Favorite Children’s Books ~ Take 2

Read the first installment here.

Early Readers

• The Fire Cat was first published in 1960. Pickles is a cat who wants to do big things!

“One day Mrs. Goodkind said,
'Pickles, you are not a bad cat.
You are not a good cat.
You are good and bad.
And bad and good.
You are a mixed-up cat.
What you need is a good home.
Then you will be good.' ”
― Esther Averill, The Fire Cat

 

Beginning Chapter Books

• Jenny and the Cat Club, also by Esther Averill, tells about the adventures of a sweet and shy black cat with a red scarf. Classic (the first stories were written in the 1940s) and lovely—my boys enjoyed the whole series. (Pickles, the fire cat, even makes an appearance!)

 

Chapter Books

• Emily's Runaway Imagination, one of Beverly Cleary’s lesser known books, is set in Pitchfork, Oregon in 1920.
  
• I loved reading The Saturdays aloud to Levi several years ago, wishing that I had read it as a child. I know I would have loved it! Be sure to check out the rest of the books in the series!
  
• The Moffats was published in 1941. Be sure to check out the whole series and more by Eleanor Estes.

 

• The Freddy the Pig books by Walter R. Brooks are hilarious and full of witty adventure and rich vocabulary. The books make great read-alouds because the parents will enjoy them as much as the kids! The 26 books in the series were first published between 1927 and 1958.

 

Chapter Books from My Childhood

• The Cricket in Times Square—about a mouse, a cat, a boy, and a cricket in New York City—was a favorite from my childhood, and I was excited to share it with my boys! And I discovered that there were more books in the series!
  
• The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is a deliciously haunting book (not too scary, or I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as a kid) about two little girls who are left in the care of an evil governess. And there are more book in the series! (Am I the only one who gets excited about series? It’s tough to keep kids in books when you have voracious readers, and series are a blessing!)

 

• I Am David, the story of a 12 year-old boy who escapes from a prison camp in Eastern Europe, had me mesmerized! I loved it just as much when I read it as an adult. (And the movie is wonderful, as well.)
  
• I read several books by Meindert DeJong as a child, and The House of Sixty Fathers was one of my favorites. The story follows a young Chinese boy and his pig who get separated from his parents during the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s.

 

Fantasy and Adventure

(from literary artists who happen to be Christians)

• My husband read The Wingfeather Saga aloud to the boys, and they’ve been begging me constantly to check on the status of book four for months. They’ll be on pins and needles until July. This series is written by singer-songwriter Andrew Peterson, who has a gift of words and imagination!

• I'm having a little love-affair with N. D. Wilson’s books lately. I was swept away with delight while reading Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World, and the boys have read all of his children’s fiction. In particular, they enjoyed the 100 Cupboards and Ashtown Burials series.

 

Young Ladies

I had a lengthy Facebook conversation recently with a couple friends/blog readers. One asked about book recommendations for a sensitive 12-going-on-16-year-old girl who has exhausted the regular feminine book-list classics (and then some), but isn’t quite ready for more mature fare. I had to think beyond boys and fantasy books and relive a bit of my own childhood and early adulthood, but we came up with a long list to keep her busy all summer long. (P.S. I love my Facebook world.)

So, for young ladies who have exhausted All-of-a-Kind Family, Understood Betsy (adore!), The Railway Children (by E. Nesbit, one of her only non-fantasy books), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Heidi (of course), Cheaper by the Dozen (and sequel), and books by L.M. Montgomery, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Louisa May Alcott, and even Jane Austen, may I suggest:

• George MacDonald's Romance Novels. If you are not familiar with George MacDonald, I highly recommend reading a bit about him. C.S. Lewis considered George MacDonald to be a strong influence in his life. These romance novels were written in the late 1800s and more recently edited by Michael Phillips. Most of the books are set in MacDonald’s native Scotland. If you have younger children or romance novels aren’t your style, be sure to check out The Princess and the Goblin and sequel (reported to be one of Tolkien’s childhood favorites), At the Back of the North Wind (also available in a radio theatre adaptation), or The Complete Fairy Tales.
  
• The novels of Gene Stratton-Porter. She was an American author, amateur naturalist, and wildlife photographer at the turn of the century.
  
• Our Hearts Were Young and Gay. This is a side-splitting-hilarious memoir of the European travels of two young ladies in the 1920s.
  
• The novels of E. P. Roe. Roe was a preacher and avid horticulturist who also happened to be a highly successful author during the 1800s. Many of his titles are available free on Kindle!

The novels listed, most of them romance novels, are certainly idealistic and occasionally preachy. But I loved them as a sensitive young lady who did not enjoy tragic or dark stories, and I still enjoy a clean romance story!

Have you read any George MacDonald, Gene Stratton-Porter, or E.P. Roe novels?
What were your favorites?

Favorite Children’s Books ~ Take 1

Welcome to all who have clicked over from Amongst Lovely Things and the Podcast with Tsh Oxenreider! I hope you stick around for a little while and explore Mt. Hope Chronicles. If you are searching for book lists, they are scattered throughout all posts and are usually tagged with Literary Buffet, Reading Aloud, The Reading Child, or Picture Book Picnic. To make it easier for you (and to share some of my favorites all in one spot), here is a list of a few of our favorites. I’ll be adding more book posts in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Board Books

• Cozy Classics are fun for both parents and children. Twelve words (one on each page) from classics such as Tom Sawyer, Les Miserables, Oliver Twist, and Moby Dick are paired with exquisite photographs of expressive felt figures. Jane Eyre is Lola’s favorite.

Picture Books

• Barbara Cooney is my favorite picture book author and illustrator, and I think Miss Rumphius is my most favorite. Roxaboxen and Ox-Cart Man are absolutely lovely as well.

• Amos & Boris by William Steig is a celebration of both unlikely friendship and fantastic vocabulary.

Beginning Chapter Books

• Speaking of William Steig, many people do not realize that he also wrote chapter books. No child should miss reading The Real Thief, Dominic, and Abel's Island. These three books are excellent read-alouds due to the delightful and sophisticated vocabulary.

• Little Pear is an adventurous little boy living in a small village in China. Don’t miss his continuing story in Little Pear and His Friends.

• For a slightly darker, wild celebration of words, try James Thurber’s The 13 Clocks, or The Wonderful O. Be sure to check out Thurber’s picture book Many Moons, as well!

Chapter Books

• Half Magic by Edward Eager was published in 1954, and my boys adore this whole series. Don’t miss!

• Every child needs to meet Pippi. Hilarious and endearing.

• The Little Britches series by Ralph Moody is an excellent family read-aloud. Tears will be streaming—from laughter and heartache. Be sure to have the second book on hand. Father and I Were Ranchers ends on a sorrowful note and you’ll want to move on through the story.

• For older children and their parents, I highly recommend The Squire's Tale series. I can’t say when I’ve been more entertained and delighted by a book series. The books are easy to read, but surprisingly profound, and several friends who have read them loved them. Full of strong characters, both male and female, the adventures appeal to both boys (mine!) and girls (me!). These are Arthurian legends, however, and the books don’t shy away from male and female relationships (Lancelot and Guinevere or Tristan and Isolde, anyone?), but the author tells the stories in an appropriate manner and never makes wrong actions seem appealing.

 

Come back tomorrow for more book recommendations!

Happy, Progressive, and Occupied

We took ‘school’ outside on this gorgeous Monday in May, soaking up the sunshine and reading history, science, and Bible. We finished off with a liberal dose of The Wind in the Willows while the boys took to the tire swing under our very own willow tree.

It all seemed too good to be true. Hither and thither through the meadows he rambled busily, along the hedgerows, across the copses, finding everywhere birds building, flowers budding, leaves thrusting—everything happy, and progressive, and occupied. And instead of having an uneasy conscience pricking him and whispering “Whitewash!” he somehow could only feel how jolly it was to be the only idle dog among all these busy citizens. After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working.

Books (and More Books)

The book reviews here at Mt. Hope Chronicles have sadly been few and far between this year. One thing after another, excuses, exhaustion, getting to bed too late, illnesses and sleepless nights with the boys, blah, blah, blah. Here is a quick review of the books I have managed to read so far:

The Edge on the Sword by Rebecca Tingle: Interesting YA historical fiction. It is set in the time period we are studying, so it helped set the stage, so to speak. I chose not to read it with Levi, as it was a coming of age story about a 16 year old girl. Wise choice, I think.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Mortenson/Relin: Fascinating, powerful, relevant, inspiring, balanced, intelligent and informative. Thoughts to chew on for quite some time.

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher: Terrific read-aloud. Review here.

I Am David by Anne Holm: One of my favorites. I'm looking forward to sharing it with Levi in a couple years. Review here.

The Children's Homer by Padraic Colum: I found this to be a perfect retelling of Homer's epics as an adult with no background in the classics. Hopefully I'll read something closer to the originals next time we visit ancient history.

Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico: Charming, delightful, witty, light-hearted. Short and easy to read, yet well-written and full of interesting characters. I loved the movie with Angela Lansbury and was happy to discover that it stayed very true to the book.

Augustine: The Farmer's Boy of Tagaste by P. de Zeeuw: Both Levi and I very much enjoyed this story of Augustine's childhood.

Messenger by Lois Lowry: This is the third book in Lowry's YA trilogy. Interesting and provides food for thought (and discussion), but The Giver (the first book) is by far my favorite of the three.

Hard Questions, Real Answers by William Lane Craig: Excellent look at tough theological questions.

Philippa by Anne Douglas Sedgwick: A disappointment. Sigh. The Little French Girl by the same author is one of my all-time favorites, so I suppose I had high expectations. Philippa was well-written and a fascinating character study in parts, but it lacked the beautiful, ethereal quality of TLFG, as well as a happy ending.

Beowulf: The Warrior retold by Ian Serraillier: Loved. I had a blast reading this book aloud to Levi. I found myself pacing the floor with excitement. The prose rolls off the tongue and begs to be read with drama. I doubt I would be able to read this book in public the way I hammed it up at home. What fun. It made me even more eager to read the translation by Seamus Heaney, but that might have to wait until next history rotation...

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare: Excellent choice for reading aloud to Levi. Well-told story which brought history alive for us both.

That should catch us up to date. I'm hoping the book reviews won't be so scant in the next few months...

I may not have spent much time with my nose in a book lately, but luckily (I think) Levi hasn't had the same issue. I can't seem to get his nose out of a book! In two days he finished off Owls in the Family and Mr. Popper's Penguins in addition to the 450 pages of Peter and the Star Catchers.

I was teasingly giving him a bad time about all the reading he was doing, wondering what I was going to do with him. He looked up at me with his signature Levi grin and said, "It's like I was born to read, or something!"

On another day, I walked into the boys' bedroom as Levi was finishing up his reading for the night (late as usual). He closed up Miracles on Maple Hill, handed it to me, and said, "I have one word for this book. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. You need to read it and then give it to Dad to read."

I think I'll just hand my book list over to Levi and call it good.

Understanding Betsy

Levi and I recently finished reading Understood Betsy, a favorite from my own childhood. I enjoyed it as much, or more, as an adult. That is what I consider a quality of great children's literature!

Understood Betsy was published in 1917, making it more likely (in my opinion, of course) to contain other elements on my personal 'indentifying great children's literature list.' I know I've mentioned these numerous times before: independence, resourcefulness, respect for others, healthy work ethic, strong family relationships, appreciation for the simple things in life and a general thankfulness for the basic necessities of life.

Understood Betsy incorporates all the above, but it also focuses on education by contrasting two very different methods and environments. The author did have specific views on the subject. From the back cover of the book:

'Named by Eleanor Roosevelt as one of America's ten most influential women, Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879-1958) brought the Montessori Method of child rearing to America...'

I'll offer a quote to whet your appetite:

pg. 64

'What's the matter?' asked the teacher, seeing her bewildered face.

'Why--why,' said Elizabeth Ann, 'I don't know what I am at all. If I'm second-grade arithmetic and seventh-grade reading and third-grade spelling, what grade am I?'

The teacher laughed. 'You aren't any grade at all, no matter where you are in school. You're just yourself, aren't you? What difference does it make what grade you're in? And what's the use of your reading little baby things too easy for you just because you don't know your multiplication table?'

'Well, for goodness' sakes!' ejaculated Elizabeth Ann, feeling very much as though somebody had stood her suddenly on her head.

'What's the matter?' asked the teacher again.

This time Elizabeth Ann didn't answer, because she herself didn't know what the matter was. But I do, and I'll tell you. The matter was that never before had she known what she was doing in school. She had always thought she was there to pass from one grade to another, and she was ever so startled to get a glimpse of the fact that she was there to learn how to read and write and cipher and generally use her mind, so she could take care of herself when she came to be grown up, but in that moment, she had her first dim notion of it, and it made her feel the way you do when you're learning to skate and somebody pulls away the chair you've been leaning on and says, 'Now, go it alone!'

Reading this book made me interested in adding a few Montessori method books to my reading stack. Hopefully I'll be able to review these in the coming months:

Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years

Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius

Any other book recommendations on the Montessori educational method?

Reading and Watching

I revisited a childhood favorite last week and wanted to share. I am David is a story about a twelve year old boy who escapes from a labor camp in Eastern Europe. It was originally published in Denmark in 1963.

I'm not sure at what age I first read this book (the first English translation was titled North to Freedom, a much less fitting title), but it captivated me. Out of my regular sphere of reading, I am David was at once tragic and hopeful. The book follows David's escape, aided by an unlikely prison guard, and his journey to Denmark. Having spent his whole life in the labor camp, David struggles to adapt to his freedom and the new experiences and people he encounters.

David grows in his appreciation for beauty, trust in others, and his child-like faith in God. One feels privileged to share the journey with him. Highly recommended.


If you are looking for a deep family film (though there are intense scenes not necessarily appropriate for young children), I am David was adapted into movie form by Walden Media. Jim Caviezel plays a role in this rich film. I was disappointed that the movie didn't follow the book more closely, but it is still a worthwhile experience.

Speaking of interesting movies, has anyone viewed Bella? I had no idea what to expect, and I ended up sitting entranced for the whole movie (unusual for me). It is filmed very artistically, and has a haunting mood. When it was finished, I sat, a bit stunned, wondering what had just happened. Do you ever feel like that after watching a movie?

Bella isn't a straightforward story, in which you are spoon-fed the plot and moral. At times I was lost when the time-line jumped around, but I felt as if I was supposed to be feeling the story rather than following it.

This is not a family movie, but I would recommend Bella if you are in the mood for something out of the ordinary. I would love to hear opinions of the movie if you've watched it!

Books Galore

(Maybe this post should be titled 'Heidi's Addiction.')

Levi said the funniest thing the other day. It was something along the lines of, 'I've run out of books to read.' Granted, this boy is a voracious reader, but I have something to admit to you. I have an addiction. A book buying addiction. I've had it for many years. It will take a long time for Levi to get through the books I've purchased.

His comment did inspire me to share the book collection with y'all, though. Below is what I would lovingly refer to as 'the book tower.' It is the main collection of children's books (picture books, anthologies, easy readers, first chapter books, up to young adult fiction). It resides in the boys' bedroom and is within reach of Levi's bunk. Unfortunately, it is also within reach of Leif, who happens to enjoy stripping multiple shelves of books onto the floor.

(As a side note, the bookcase is very firmly bolted to the wall. This is very important since the boys like to use it as a ladder to reach the top bunk. Thank you, Dad, for making it so sturdy. It has lasted twenty years, so far!)

It seems as if I need to weed out the collection or find space for a second bookshelf. (Or stop buying books, heaven forbid.)
This next picture shows the incredibly distressed bookshelf of incredibly distressed board books. They have been, ahem, well loved. By you-know-whom.
And then there are the 'school books' in the 'school room.' I'm ordering (well, wish-list type ordering) custom built bookshelves to fill this space floor to ceiling (and all the way to the window on the right). Dad? Dad, are you there?

On the left, we have reference type books on the top shelf and four shelves of history and literature divided by time periods.

The right shelf holds a wider selection of Childcraft Encyclopedias, Math, Language Arts, Languages, Art, Music, Geography, Bible, and miscellaneous. The bottom shelf is full of science books. (Hmmm. Now that I think of it, I have a drawer full of beginning readers in the school room, too.)

The books we are currently using for lessons find their way to the stacks on the desk behind the couch along with library books and videos.

Our Christmas books are currently living in a basket on the ottoman.
And on the little table next to the couch.
And the music-related Christmas books are living on the piano with Levi's lesson books.
Just for fun, my 'pretty books' are on the shelf near the kitchen, along with cookbooks, decorating books, coffee table books, and gardening books.

But where do The Count of Monte Cristo, Pride and Prejudice, Ender's Game, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and Uncle Tom's Cabin live? Maybe in another installment...

The nursery shelves held books galore!

Books cluttered up the nursery floor!

And in the bedroom, by the bed,

More books were waiting to be read!

Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales

Of dragons, gypsies, queens and whales

And treasure isles, and distant shores

Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,

And pirates wearing purple pants,

And sailing ships and elephants...

~Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory