Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Gadzooks! The 1922 Newbery award “runner up” (later renamed Newbery Honor) Cedric the Forester by Bernard Marshall (originally published by Appleton, 1921) is a perilous romp, wherein knights clash with the churls of Medieval England, united in a quest against invaders from Scotland and Wales. Furthermore, the saga tells the story of a Cedric, a
The middle grade novel A Season Most Unfair by J. Anderson Coats (Atheneum, Jun 2023) shares the common issue of a preteen girl not ready to “grow up” in the unique setting of a small town in Medieval England. Scholastica (Tick) wants to continue being her father’s candle-making partner, but to her horror, he has
My daughter studied Medieval and early modern history recently, and then last year my kindergartner and I studied places around the world. I so enjoy finding amazing picture books about the things we’re learning about, so I really enjoyed finding the historical fiction picture book Therese Makes a Tapestry by Alexandra S.D. Hinrichs, illustrated by
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
I really enjoyed reading Shakespeare’s Henry VI part 1 in January, mostly because it include Joan of Arc and mentioned Margaret of Anjou, who married Henry VI. Joan of Arc has fascinated me since I dressed up as Joan for my sixth grade Medieval feast, and Margaret of Anjou is an ancestor of mine. Shakespeare’s
Fleas, Flies, and Friars: Children’s Poetry from the Middle Ages by Nicholas Orme (to be published March 2012, Cornell University Press) is something completely different from my normal reading, but I enjoyed it very much. It is part anthology of poetry that children learned and recited from 1200-1500 CE (translated from Middle English or Latin)
As the title and the cartoonish digitally rendered illustrations may suggest, I Feel Better with a Frog in My Throat: History’s Strangest Cures by Carlyn Beccia (Houghton Mifflin, 2010) is a rather silly book. By providing quizzes along the lines of “which remedy will help you feel better?” Ms. Beccia manages to surprise the reader
I feel like this week is a week for books I’ve read that I recognize I need to reread: first Blake, and now Dante. But isn’t that point of reading the classic masterpieces by magnificent writers like Blake and Dante, that you know you miss something magnificent and will enjoy it all the more on
I enjoyed The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman, a Newbery-winning novel. Cushman believably created a 1300s scene, and I liked learning about midwifery and superstition in the middle ages. While modern girls won’t face trials as extreme as the girl’s in the novel, they still must develop self-confidence and determine what their own dreams are.
Sometimes I read nonfiction to get a general idea about something I don’t know anything about or a person who intrigues me. Other times I read nonfiction to learn something specific in depth; such books may be hard to read cover to cover, but they still merit a careful reading. The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstin
When I heard the concept of Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schlitz (monologues given by medieval children), I thought it would be horribly boring. Monologues? I thought. What is fun about monologues? I thought children would be bored by these “Voices from a Medieval Village.” To my delight, I found Good Masters! Sweet
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