One of my favorite Dr. Seuss books from my childhood is now CANCELLED! It’s been withdrawn from publication with comments about it having certain (unsOne of my favorite Dr. Seuss books from my childhood is now CANCELLED! It’s been withdrawn from publication with comments about it having certain (unspecified) insensitive treatment of people. Used copies now start at $250 and go up to $1000. So I went and dug around in my old stash of kids' books last night and was thrilled to find a pristine copy of this book that I bought when my kids were little.
In this 1955 Dr. Seuss book, young Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell is very proud of having learned the whole alphabet and smug in the belief that there's nothing more. But NO! says our narrator, who then leads Conrad on a trek through fantasylands, showing him wonderful creatures whose names start with letters like Humpf and Thnad. It’s a good lesson in not automatically accepting limitations, and in thinking outside of the box.
Oh, and here are apparently the pages that caused the consternation and cancelling: [image]
... which, I can see some Orientalism here, to be fair, although the Nazzim of Bazzim on his camel-like Spazzim seems more Near Eastern than Asian, except for the building in the background. I doubt that anyone finds it horribly offensive, but it would be reasonable to say "no way" to the way these pages are drawn if this were a new book being published. But it seems to me that we need to not try to rewrite history - this is a 66 year old book - but to notice and talk about it. There are a lot worse things in, say, Shakespeare (The Merchant of Venice) and Georgette Heyer (The Grand Sophy) and I'd be against withdrawing those books from publication.
We need to learn from what's been done wrong before, not try to erase it.
And I will keep my On Beyond Zebra book and read it to my grandkids someday....more
Kiki’s Delivery Service, a 1985 children’s fantasy novel first published in JaOn sale July 7! Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
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Kiki’s Delivery Service, a 1985 children’s fantasy novel first published in Japanese as Majo no Takkyūbin (or “Witch’s Express Home Delivery”), is best known outside of Japan as the basis for a 1989 Studio Ghibli anime film directed by Hayao Miyazaki. In fact, the book won several prizes in Japan and Kadono has published five sequels over the years (unfortunately none of the sequels are currently available in English translations). Kiki’s Delivery Service was first published in English in 2003, but a new translation is now available.
Twelve-year-old Kiki lives in a small town with her mother Kokiri, a witch, and her human father Okino. Her coming-of-age day is nearing, and tradition requires young witches like Kiki to strike out on their own and find a town or village that doesn’t have a witch and needs their magical services. Witches’ powers have been growing weaker over the years, though, and Kiki’s only magical abilities are flying on a broom (at which she’s quite adept, in fact) and being able to speak with her black cat Jiji.
Once Kiki decides to leave she does so quickly, soon landing in the seaside town of Koriko. Initially downhearted because of the dismissive attitudes in this large town, Kiki cheers up when she meets a friendly and very pregnant baker who gives her a place to stay and an idea: she can go into business as a delivery girl. Her delivery service leads to a series of adventures, a few new friendships, and a growing feeling that Kiki has found a place and people that she cares about.
Kiki’s Delivery Service is a warmhearted and whimsical children’s story, told in eleven fairly easy-to-read chapters. It differs from the Miyazaki film in many of its plot points, and it’s much more episodic and understated in its approach. Kiki deals with the typical difficulties of growing up and gradually gaining self-confidence and independence. Her adventures tend not to be dramatic, life-and-death difficulties. It’s the more mundane, ordinary issues that mostly concern her: a worried mother; a thief who swipes her broom; a group of musicians whose instruments were left on the train; a boy who may or may not like her. Jiji’s sarcastic comments add a little humor and spice to the underlying sweetness.
The magical elements in Kiki’s Delivery Service are low-key and pure white witchcraft — there’s no real evil or meanness at all in this book. People may be annoying but fundamentally they’re all goodhearted. It’s about ordinary people going about their lives, sometimes frustrating each other, but more often connecting with and helping one another. In a foreword to the novel, Kadono comments, “[Kiki] is a witch, but she’s also a perfectly ordinary girl. She has the same worries, disappointments, and joys as anyone else … And as I continued writing Kiki’s story, I realized that magic is something everyone possesses. Even if you can’t fly through the air like Kiki, you have your own unique power that is equally important.”
And as Kiki herself realizes:
"Of course, with my new business I’m usually delivering things in a hurry, so I need to fly. But sometimes it’s good to walk. When you walk, you end up talking to all sorts of different people even if you don’t want to, you know? … And when people see a witch close up, they realize that we don’t all have pointy noses and gaping mouths. We can discuss things and maybe come to understand each other."
Kiki’s Delivery Service is a charming tale with a timeless feel, giving readers an enjoyable and authentic glimpse of Japanese culture. I recommend it for fans of children’s fantasy.
Initial post: I just picked this up on NetGalley! It's a brand new translation of the Japanese children’s novel that inspired the Miyazaki anime film. Sounds fun!...more
Why did Dad take so long on his errand to go grab a bottle of milk for the breakfast cereal? [image] Well, he'll tell you.
The answer is convoluted and hWhy did Dad take so long on his errand to go grab a bottle of milk for the breakfast cereal? [image] Well, he'll tell you.
The answer is convoluted and hilarious, involving a stegosaurus professor in a hot air balloon with a time machine, aliens, pirates, volcanos, ocean piranhas, vampires wumpires, and much, much more. [image]
His two kids are pretty dubious but willing to go along with it for the most part ("Hang on. Piranhas are a freshwater fish. What are they doing in the sea?"). And occasionally they have requests for ponies or "handsome, misunderstood wumpires" to be in the story.
It's a fun children's or early middle-grade story, and the illustrations absolutely make it. This would be a great read-aloud book for kids who like wildly imaginative adventures. [image]
3.5 stars. If you're a fan of the old Mary Poppins movie (I am!), the original book is worth checking out. But I didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped. 3.5 stars. If you're a fan of the old Mary Poppins movie (I am!), the original book is worth checking out. But I didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
When Katie Nanna disappears from the Banks home without notice, Jane and Michael are pleased (“She was old and fat and smelt of barley-water”). But they’re not quite ready for the replacement nanny that the East Wind blows to their door: Mary Poppins, who promptly intimidates Mrs. Banks into hiring her without references, slides up the banister, pulls a great number of items from her apparently empty carpet bag, and shares magical flavor-changing medicine with Jane and Michael (their baby siblings, John and Barbara, just get milk from the medicine bottle). And so the magical adventures of Mary Poppins and the Banks children begin. Despite her sternness, Michael and Jane soon beg her to never leave, but she only promises to stay until the wind changes.
I was inspired by the movie Saving Mr. Banks to pick up the original 1934 novel of Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers. FAR less touchy-feely than Disney’s movie, Mary Poppins in the novel is a surprisingly vain, acerbic, and mysterious woman who regularly snaps at Jane and Michael and gets offended easily, but also takes them on grand magical adventures and wins their devotion.
Mary Poppins is episodic in style: each chapter is a different, stand-alone adventure. Some of their adventures will be familiar if you know the movie, but most were brand-new to me. Bert the Match-Man shows up in Chapter 2, when he and Mary (without the children) jump into one of his chalk sidewalk drawings, but never appears again. Nor are there any penguins, animated or otherwise, or parents who need to reconnect with their family. Mr. and Mrs. Banks appear to be doing just fine, thank you, or if they’re not, no one in this book seems to care.
But there’s a touching chapter about Andrew the dog who, using Mary Poppins as his translator with his owner, insists that his owner Miss Lark accept his friendship with a common street mongrel and welcome him into their home … and, by the way, quit making Andrew go to the hairdresser’s and wear embarrassing overcoats. Another standout is a tender chapter about the 11-month-old twins, John and Barbara, who have a sweet conversation with Mary Poppins, the sunlight that streams into their room, and a visiting Starling. The twins are still young enough to understand and talk with the animals, the sun and the wind talking to them, but their first birthday is fast approaching. There’s a visit to the zoo on the night of the full moon and Mary Poppins' birthday, when the animals can talk and switch places with people, who are in their cages.
There’s also a curious chapter called “Bad Tuesday” in which Michael feels driven to be naughty all day long, but is nevertheless rewarded with a quick magical trip around the globe with Mary Poppins and Jane, visiting with a polar bear, macaw, panda and dolphins at each of the four corners of the world. It’s worth noting that Travers rewrote this chapter after receiving many complaints, replacing the highly stereotypical “Red Indians,” a Chinese Mandarin, Eskimos, and black Africans with non-controversial animals. The original text and some illustrations can be viewed in this online article.
After the premiere of the film version of Mary Poppins, according to Richard Sherman, Travers tracked down Walt Disney at the after-party. A New Yorker article reported their brief exchange:
“Well,” she said loudly. “The first thing that has to go is the animation sequence.” Disney looked at her coolly. “Pamela,” he replied, “the ship has sailed.” And then he strode past her, toward a throng of well-wishers, and left her alone, an aging woman in a satin gown and evening gloves, who had travelled more than five thousand miles to attend a party where she wasn’t wanted.
Whether Disney improved on Travers’ original story is a matter of personal taste; what is certain is that she herself never forgave his adaptation of her beloved book.
Mary Poppins, which has seven sequels written by Travers, is dated in its social viewpoints, though that’s understandable for a 1934 novel, and you have to squint to see the plot, but there are many charming and memorable moments....more
3.5 stars for this 1947 children's fantasy. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
In Bonfires and Broomsticks, part two of Mary Norton’s Bedknobs 3.5 stars for this 1947 children's fantasy. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
In Bonfires and Broomsticks, part two of Mary Norton’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks duology, it’s two years after events of the first book, The Magic Bed-Knob. The three young siblings, Carey, Charles and Paul, get the chance to leave London and spend the summer in Bedfordshire with their spinster friend, Miss Price, who was a witch in training. And they still have the magic bed-knob that enables them to fly through time and space on Paul’s old bed, which is now in Miss Price’s bedroom! Good magical times ahead!
Or maybe not: Miss Price, while pleased to see them, has decided that being a witch is a Bad Idea, and she’s given up magic. But, the children argue, almost anything is fine in moderation, and they never did get the chance to try the time-traveling aspect of the bed-knob. Maybe just one little trip into the past? It is rather tempting, Miss Price agrees …
Meanwhile, in London in late August, 1666, a 35-year-old, nervous necromancer named Emelius Jones has just taken over the magical practice of his old mentor, who told Emelius on his deathbed that there really was no magic involved in what they do; it’s just fooling people. But then three strangely-dressed (but polite!) children show up on Emelius’s doorstep.
Bonfires and Broomsticks is another charming, old-fashioned magical adventure, this one focused on time travel. The plot didn’t go at all in the direction I expected. For example, when the children first meet Emelius and find out what date it is, Carey brightly comments that the Fire of London will occur in a week’s time (you have to admire her outstanding memory for historical dates). One might be forgiven for thinking that a suspenseful and dangerous scene involving the children escaping death in the fire is in the cards, but Norton has something quite different in mind, though it does relate to the London fire.
Bonfires and Broomsticks has even less connection to the Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks than The Magic Bed-Knob does, aside from having a plot element involving a magical spell called “intrasubstantiary locomotion” (called “substitutiary locomotion” in the film). But the plot is entirely different, and should be enjoyed on its own merits. It’s definitely worth checking out if you liked the first book, and the pair is available on Kindle for just $4.99. Both are early middle-grade level reading....more
It’s an ambiguous but ominous warning that Ollie Adler gets fromReview first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Avoid large places at night. Keep to small.
It’s an ambiguous but ominous warning that Ollie Adler gets from two different people and an old book. But why?
Olivia (Ollie), age 11, is having a tough time dealing with a recent personal tragedy, and getting sympathetic looks from her father and teacher only makes it worse. She’s withdrawn from activities like the softball team and chess club that she once loved. Ollie still finds comfort in books, though, so when she comes across a distraught woman about to toss an old book into a creek, she snatches the book and runs away with it, but not before the woman gives her some unasked-for advice about keeping to small spaces at night.
The worn-out book, titled Small Spaces, turns out to be a personal history written by Beth Webster in the late 1800s. Her tale starts out charming, as Beth writes about the two brothers who both wanted to marry her. But then the story turns ominous as conflict erupts between the brothers, one disappears and the other makes a deal with a mysterious, smiling man.
When Ollie goes on a school field trip to a nearby Vermont farm the next day, she’s a little alarmed to find that the history of Misty Valley farm is suspiciously similar to Beth Webster’s story in the stolen book. Creepy-looking scarecrows are everywhere she looks on the farm, with trowels or rakes for hands. Then the school bus breaks down in the fog going home, their teacher disappears in the mists, and their strange bus driver ominously warns Ollie to get moving … and to keep to small spaces at night.
Small Spaces is Katherine Arden’s follow-up to her medieval Russian fantasy series, the WINTERNIGHT TRILOGY. I never would have guessed that the author of The Bear and the Nightingale wrote this creepy middle grade horror novel! It’s written in a completely different style, and is clearly for a younger set of readers. Small Spaces doesn’t compare to the WINTERNIGHT TRILOGY in depth or complexity, but it’s not meant to do so, and it has its own brand of spine-tingling appeal.
The three tweens who are the main characters, Ollie and her classmates Brian and Coco, are realistically drawn and relatable, but unusual enough to be memorable. Coco is the cute, tiny new girl in town who’s teased to tears by the boys; Brian is a black athlete from Jamaica who sticks out in small-town Vermont, but he’s not only found a good set of friends but is willing to extend his concern to others outside of his circle. Each of them has her or his human flaws but also shows some surprising strengths.
“How is she the clumsiest person ever on the ground, yet a squirrel when she’s climbing?” muttered Ollie.
Brian grinned. “You’re kind of grumpy most of the time, but when things get bad, you’re the bravest. People can surprise you, Ollie-pop.”
Ollie and her two classmates learn how important it is to help and trust each other. Through their terrorizing experiences, Ollie also finds strength to deal with her personal loss of a loved one. Unlike too many YA and children’s novels, Ollie’s parents are a concerned and loving presence in her life, helping her in whatever ways they can. Her relationship with them is heart-warming.
Small Spaces is a page-turning supernatural thriller that is superficially like an R.L. Stine GOOSEBUMPS novel, but there’s much more substance to this tale (and better writing). Hand a copy of this book to a tween who likes scary stories … or enjoy the thrills and chills yourself!...more
In the kingdom of Eliora, eleven year old Darling Dimple is an orphaned servant in Princess Mariposa’Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
In the kingdom of Eliora, eleven year old Darling Dimple is an orphaned servant in Princess Mariposa’s castle, a lowly pot scrubber in the under-cellar of the castle kitchens. She dreams of being a mighty sailor or a great enchantress ― and since she lives in a magic-filled castle built by dragons, surely adventures will come her way! But her daydreams lead to trouble with the castle’s Supreme Scrubstress, who doesn’t take kindly to being splashed with dirty brown dishwater when Darling and her friends are fooling around one day. So when the Wardrobe Mistress comes downstairs looking for a new girl to help press the Princess’s linens, and the Supreme Scrubstress finds out that it’s “hard work that requires close attention,” she gleefully volunteers Darling.
Darling’s new job as Under-presser turns out not to be such a punishment: she’s an upstairs servant rather than a belowstairs one, living in a much nicer room and helping take care of Princess Mariposa’s beautiful things. At first it seems the main problem is that some of the other servant girls play mean-spirited tricks on Darling … but when you have magical mice helping with your problems, it’s not so bad.
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Best of all, Darling discovers a closet in Princess Mariposa’s rooms filled with one hundred lovely old princess dresses that magically disguise her as someone else in the kingdom.
But the castle’s magic has something more in mind for Darling than just fun adventures. When she discovers a nefarious plot to betray the Princess and release the stone dragons on the castle’s roof from their enchantment, it will take magic, courage and a little help from some friends to protect the Princess and the kingdom!
Susan Maupin Schmid’s If the Magic Fits is a delightful middle grade fantasy, full of beautiful magical dresses, mythical beasts, and other enchantments, and spiced with a little mystery. The pace is brisk, with Darling quickly propelled from one adventurous outing to the next. Her excursions wearing the magical dresses are always dangerous, since Darling doesn’t have the knowledge or mannerisms of the ladies who she’s disguised as. Darling is an intrepid main character who grows through her experiences, and learns about the importance of loyalty and friends. Even the princess, who is surrounded by princes and noblemen vying for her hand, discovers something about true friendship and forgiveness.
I give If the Magic Fits a strong but qualified recommendation: Most young girls in the 8-14 age range will be enchanted by this fantasy with elegant, magical dresses as one of the main features of its plot. I’m limiting my recommendation of it primarily to that group, along with older readers who delight in children’s fantasies. If you happen to be, or know, a girl who would love the idea of a closet filled with magical dresses and a castle brimming with exciting adventures, If the Magic Fits is just the ticket and won’t disappoint....more
This is really a lovely little story, beautifully told, deceptively simple, full of hope and fear and love. Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the NewbeThis is really a lovely little story, beautifully told, deceptively simple, full of hope and fear and love. Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal (one the shortest books ever to win that award), was written in 1985 but feels like something from a much earlier time. It could have been written 80 or 100 years ago. It's timeless.
It's based on a true story about the author's ancestors.* There are a lot of mail order bride romances out there, but this is one from the children's point of view, although you catch fascinating glimpses of what's going on in the minds of their father Jacob, and Sarah, his potential bride.
Anna and Caleb are two young children who in the U.S. plains with their widowed father, in maybe the late 1800s? Their mother died the day after Caleb was born.
They had come for her in a wagon and taken her away to be buried. And then the cousins and aunts and uncles had come and tried to fill up the house. But they couldn't.
Now Jacob has advertised for a mail order wife, and Sarah Wheaton from Maine, who describes herself as "plain and tall," writes a letter to him. They arrange for Sarah - and her gray cat, Seal - to come visit their family for a month, to see if it's a good fit, before making a permanent decision.
Caleb wears his heart on his sleeve, desperately wanting Sarah to stay but afraid that their house is too small, and that he is too loud and pesky. Anna hopes too, but is more cautious and watchful. Their father Jacob learns to laugh and sing again, even as he is arguing with Sarah about whether she should wear his overalls, ride his skittish horse, and help fix the roof.
And Sarah ... Sarah misses the sea. But "there are always things to miss, no matter where you are.” And things - and people - that work their way into your heart and find a home there.
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* I'd love to know more about the original story but there's not a lot out there, at least that I've been able to find so far, other than that MacLachlan's mother and/or aunt begged her to write a book about this story....more
I picked up Adam of the Road at a library sale several months ago for a dollar. As a Newbery Award winner in 1943, it was one of those books that I reI picked up Adam of the Road at a library sale several months ago for a dollar. As a Newbery Award winner in 1943, it was one of those books that I remember seeing frequently during my childhood but had never read. And it fits into one of the squares in my 2016 Classics Bingo card, so here we are!
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Adam of the Road is the story of a couple of years in the life of a young boy who is a minstrel in training in England in the late 1200s. Adam’s father Roger is a quite successful minstrel who has left his eleven year old son at a monk’s school for several months, while he went to a minstrel’s school in France to learn more romantic songs and tales to tell the lords and ladies. Adam pines to leave the school and learn to be a minstrel like his father, so he’s overjoyed when Roger picks him up and takes him ― and Adam’s dog Nick, a beautiful red spaniel that Adam loves with all his heart ― on Roger’s journey with Sir Edmund, who employs him.
It’s an enjoyable life for a young boy, and Roger is a loving though slightly flawed father: he loses his money and a valuable war horse (which was a gift from Sir Edmund) in gaming with another minstrel, Jankin. [image] Jankin manages to ride the horse lame and, when he meets up with Roger and Adam on the road, decides to surreptitiously “trade” the horse for Adam’s dog Nick. Frantically attempting to chase down the dognapper, Adam gets separated from his father, and in trying to find each other, they only get farther apart. (It made me appreciate cell phones!)
The rest of the book relates Adam’s adventures on the road, trying to find both his father and his dog, and to make a living as a minstrel when he can. It’s a rather episodic tale, as Adam wanders from place to place, meeting new friends and enemies, dealing with robbers and thieves, but also being helped repeatedly by kindhearted people, and learning a few things along the way (like not being a braggart).
The tale is told simply, on a middle-grade level, but the author did her research and various details of life in 1290’s England fill the story. It’s a little superficial, and we don't get to know any of the characters well except for Adam and his father. But it's a good reminder of how different life in general, and expectations about entertainment in particular, were at that time. The story is infused with a 1940s kind of sweetness and optimism that is typical of children’s lit of that time. Those who like nostalgic children’s literature may really enjoy it. I was a little bored, and I tend to think most kids would be as well, but if you have one who needs to read a book about life in medieval England for whatever reason, you could do worse than Adam of the Road.
The adventures of Princess Celie, who lives in a magical castle where rooms appear, shift arouFinal review, first posted on www.FantasyLiterature.com:
The adventures of Princess Celie, who lives in a magical castle where rooms appear, shift around and disappear again, continue in Wednesdays in the Tower, Jessica Day George’s lively sequel to Tuesdays at the Castle. Normally Castle Glower only moves its rooms around on Tuesdays, but one Wednesday Celie, heading up the stairs to go to the schoolroom for lessons, finds herself in a passageway leading to a tower room she has never seen before. And in the middle of the tower room is a huge, flame-colored egg, as large and orange as a pumpkin.
Mysteriously, the castle prevents Celie from sharing her exciting discovery with anyone else in her family: the tower room disappears when she tries to show it to others, and interrupts her attempts to tell about the egg. Why is the castle hiding the egg from everyone except Celie?
When the egg hatches, Celie has her hands full, feeding and mothering a ravenous baby griffin ― an animal that everyone in the kingdom thinks is only a myth. As the griffin grows older and much larger, Castle Glower gradually allows Celie to share her new friend with a few others. But the castle is behaving very oddly in other ways as well: new rooms appear that the royal family has never seen before, doors get blocked off for reasons known only to the castle, and the entire castle is getting much larger and more dangerous. Could this have anything to do with the appearance of the griffin egg?
Wednesdays in the Tower is a good, solid follow-up to Tuesdays at the Castle, almost certain to please young readers who enjoyed the first book, and likely their parents as well. Celie is an empathetic, adventurous girl with a charming personality. The scenes with Celie caring for the baby griffin, and later learning to ride on its back as it flies around, are a lot of fun, particularly for readers who like animal stories. Some parents might be a little perturbed at the idea of a twelve-year-old daughter keeping a huge secret from her parents (“The castle didn’t let me tell anyone!” may or may not be viewed as a sufficient excuse), but I suspect young readers will greet the idea with glee.
The mystery of the castle’s odd behavior is not as compelling as the griffin plotline, and might be a little complicated for the youngest readers (or listeners), but it fits in well with the overall plot. An antagonistic wizard arrives to try to resolve the problem, pursuing his own unknown agenda. Celie and her siblings don’t trust him, but it’s not clear whether he’s actually a villain, which adds some interest to that part of the plot.
Wednesdays in the Tower ends on a major cliffhanger; essentially it’s only the first half of a two-volume story. So I strongly recommend that readers have the next book in the series ready to start as soon as you are finished with this one. I ran down to the library immediately after finishing this to pick up the next book, Thursdays with the Crown, which is a wonderful, fantastical adventure that may be my favorite book in this series yet.
3.5 stars.
Initial thoughts: Me reading this book:
Ah, so fun -- a huge flame-colored egg! Dragon egg? Roc egg?
Oooh! It's a griffin! And the castle is hiding it!
Hmmm. The castle is doing some very odd shifting here. Rooms appear and move around, doors get blocked off, and it's all getting bigger and more dangerous. I wonder why?
Sweet: Celie gets to ride around on the griffin!
Aaarrgh! Cliffhanger ending!
Review to come. I'm on my way to the library to pick up the next book. :)...more
Heidi, a Swiss book originally published in German in 1881, was one of those books I grew up with: my mother had a simplified, abridged version of it Heidi, a Swiss book originally published in German in 1881, was one of those books I grew up with: my mother had a simplified, abridged version of it that I read many times and loved as a child. When I realized the GR group "Catching up on the Classics" was doing it as a group read, I jumped in, excited for the chance to revisit Heidi and her simple, joyous life in the Swiss alps with her grandfather.
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Heidi, a 5 year old orphan, has been raised by her mother's sister Dete, who resents the imposition. When Dete gets a good job offer, she marches Heidi up to the Swiss village where she was raised, the (fictional) village of Dörfli ("little village") and then even further up the mountain, to dump little Heidi on her unsuspecting grandfather, an embittered recluse. Despite being taken aback, the grandfather quickly takes to Heidi, admiring her intelligence and enthusiasm. She thrives in the lovely Swiss alps and country life, immediately shedding her more citified clothing and ways, and helping the local goatherd Peter.
[image] The Falknis mountain, with its two "towers," near where Heidi and Peter tend the goats
Everyone around Heidi grows to love her: her grandfather, Peter, Peter's grandmother. The only problem is that "Alm-Uncle," her grandfather, has such a deep distrust of people and town life that he refuses to even send her to the village school. Heidi is growing up happy and uncivilized when her aunt Dete suddenly reappears after three years, determined to take Heidi to Frankfurt to be the companion of Clara, a rich but sickly and invalid girl. Our bouncy, enthusiastic girl starts to feel desperately unhappy, cooped up in the big city. But Heidi has lessons to learn, and God has a plan.
I loved the detailed descriptions of the lovely Alps and life there in olden times. I suppose Heidi is a bit of a Mary Sue character, but her exuberant nature, jumping around all the time like a young goat, was charming. And - continuing the animal metaphors - I really felt for her when she felt like a trapped bird in Frankfurt, though the wasting away thing was a bit over the top.
The Alm-Uncle's character, bitter toward mankind generally but loving toward his bright granddaughter, seemed entirely believable to me, and honestly I got a bit teary as he began, like the prodigal son in Christ's parable, to find his way back to harmony with God and with his fellow men. Clara's devout grandmamma is a paragon of saintliness but has a little humor to leaven her spiritual lessons to Heidi; Peter's ailing, blind grandmother is equally devout but would fit in well with other Victorian-era sickly but wise characters.
The preachiness got a little too heavy-handed toward the end, although I did appreciate the message of continuing to trust God even when your prayers aren't answered immediately, and at the same time needing to take action to improve your own circumstances, as much as you can. I also can't help but be charmed with the notion that country living, with lots of fresh goat milk and toasted goat cheese on bread, brisk mountain air and the beauty of nature, heals pretty much everything.
[image] Mmmmm! ... okay, actually I don't like goat cheese, toasted or otherwise, but I have to say Heidi tempts me to give it another shot.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Heidi and her friends again, after many years apart. I recommend Heidi to readers who like old-fashioned children's classics, like Anne of Green Gables, and don't mind a healthy dose of religious content in their reading.
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A note on English translations: Since this book is over 100 years old, it's out of copyright and there are several free English versions available. I read parts of Heidi in German and did some comparisons between the three English versions I found on Project Gutenberg. None of them completely satisfied me, but I thought this one was the best, closest to the original German text without being unbearably awkward: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1448. I'm sure there are better translations out there, but I was working with what I could find free online. Whatever version you pick up, make sure you get both halves of the story, which was originally published in two parts (the second half has Clara visiting Switzerland)....more
I've had a lifelong, highly irrational love for Struwwelpeter, a gruesome set of German cautionary children's tales from 1845, set to rhyme, so when kI've had a lifelong, highly irrational love for Struwwelpeter, a gruesome set of German cautionary children's tales from 1845, set to rhyme, so when karen's review alerted me to the fact that Heinrich Hoffman wrote more of this bloodthirsty didactic poetry,* I was all over it, like Paulinchen is with matches.
*ETA: Or perhaps not ... it may have been someone ripping Hoffmann off. See comments 5 and 6 in the thread. (THANKS, Matt!)
Slovenly Betsy is on Project Gutenberg only in English, not German -- I couldn't find a German version of this book even mentioned anywhere online, so I don't know if this book was actually written by Hoffman in English, or if someone translated it, or what the deal is (maybe one of my German-speaking friends can enlighten me?). These stories include one story from Struwwelpeter: Paulinchen, the girl who loves loved to play with matches -- against the advice of her cats, I might add! -- but the rest of the stories were new to me.
Anyway, once again, children are misbehaving in various and sundry ways, suffering terrible consequences, and learning their lessons, assuming the consequences haven't been fatal (never a safe assumption with Hoffman). These morality tales deal with, for example:
☠ Poor personal hygiene ("Slovenly Betsy"): Everyone laughs at Betsy and, ashamed, she mends her ways. Boo! Where's the blood?
☠ Pride ("Phoebe Ann, The Proud Girl"): Phoebe Ann's snootiness causes her to lift her nose at everyone, stretching her neck until, well, this: [image]
Which naturally leads to this: [image]
Now we're talking!
☠ Jealousy ("Envious Minnie"), which I found curious because, for reasons known only to Hoffman, Minnie's unrestrained envy turns her a bright shade of yellow rather than, as one might expect, green:**
[image]
**ETA #2: Matt has illuminated me in comment #8: in German you can say someone is either green or yellow from envy. Of course, since this book was only (as far as I'm aware) published in English, I can still complain. Hah!
☠ Rough-housing ("The Story of Romping Polly"): Poor Polly, whose only sin seems to be wanting to frolic and play like the boys, rather than be restrained and ladylike. It seems kind of unfair that this poor girl breaks her leg while playing. She must have been made of porcelain, because the whole darn leg breaks off:
[image]
See how her brother bursts in tears, When told the dreadful story; And see how carefully he bears The limb all wet and gory.
It also seems unfair that Polly's the only one in the whole book who dies for her misdeeds. I guess Hoffmann really had a thing against tomboyish girls.
There are several more stories, dealing with gluttony, being a crybaby, and more poor personal hygiene, and winding up with "Sophie Spoilall," who ruins all her toys, ripping them to pieces, even though her mother warns her that Kriss Kringle might not bring her any more toys for Christmas if she doesn't mend her ways. Of course she doesn't, and Christmas comes and there are lots of toys for Nelly and Ned, but for Sophie there's . . . um, who knows? The story abruptly ends here, and I'm not sure if the PG version of this book is incomplete or if Hoffmann thought we could all just extrapolate from there. But it was a little dissatisfying.
And even though I got some amusement out of this book, it just didn't have nearly the impact on me that Struwwelpeter has had. The stories didn't seem to have the same spice. Maybe it's the whole childhood memories thing. Maybe it's that reading gory tales in German just makes them seem so much funnier to me. Maybe lightning can only strike once (apparently this book didn't have anywhere near the success of Struwwelpeter).
Good for a few chuckles, if you like this sort of bloodthirsty thing. Free ebook available here....more
When I was growing up, we had a 3-books-in-1-volume set of Tom Sawyer tales. The first one was the classic The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I read it, laWhen I was growing up, we had a 3-books-in-1-volume set of Tom Sawyer tales. The first one was the classic The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I read it, laughed myself silly over some of the classic scenes, like Tom whitewashing the fence and feeding the cat his medicine, and started in on the two sequels with a high sense of anticipation. And they fell completely flat.
This is a mildly interesting kids' adventure tale, with Tom, Huck and Jim sailing over Africa in a hot air balloon. The characters are sillier and the story lacks the kind of insight you might have expected. Mark Twain was in dire financial straits by this time, and I think he churned out these sequels without putting a lot of thought into them. Too bad....more
Der Struwwelpeter is one of those picture books I grew up with, and read and heard repeatedly as a child, so I have an unreasonable amount of love forDer Struwwelpeter is one of those picture books I grew up with, and read and heard repeatedly as a child, so I have an unreasonable amount of love for it, even though it's kind of awful? All credit goes to my German-speaking mom, although I'm not sure if she shared this book with my siblings and me because she thought it was a funny book or was trying to scare us straight.
This German children's picture book with moral lessons in poems was first published in 1845, when society (particularly in Germany, I suspect) was much in the mode of "spare the rod and spoil the child." No children being spoiled here! There are ten stories, pretty much all intended to show the horrible things--maiming, death, etc.--that will happen if you are a disobedient or misbehaving child. For example:
In "Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug" ("The Very Sad Story with the Match"), a girl plays with matches and is burned to death. A pile of ashes is all that remains of her. Her cats (who tried to warn her to stay away from the matches) are crying a river of tears. [image] Just like my cat would if anything ever happened to me, I'm very sure.
In "Die Geschichte vom Daumenlutscher" ("The Story of the Thumb-Sucker")--my favorite as a child!--the mother warns her son Konrad not to suck his thumbs, or the tailor (literally, the "cutter"), who apparently has nothing better to do than snoop around looking for thumb-sucking children, will come and snip them right off. But as soon his mother leaves the house, pop! Konrad's thumb goes right back into his mouth. Suddenly this huge tailor leaps into the room and cuts off his thumbs with a giant scissors! Bam!! [image] The last picture shows Konrad standing there sadly, with little stumps where his thumbs used to be. [image] Good times!
And so it goes. It's even a tiny bit liberal for its time: There's a story about a guy hunting rabbits where a hare grabs the gun while he's asleep and turns it on him. [image] HAH! Take that!
And another story where three boys who are making fun of an African's dark skin are dipped in ink by a giant, stern St. Nicholas so they can find out what it really means to be black.
This line from the Wikipedia article on this book cracks me up:
Hoffmann wrote Struwwelpeter in reaction to the lack of good children's books. Intending to buy a picture book as a Christmas present for his three-year-old son, Hoffmann instead wrote and illustrated his own book.
Okay, I thought this was hilarious as a child, but I'm not sure sharing it with a 3 year old is the way to go. But there it says, right on the title page: "Funny stories and droll pictures, for children 3-6 years old." ("Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder für Kinder von 3 bis 6 Jahren.") Just for the record, I do NOT recommend this for sensitive little ones. But maybe if you've got a rowdy 5 or 6 year old ....
Anyway, this poetry book is a classic, in its own weird and gruesome way. And I read it many, many times as a child, and I turned out fine! (SHUT UP!)
Here's a link to the original German version, free on Project Gutenberg, and here's another link to an English translation that's pretty good, if rather loose....more
If you're into nostalgic children's books, check out this kids' picture board book from 1888. The circus comes to town and parades down Main Street, gIf you're into nostalgic children's books, check out this kids' picture board book from 1888. The circus comes to town and parades down Main Street, giraffes, clowns, elephants and all. The text is in poetic form, with four lines on each page.
I have my GR friend Debbie to thank for finding this one and providing the link to this Gutenberg freebie. It's a fun little blast from the past but, like I told Debbie, if you're talking kids' picture books from a hundred years ago or so I still prefer my gruesome German ones like Der Struwwelpeter....more
Kids who like to laugh at bodily functions (and what kid doesn't?) will enjoy the adventures of Walter the Farting Dog. This was one of our kids' favoKids who like to laugh at bodily functions (and what kid doesn't?) will enjoy the adventures of Walter the Farting Dog. This was one of our kids' favorite picture books for several years. The illustrations are quirky and funny and fit the text, and the book has an affirmative message (even dogs that fart incessantly can be useful and loved!).
At our local elementary school, there was a tradition in our son's 1st grade class for the birthday kids to bring in one of their parents to read one of their favorite books to the class. My husband and I had to talk fast to convince our son that Walter probably wasn't the best choice for an entire school class. I know; we're such killjoys. I ended up reading How I Became a Pirate to his class instead, which was well-received, but I'm sure Walter would have brought down the house.
All I really remember is how extremely angry it made me as a 13 or 14 year old that Alec had this great thing going with his horse, the Black, and somAll I really remember is how extremely angry it made me as a 13 or 14 year old that Alec had this great thing going with his horse, the Black, and some random girl shows up and screws it all up. [image] ...more
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