Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
In the Regency romance novel Arabella by Georgette Heyer (published 1949), our titular heroine, the young daughter of a humble reverend, gets a chance to bloom in city society, especially after a rumor spread that she is a wealthy heiress. Robert Beaumaris, a wealthy dandy that sets the city standard of chic, is amused when
I don’t remember having read These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder before (first published 1943). I believe that when I read through the series, my oldest daughter got “bored” because Laura was no longer a girl. This month my nine-year-old and I did enjoy it. While it isn’t a favorite of mine and
Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (published in 1941) continues the story of the pioneering Ingalls family, now with Laura 14 and a half years old. The book continues immediately after the closing of The Long Winter, and it is now spring 1881. But life will never quite be the same for
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder (published 1940) is a great tale of endurance and survival for the Ingalls family, pioneers in the brand new city of De Smet in the Dakota territory. During this historic winter, frequent blizzards lasting 3 or 4 days crippled towns and halted railway traffic, which means that De
Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace (HarperCollins, 1940) is a sweet chapter book about five-year-old friends who are across-the-street neighbors. The girls are so inseparable that they are called by a single name: Betsy-Tacy. Betsy is a creative girl who tells stories and Tacy is a shy and quiet girl who nurtures Betsy’s imagination. In many
Ancient Greek and Roman mythology has always fascinated me. First I fell in love with D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths. But then, even as a young teenager, I remember reading Mythology by Edith Hamilton, one of the first “pop culture” books that brought Greek mythology into the main stream for the general reader. It’s easy to
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey (originally published in 1943) is a classic about a clever small-town boy. Over the course of the six stories in the volume, the reader discovers a bit of hilarity about a small town living in the middle of the century America. I loved the fact that although it was somewhat realistic,
A Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (originally written 1949) is a true classic about a young boy meant to be a knight but recently disabled in an unfortunately illness. It was a Newbery winner from the earlier years of the award. The medieval setting was perfectly created, and I loved the inherent
My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannet (published 1948) won the Newbery Honor upon publication. It is an adventure story about a child and geared for a child. In this story, a child named Elmer Elevator (called “my father” throughout the book) befriends an alley cat, who tells him of a captured dragon forced to
I could not put down the 140-page novella The Stranger by Albert Camus after I picked it up, despite the fact that it is odd and rather disturbing. Camus’ Nobel Prize-winning writing style was absolutely beautiful: it reminded me of both John Steinbeck’s in The East of Eden (which I thought was a perfect combination
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
There was no doubt that John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (reviewed here) was written to teach both children and adults lessons about Christianity and life; there was little attempt to veil the message behind the story. While the message in modern children’s literature may not be so thinly veiled, to me it seems obvious that authors
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