Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
The first line of All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson (Atheneum for Young Readers, 2011) is so classic I find myself thinking about it, long after I finish reading this early introduction to the water cycle: “All the water in the world is all the water in the
One book I love for rocking-chair reading is The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper, re-illustrated by Loren Long. My kids also love this one for rocking-chair reading. In fact, when we took the rocking chair out of my oldest son’s room to put into his baby sister’s room, he said, with serious concern,
My daughter has developed a love for reading. It’s not surprising, given the number of books by which she is surrounded. What I’m finding somewhat amusing and annoying is that right now she has a very definite preference for what books we read together: she wants the ones she has read before, and if I
I first read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813) as a young teenager. Like many girls, I loved the romance between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, the clever conversation, and the rags to riches aspects of the Bennet’s story. I’ve reread it a number of times since my first encounter, and I’ve also enjoyed the movie
The first time I experienced Wilkie Collins’s masterpiece two years ago (gushing positive thoughts here), it was via an amateur audiobook recording at Librivox and it took me more than a month. I loved the unknown suspense as I tried to anticipate what was coming, I loved the plot, I loved the well developed characters,
From the moment he awakens in the morning, Raisin’s best friends are by his side. They live in Busytown, which is sometimes directly above our house and other times underground, where it snows in April. Goldbug is his best friend (sometimes he is Raisin’s brother), with Huckle, Sally, and Hilda Hippo frequently joining the two
With detailed pencil illustrations (every other page in color) and well organized and entertaining prose, Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire capture the simplicity and the complexity of the Greek myths for young readers. Although D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths is not divided into chapters, each two-page spread is (for the most part) about a different
Given my recent emphasis on Victorian Literature, I don’t think it would surprise you to know I’ve enjoyed all the Charles Dickens novels I’ve read thus far. A Christmas Carol (discussed here) is one I have read regularly during the holidays since I was a teenager, and while I didn’t love the other Christmas novellas,
Note: This post may contain spoilers for Wives and Daughters, Agnes Grey, and Middlemarch. Although the three Victorian novels by women that I read this summer all dealt with Victorian women’s limits in society, each captured distinct roles of women in society in radically different ways. The titles reveal the depth of each novel. Agnes
Please note: This post may contain “spoilers,” particularly for Huckleberry Finn. Rereading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (written 1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (written 1876-1885) as an adult reminds me just why I love Huckleberry Finn so much more. Tom Sawyer is a book I have always had fond memories of because of
“Crime and Punishment,” says Richard Pevear in his introduction, “is a highly unusual mystery novel: the most mystified character in it is the murderer himself.” At first glance, there is no mystery. The answers to “who, what, when, and where” seem self-evident, especially since the murder occurs center stage in the first 80 pages of
My interest in rereading East of Eden by John Steinbeck was purely personal: reading it the first time was what prompted me to start a book blog in the first place. I enjoyed my reread, mostly because Steinbeck’s writing is so incredible. The themes of good versus evil in human nature still felt universal to
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