often happens, was not very successful. Personally I didn't mind: the sets were enchanting and the actors, including big names like Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman, were all very good.

_THE DISNEY ANIMATION STORY: Godfather Drosselmeyer is Mr. Stahlbaum's oldest and most trusted friend.
So, like every Christmas Eve, the rich businessman and his daughter Clara gather with the other guests in the large living room of the Drosselmeyer house, to participate in the magnificent party that the toymaker organizes every year. During the usual celebrations, however, an unusual event occurs: by playfully following a golden thread that runs through the corridors of the immense mansion, young Clara is led into a magical and unknown world, divided into four enchanted realms.

Escorted by the valiant soldier Philip and a band of lively mice, the little girl crosses the white landscapes of the Land of Snowflakes, the colorful lands of the Land of Flowers and finally the "edible" villages of the Land of Sweets. She meets new friends and precious allies, including the sappy Sugar Plum Fairy, and learns of a mission only she can accomplish: infiltrate the hostile fourth realm, home of the evil Mother Ginger, and recover a ancient key capable of unlocking a mysterious box.

I think it's not easy to accept revisitations of what we've known well all our life and I think this is the reason why it hasn't grossed as much as expected.

Usually I don't even like retellings of classics, but lately I feel like I'm craving something new and this year I've read several retellings of classics.

The quote may seem like a simple phrase, which any of us could say to a friend at any time...yet often we are accustomed to saying optimistic things without actually following the advice of what we are saying.

It means that we often focus too much on negative things, failing to fully enjoy the positivity and beauty that is around us at the moment.
Hoping this quote can be a point of reflection both for you and me.

(As always : sorry for any errors in my text, English is only a second tongue not my native one )



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Advent Calendar 22nd December

Advent Calendar 22nd December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 22nd day Christmas countdown

Happy Friday everybody !
Are you ready for Christmas? Only a few days left to buy the last gifts and find the right fir tree for those who make decorations on Christmas Eve.

In Italy we use to decorate fake trees and always at the beginning of December (and in my house it usually stays until the end of January...but it should be undone on January 7th, the day following the Epiphany).

I'm talking about the Christmas tree, to introduce today's image: I chose the beautiful Christmas episode of the VICTORIA TV series, because it tells how Prince Albert introduced to England and spread it throughout much of the world the Germanic tradition of the decorated fir tree for Christmas.

The series, whose photos I have included in my graphics, is the beautiful period drama ( 2016-2019 ) named VICTORIA starring Jenna Coleman, Tom Hughes, Rufus Sewell and other very good actors.

Here is a 1848 lithograph which spread the image of the English royal family around the Christmas tree and which contributed to making that tradition loved in much of the world.

I really like the quote I chose, because we often have the flaw of looking back regretting what we have lost, instead of looking at and appreciating what we have in the present (or maybe it's just my flaw) and this quote is an invitation to give more relevant to the present and to live it better even in difficulty times.

Hoping you enjoyed today's image, you can save it and print it to use as a bookmark in your paper Christmas readings.

(NOTE : please forgive my English, it is not my native tongue. Thanks )

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Advent Calendar 21st December

Advent Calendar 21st December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 21st day Christmas countdown

Hello everybody dear friends,
we are almost at the end of Christmas day countdown ...aw...how sad...don't you think? I realize that waiting is sometimes more exciting than the moment we experience the expected events, because they pass too quickly.

But let's not get sad, it's not Christmas yet and today I want to offer you all a classic, which I'm sure many of you have never read, but I consider it a good reading proposal: THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1894) by Anthony Hope, a romantic tale which was then followed by short stories entitled: The Heart of Princess Osra, 1896 (a fix-up novel containing 9 linked short stories) and another romance entitled: Rupert of Hentzau (1898, The prisoner of Zenda's sequel)

___ THE STORY : In the fictional kingdom of Ruritania, the heir to the throne is kidnapped.
Two high officials, loyal to the sovereign, contact a distant English cousin of the prince, to impersonate His Highness until they manage to free him and install him on the throne.
Everything seems to go smoothly until the fake prince falls in love with the future wife of the real heir to the throne and when he is freed and returns...

A beautiful tale of swashbuckling, perhaps a little out of fashion some of you might think, but this is precisely its charm and this is why it cannot be missed at Christmas.

Hope's novel inspired many screen adaptations, but the most famous is the one from 1952 starring a charming Stewart Granger and lovely Deborah Kerr and it's also the version I've got fond of, since is the one I've seen many times since I was a little girl.

(NOTE : I know my English is not so good, my native language is Italian, so please be lenient with me)

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Advent Calendar 20th December

Advent Calendar 20th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 20th day Christmas countdown

Happy Wednesday everybody,
here we are just a few days before Christmas day.

Today I want to propose a fairy tale known throughout the world (at least the Western one), it is a fairy tale written in the 17th century: CINDERELLA by Charles Perrault and made even more famous by Disney in 1950 with his cartoon animation. Nowadays you can find dozens of movie versions.

There are many versions of this ancient fairy tale, but the best known and still published in books are those by Perrault and the Brothers Grimm.

What is really important to remember, however, is the moral teaching that this fable wants to convey to the little ones: kindness is one of the most important attitudes in life.
This is exactly what the quote I reported in the image tells us.

After the Disney cartoon, many movies have been made, the photo that I have included in my graphics is from the 2015 film by Kenneth Branagh, starring Lily James and Richard Madden.

(As always : sorry for any errors in my text, English is only a second tongue not my native one )



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Advent Calendar 19th December

Advent Calendar 19th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 19th day Christmas countdown

Hello everybody !
The film that I propose in today's image is one of the musicals that I will never get tired of watching! It's THE SOUND OF MUSIC 1965 starring a brilliant Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

This timeless musical was inspired by the true story of the VonTrapp family written in the 1949 memoir.

THE STORY in the movie: The Mother Superior of the Salzburg monastery tests the vocation of a postulant, the beautiful young Maria, by making her work as a housekeeper in the home of the Von Trapp family, whose children live under a severe disciplinary regime imparted by their father, a widowed admiral . It goes without saying that Maria will revolutionize the lives of the whole family, bringing them on stage as young singers.

Two years ago I read 2 wonderful memoirs, respectively written by Maria, the main character of the movie and one of the commander's daughters : Agate Von Trapp.
Even though they are non-fiction, I assure you that they are so engaging and fun that you will feel like you are reading an adventure novel.

The titles are as follows:

1) THE STORY OF THE TRAPP FAMILY SINGERS
(1949 memoir by Maria Augusta Trapp)

2) MEMORIES BEFORE AND AFTER THE SOUND OF MUSIC
(by Agathe Von Trapp)

If you want to know more,
you can read my review : JUS CLICK HERE

---> The story that is described in the movie is only the initial part of Maria's memoir and it must be said that there are some differences regarding the behavior of the father of the family, who actually was not so severe, however if you read the two books that you I mentioned and I recommend you, you will not find yourself confused or in disagreement, you will not have disappointments, the books are exciting and I add that the daughter's book is not a repetition of Maria's, but a completion of all the parts in which Maria was not present and both are worth reading.

Personally, these two books entered my heart and gave me not only a breath of optimism and hope, but a new way of looking at life when I am through difficulty.


( Please forgive me for any errors in my text, I'm from Italy, English is not my native tongue )

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Advent Calendar 18th December

Advent Calendar 18th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 18th day Christmas countdown

Good morning and happy start of the week!

Well well...17 days have already passed and Christmas is just a few days away... I can't believe it, this month has been as fast as the blink of an eye.

Today in my Advent calendar, I propose a novel, a film and a quote that only a Scrooge person could not appreciate (but then in the end he too changed his mind!) What? ...No, it's not A Christmas Carol, but you almost guessed it, indeed I'm talking about: THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS ( 2008) by Les Standiford.

A beautiful film was made from this book in 2017, starring the famous Christopher Plummer (do you remember the musical "The sound of music"?) and Dan Stevens ("Downton Abbey" fans?).

__THE STORY : In 1843, four years after the success of Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens suffers from financial difficulties due to the failure of his last three books.
Rejected by his publishers, he decides to write a new book and publish it himself, to restore his finances.
Seeing inspiration around London, particularly a rich man's funeral which is largely unattended and a mean old man who gives him the catchphrase "Humbug" and the inspiration of a new character, he begins to write A Christmas Carol , which will be published by Christmas.
He risked everything, despite his friends and publishers telling him that the book would also be a failure since Christmas (at the time) was considered irrelevant and few people celebrated it.

...And he was right, because we all know how it ended: all the world knows and loves A Chritmas Carol by Dickens !!!



(NOTE : I'm from Italy, so please forgive any errors in my text since English is not my native tongue. Thanks )

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Advent Calendar 17th December

Advent Calendar 17th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 17th day Christmas countdown

Good morning my dear readers,
today is the third Advent Sunday and I couldn't put something religious in my Advent Calendar's images.

Mind: religious does not mean boring, indeed today I propose a novel, from which a film was made, very cute and funny : THE BISHOP'S WIFE (1928) by Robert Nathan.

The most famous film based on this book is the film of the same title, from 1947, starring a fantastic trio : Cary Grant ( the angel ), David Niven ( the bishop ) and Loretta Young ( the bishop's wife ).

THE STORY : Dudley is an angel sent by the Lord to Earth to help the Episcopalian bishop Henry who is going through a difficult period: too much work distances him from his wife. Henry would also like to build a cathedral, but he has no funds and risks falling for the blackmail of the richest woman in the city, ending up neglecting his friends and the old parish.
Everyone is fascinated by Dudley, even the non-religious professor Wutheridge. Everyone except Henry!!! ... And when Dudley spends a lot of time with Julia, the bishop becomes jealous and anxious that his now unwelcome guest will finish and leave.
For his part, the angel feels attracted to Julia and this is where the major complications arise...

This is one of my favorite movies to watch around Christmas time.
I don't know why, but old films have the power to give me that magic of feelings that I can no longer feel around me in the frenetic modern world.

If you like my Advent Calendar's images you can download them all and print and glue onto cardboard, to use as a bookmark or simply build your own Advent calendar with them for next year.

(NOTE : English is not my native tongue, please forgive any errors you may find in my text Thanks )



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Advent Calendar 16th December

Advent Calendar 16th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 16th day Christmas countdown

Hello dear friends, today's story doesn't need any introductions: MARY POPPINS (1934 ) by P. L. Travers from which Disney was inspired for the homonymous and unforgettable magnificent film (1964), starring the equally magnificent Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dicke.

A story for children and adults, capable of warming every heart and cheering up every soul.
I never fail to watch the film on TV in the days around Christmas (but it is beautiful at any time of the year).

Have you read the book? Well... the book and the film have various differences and unlike what usually happens, I must admit that in this case I preferred the film, it is much happier than the book and Mary Poppins is much nicer than the novel.

CURIOSITY: In 1934, P. L. Travers, pseudonym of the Australian Helen Lyndon Goff, published the novel Mary Poppins, which tells the story of the magical flying nanny who comes down from the sky to help the Banks family.
The sequel was published in 1935, followed by six more novels, published until 1988. The first novel, however, is the main basis from which the film was based.

According to the story told in "Saving Mr. Banks" movie (2013 starring Tom Hanks ) and the special features of the 2004 special edition DVD, Walt Disney's daughter Diane fell in love with the books in the series and made her father promise to produce a film based on her beloved books .

A first attempt by Disney to buy the rights from Travers was made in 1938, but this proposal was rejected by the writer, convinced that a film version of her books would not do justice to her creation.

Disney tried for more than twenty years to convince Travers to produce a Mary Poppins film, only succeeding in 1961, although the writer asked for the right to approve the film's screenplay.
The Sherman brothers composed the soundtrack and helped write the script, suggesting moving the events from the 1930s to the Edwardian era. Pre-production and songwriting took two years!!! The music, songs and scenography are absolutely timeless and manage to fascinate today's audiences as much as those of more than 5 years ago.

A sequel to the film was made a few years ago (Mary Poppins Returns 2018) and I have to admit that it's not bad, but it's a long way from being as iconic as the fantastic film that Disney brought to the screen in the 1960s.

(As always : sorry for any errors in my text, English is only a second tongue not my native one )



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Advent Calendar 15th December

Advent Calendar 15th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 15th day Christmas countdown

Goodmorning everybody :-)
Here I am with a Christmas classic, which everyone probably knows : MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947) by Valentine Davies

Since 2005 this film has been included in the National Film Registry of the United States as it is considered "culturally and historically significant".

Maureen O'Hara and Natalie Wood are just two of the many good and important actors who star in this 1947 film which over the years has become a true Christmas classic in many parts of the world.

__THE STORY : The story of Kris, a man hired by the Macy's department store in New York to play Santa Claus, who pretends to really be one. For this, he is taken to court.

A lawyer and a little girl must prove that the man claiming to be Santa Claus is honest and is truly Santa Claus.

The entire moral of the film ( so as the quote I put in the image ) is based on the concept of faith: that is, believing in things that rationality declares impossible.



( Please forgive my not so good English as I'm from Italy :-))

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Advent Calendar 14th December

Advent Calendar 14th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 14th day Christmas countdown

Hello dear friends, Only 10 days left until Christmas Eve.

The film I chose for today is an old musical with the excellent Bing Crosby and Danny Kay : WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954 )

The film is not based on any book, but it has a peculiarity: it was shot in Technicolor, a novelty for those times. The songs are by the famous Irving Berlin, much appreciated and well known American composer and lyricist.

More what has now become a traditional Christmas song, White Christmas, which also gives the film its title, was presented in a new version (compared to the first version sung by Crosby in the 1942 film Holiday Inn_ see image from December 8th).

___THE STORY : Singers Bob Wallace and Phil Davis join sisters Betty and Judy Haynes to put on a Christmas show in Vermont. Once they reach the event location, they meet General Waverly, the commander with whom the two young people fought during the Second World War, and discover that the man is facing serious financial problems.

So the four singers immediately get busy organizing a memorable show to help the former commander.
A truly cheerful film, also thanks to beautiful music, which speaks of help and generosity, in full respect of the Christmas spirit and as it should be for each of us all year round.




( Please forgive me for any errors in my text, I'm from Italy, English is not my native tongue )

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Advent Calendar 13th December

Advent Calendar 13th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 13th day Christmas countdown

Hello everybody !

Today's image shows a Christmas film from 10 years ago, based on the book of the same title: THE CHRISTMAS CANDLE (2013) by Max Lucado

The book's author is both a writer and a minister at Oak Hills Church (formerly Oak Hills Church of Christ) in Texas.

___ THE STORY goes that every 25 years, an angel visits a village and touches a candle. Whoever will light that candle will receive a miracle.
However, when a new and skeptical shepherd arrives on site, the inhabitants discover a new formula for miracles: good deeds and kindness.

The quote says that no prayer is ever wasted, this sums up the moral of the film, which is none other than the definition of faith.

As the apostle Paul said: faith "is the certainty of things hoped for, the demonstration of things not seen", it therefore becomes a principle of action and the power to give us serenity. If you like my Advent Calendar's images you can download them all and print and glue onto cardboard, to use as a bookmark or simply build your own Advent calendar with them for next year. (NOTE : English is not my native tongue, please forgive any errors you may find in my text Thanks )

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Advent Calendar 12th December

Advent Calendar 12th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 12th day Christmas countdown

Hello my friend, the countdown to Christmas Day is almost halfway there !

For the 12th image in my graphic Advent Calendar, I put a quote a few pictures of an episode from a cozy mystery series : Miss Fisher tv series, based on MISS FISHER cozy mysteries by Kerry Greenwood.

Both the book series and the TV series are set in 1920s Melbourne, Australia.

__THE GENERAL PLOT OF THE SERIES___The protagonist, the Honorable Miss Phryne Fisher, is a very extravagant and uninhibited London socialite, who has lived in Melbourne since she inherited a huge fortune. Miss Fisher loves to dress in the latest fashion and spares no expense, but she is also generous with others, in fact she knows the poverty of humble origins and never holds back when there is the possibility of helping someone.

Over the course of the series his family expands: the maid Dot, the butler Mr. Butler and the cook Mrs. Butler, the taxi drivers Bert and Cec, the sweet Dot, Ruthie and Jane. Naturally, being a very curious and very enterprising woman, she often finds herself involved in troubles such as murders that are difficult to solve and she never misses an opportunity to interfere (and then solve) in the investigations of Inspector Jack Robinson and Agent Hugh Collins.

The Christmas episode of the TV series is not actually based on any of the books, it is one of the few episodes written by TV screenwriters.

A very suggestive episode as it takes place in an old castle and the murders which occur in a mysterious manner are inspired by the ancient song: the 12 days of Christmas.

(NOTE : please forgive my English, it is not my native tongue. Thanks )

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