Children's Books discussion

The winner of the Newbery for 1931 was The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth. Many books won Honors:

Floating Island by Anne Parrish
The Dark Star Of Itza: The Story Of A Pagan Princess by Alida Sims Malkus
Queer Person by Ralph Hubbard
Mountains Are Free by Julia Davis Adams
Spice and the Devil's Cave by Agnes Danforth Hewes
Meggy MacIntosh: A Highland Girl in the Carolina Colony by Elizabeth Janet Gray
Garram the Hunter: A Boy of the Hill Tribes by Herbert Best
Ood-Le-Uk the Wanderer by Alice Lide

Did you read them? Do you remember any of the ideas discussed in the group when we read them together? Did you write any reviews that you would be willing to copy to this thread?

This thread will not close - feel free to add thoughts, questions, etc. now or in the future.

There are quite a few of especially the honour books I would love to read, but none of them are available through ILL and the only one I would actually consider purchasing (if a cheap copy were available online) is Mountains Are Free (about Wilhelm Tell).

I have read The Cat Who Went to Heaven many years ago. I have not read any of the honor books.

Cat.. is definitely still worth reading, and is short and widely available. The inter-chapter poems are a treat.

Floating Island was rather twee, rather boring imo, and had a racist element.

I didn't read any of the others. I wouldn't mind reading Meggy's story, because the author also wrote Adam of the Road, which I've enjoyed as both a child and as an adult.

I think I remember Floating Island, Peggy MacIntosh and Garram the Hunter. I haven't read them, but I'm pretty sure I have them on my shelf thinking that I had time to keep up in the group (which I guess I didn't!). I probably have The Cat Who Went to Heaven on my shelf too, but don't think I've read it.

This is where I started with the Newbury club.
I LOVED Mountains are Free and many appreciated its themes of struggle in the alps. It was incredibly well written and everyone loved the characters.
The Dark Star of Itza was disappointing to most it was not very exciting and I was not a huge fan.
Floating Island, I hated. It was about Mr & Mrs. Doll and their adventures. Some people liked the artwork but I could not get over the dull story line.
Queer Person was about a deaf mute Indian. There were a lot of coming of age stories in different historical contexts in this year and that was discussed. Again this was one I didn't particularly enjoy nor did the people that participated. I believe there were discussions around racism by the author on this one as well. (this was another theme that came up several times with differing opinions by different groups)
Spice and the Devil's Cave was a different one - it kind of read like a Shakespeare play without the talent :). There was a definite Merchant of Venice feel again without the character development.
Meggy MacIntosh was a disappointment to most and I agreed. It was simply not up to expectations and many had enjoyed the author's other works. There was also allegations of racism by the author and in one area in particular and I agreed with the problematic discussion. However more then that, it just wasn't a great story and left most disappointed in light of the authors other, more enjoyed works.
Garram the Hunter (I actually reviewed this one so I have more notes) was ANOTHER coming of age story this time in Africa (are you catching a theme here?). It was a very nice story about a boy and his dog and it was very well written that said, it wasn't a page turner but we did appreciate that it was based in Africa not one that was written about in the 1930s.
Finally there was Ood-Lu Uuk the Wanderer. I personally LOVED this one and still think back to it often. Here's my review: "This book was really, really good. I was shocked. I didn't put much faith in a coming of age story in the Arctic but...I loved it! It was so well written and exciting. The depth of the character development (without a lot of dialogue) was so amazingly well done. I especially loved the theme of fear and how it can shake you to your core but how to persevere through it and be guided by what is right and true."
The Cat who Went To Heaven was okay, I didn't love it but I think others in the group did. It wasn't a highly discussed book because I don't think there was a lot to explore.

All in all, 1931 was the year of the coming of age stories in exotic places. And I think we started integrating newer ones after this year or in 1932 due to the scarcity of finding the books for some regions.

Yes, I did read The Floating Island now that you remind me of the terrible story! So this must have been the year I started the group too.

Thank you Jasmine!

Here's my review of Mountains Are Free: I really enjoyed this book. It is historical fiction about Switzerland trying to maintain their freedom from Austria...with William Tell as a secondary character. I ended up enjoying the historical nature but especially appreciated the characters and setting. Switzerland is such a beautiful country, and its beauty is really evoked in this book. I loved Kyo...who at first seems so despicable as he seems to treat serfs and others poorly...but you quickly realize that he is wise to the ways of the world and that he has a good heart, if sometimes he is a bit prickly on the outside. I love that characters from the beginning make a reappearance in the latter half...Rupperecht, the monk, and William Tell. It feels as if the story comes full circle.

Good review - you make me want to try to get a copy to read!

I just reread The Cat Who Went to Heaven and decided to add my review here:

A fable which includes poems, and of which even the prose bits are poetic in their own right. Don't read it for cultural accuracy or OwnVoices, much less for adventure. It's got a little character growth, a whole lot of atmosphere, and a pure beauty that not everyone is going to appreciate. I know I didn't the first times I read it, when I was younger.

I did like it enough to know that I wanted to read more by Coatsworth, though, and I'm not pleased that her work is so hard to find in libraries.