Children's Books discussion

During March we have 8 books from which to choose. Depending on the availability to you of each, and your interest in each, and your time and energy, come and share your thoughts about any or all of the following 1934 honor books:

The Forgotten Daughter by Caroline Dale Snedeker
Swords of Steel: The Story of a Gettysburg Boy by Elsie Singmaster
The ABC Bunny by Wanda Gág
The Winged Girl Of Knossos by Erick Berry
New Land: A Novel for Boys and Girls by Sarah Lindsay Schmidt
The Big Tree Of Bunlahy: Stories Of My Own Countryside by Padraic Colum
Glory of the Seas by Agnes Danforth Hewes
The Apprentice Of Florence by Anne D. Kyle

(Thank goodness at least one is just a picture-book!)

Oh dear. I researched availability this morning, and none (except for Gag's picture-book) are in my library system, and none are on Project Gutenberg. So then I looked here for summaries and reviews, and found none, based on that scanty information, that I'm actually interested in reading, if I have to pay for them.

So, let me know if there are any I actually should buy because you do want to read them together. And do look forward to discussing The ABC Bunny, at least!

Same with me... only the ABC Bunny Book was available. If you discuss that one, I'll chime in :o)

I only have found The ABC Bunny. It's a cute ABC book with a story that follows the bunny along. It's okay.

"ABC Bunny" is one of my favorite of Gag's books simply because I actually liked the text and often I don't (as with "Millions of Cats"). Moving through the alphabet, we follow the story, in rhyme (song, if you can read music!), of a bunny's adventures. The rhymes don't "fudge" and the story is cohesive--the illustrations, though B&W, are adorable and vibrant.

"Forgotten Daughter" has several reviews so sometime, somehow people were reading it but I'm not able to get it, either. I was interested because of Lathrop's illustrations, which I came to admire after reading her Caldecott-winner, "Animals of the Bible"

I do have a copy of Forgotten Daughter, but no pictures. Looks like the text was republished for use in schools. Too bad.

The Forgotten Daughter -- I just got this. Is anyone else reading it?

The Forgotten Daughter was in my library when I was a kid, and I remember enjoying it enormously. 12-year-old me thought the love story in it was very romantic. Snedeker is also the author of an earlier Newbery Honor, Downright Dencey, which was enjoyed by members of the earlier incarnation of this club.

Of the ones I haven't read, I'm most likely to seek out the Winged Girl of Knossos, which is a favorite of librarian/blogger Betsy Bird.

I've also read a handful of books by Elsie Singmaster, some of which were pretty good, so Swords of Steel might not be so bad, but somehow I shy away from it, assuming it's going to be over-earnest and too concerned with imparting History.

I hope to get to it very soon. Company coming up from Costa Rica so I have to play tourist guide. It is on my TBR table.

I believe The ABC Bunny holds up well; it's not sentimental, and feels nostalgic but not old-fashioned. The art was truly poetic, and realistic (again, not sentimental or cutesy). I loved that some of the Words for the Letters were verbs as most alphabet picture-books rely on nouns.

reread today - my opinion above holds, though I want to add that I do wish I could read music and pick out the tune!