I read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice as a teenager – and I loved it. Since then, I watched the A&E movie multiple times, and then last year I watched the newer movie, which was OK. I felt it was certainly time to revisit the novel itself. I was not disappointed. I loved it even
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the boars lead the other farm animals in a revolution against Mr. Jones’, in hope of a better life. Together, the animals take over Manor Farm, making it their own farm. Running a farm is a lot of work, but the farm animals are convinced the work is worth it
I know next to nothing about Philosophy, so when it came time to approach the “100s” century (Philosophy and Psychology) for the Dewey Decimal Challenge, I decided to read something from the half more challenging for me (Philosophy). This is about learning, after all, right? But between packing and moving, I felt the need to
This year’s winner of the Caldecott Medal is The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson, illustrated by Beth Krommes. When I asked the librarian to help me locate it (it was misshelved), she told me she didn’t like it; its illustrations were too dark. I wasn’t sure, then, what I’d think of The
A few weeks ago, I overheard an eight-year-old girl say to an adult in all seriousness, “I’m so hungry, I’m going to die!” I couldn’t help thinking to myself that she had no idea what true hunger was; nor do I. In Hunger: An Unnatural History, Sharman Apt Russell details what it means, physiologically, to
Whew! We’re moved! Friday the 13th turned out to be very lucky day for us — no problems at all before, during, or after the move. In the past two weeks, there were three or four days when I did not read more than ten pages. I’ve been reading so much in the past few
Hey all, thanks for your well-wishes! All is going well with our packing and moving. Thanks to audiobooks, I still get some literature in my life these days. This is just a reminder that there are still 18 days left to get your really old classics reviews posted here in order to be entered in
In Edwin A. Abbott’s novella Flatland, A Square explains to the three-dimensional world how he lives in Flatland, his world of two dimensions. When a sphere visits his world, his familiar, customary world is upset. Although I had read Flatland a decade ago, I recalled none of the details and greatly enjoyed reading it again.
David Wiesner has been awarded the Caldecott Medal three times and the Caldecott Honor twice. While his award-winning picture books are a bit out of my comfort level (for they have very words), Wiesner is able to carry stories with only illustration. In November, The Well-Read Child did a highlight of books like this: How
In a similar manner to What the World Eats (reviewed here), Material World by Peter Menzel attempts to illustrate the material wealth (or material poverty) of various families around the globe by photographing a family’s household belongings and illustrating the family’s daily life in photographs. Using full-color photography, each country is highlighted first with a
In flowing, beautiful language, The Silmarillion tells the origin and early tales of J.R.R. Tolkein’s middle-earth. Written as “Elven” songs, The Silmarillion is dense at times. Yet as the tale of the creation of Arda and the children of Ilúvatar (both Elves and men) unfolded, I was in awe of not just Tolkein’s incredible control
In the picture book Love You Forever, Robert Munsch captures every mother’s feelings of unconditional love. I can’t read it without my eyes tearing, and I love the tender expressions of love. But I wonder if children like it.
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