Children's Books discussion

The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy
Runner Of The Mountain Tops: The Life Of Louis Agassiz by Mabel Louise Robinson
By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Boy With a Pack by Stephen W. Meader

Seredy's sequel to The Good Master is not too hard to find, and can stand alone. I have already read and enjoyed it.

Wilder's book is #5 of the Little House series, but can stand alone. I look forward to rereading it. It is, not surprisingly, very widely available (at least in the US).

Unfortunately, Boy with a Pack is not available in my library. It looks fairly interesting, as the title Boy is an ordinary trader, it seems, not a notable figure.

Runner of the Mountain Tops is not available to me, either, and the figure is a scientist, so I'm especially disappointed. (Edit - see Michael's link in msg 7!)

I hope you can find the one(s) you want to read by June!

Somewhere on my shelves I have Seredy's book. The hunt will begin tomorrow. I think I have Wilder's book since I've read it in the past. Boy With a Pack looks good and I bought a used copy on Amazon. So I think I'm set for June! Some good books this month.

I'm able to get all of them except Runner of the Mountain Tops from my local library. I'm looking forward to some great discussions in June!

I look forward to learning about these books from you gals... if you like them lots, I'll have to consider buying them!

I have borrowed Wilder's book and am looking forward to rereading it next week!

Runner of the Mountain Tops by Mabel Louise Robinson is available in its entirety (including the color plates!) online at:

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/robinsonml/runner/runner.html

Maybe not ideal, but better than nothing.

Oh, excellent, I'll go get that when I get back (I'm going away for the first week of June, starting tomorrow morning, probably won't be coming online.)

Michael wrote: "Runner of the Mountain Tops by Mabel Louise Robinson is available in its entirety (including the color plates!) online at:

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/wome...

Thank you so much for sharing that!

I so thoroughly enjoyed reading The Singing Tree! There were several times I had tears in my eyes as the author described the hardships that war brought. There were hard topics in this book that I felt Seredy did a good job dealing with - not sugar-coating war at all but rather showing how difficult it was in a way that was understandable for children.

The Hungarian mother was certainly a generous soul, and I might have thought her too good to be true had I not had an Irish grandmother who was very much the same. At Grandma's, extra food was part of every dinner she made because she never knew who might be down on their luck and needing a meal. I can't tell you the number of door-to-door salesmen who would call at dinner time. Always, they were made to sit at the table and eat before they gave their sales pitch!

And then, too, there is an elderly couple I know who were an outstanding foster parents over many years for over 70 children . . .

Anyway, there was a ring of familiarity in some of the characters for me and I found the book so touching and heart-warming. I like how the author made the point in a humorous and effective way that people are "all the same". The "enemy" troops often have similar backgrounds and dreams. War is a waste, and I think this book got that point across in a very gentle way.

Oh, Karol, how wonderful that you had such a rich and enjoyable experience reading The Singing Tree. You certainly made it clear why the book is worth reading, and why it was honored by the Newbery committee... thank you!

Have you read the other Newbery books by Seredy, or any of her less famous works? I really like her artwork, so I hunted down a copy of A Tree for Peter. That's a heartwarming story; even made tears come to my eyes. I want to read The Tenement Tree and Philomena, too, but they're not in my library system.

Michael's source has lots of other books, too, including other Newberys that many of us have not been able to read elsewhere. Only trouble is, apparently they need to be read online, as I don't see how to download... - ?

does look like a nice book. I grew up in that part of the country myself, and have driven through some of the towns mentioned in the books... I'd love to spend more time investigating the history behind the stories.

I've just started now and there's mention of the government kicking them off their land... I don't remember that... do you know about it? I'll try to find time to look into it....

This old fellow had never read a Laura Ingalls Wilder book until the other day. I didn't even watch the TV show because its run coincided with my time working the graveyard shift in the post office, and I was very busy sleeping while it was being broadcast. So ...
No wonder this series is so beloved. Basically it's Laura's memoirs shaped who knows how much by her writer daughter, Rose. The Christmas scene is worthy of Dickens' Cratchett family, and there certainly are plenty of frontier lifestyle and cultural details offered. Laura is a delight, and the following illustrates how the writing (be it all Laura or Rose shaping) brings this out:

Carrie's eyes were large and frightened. She did not want to hear rough language, whatever rough language might be. Laura would have liked to hear some, just once, but of course she must obey Pa.

Sorry I posted in the wrong place. I have trouble finding the threads now and then.

Cheryl wrote: " ... I've just started By the Shores of Silver Lake (Little House, #5) by Laura Ingalls Wilder now and there's mention of the government kicking them off their land... I don't remember that... do you know about it? ..."

We recently finished Little House on the Prairie, which is where the government "kicks" them off their land. This whole episode had me rolling my eyes in disbelief, when the recklessness of them leaving everything to go settle in indian territory is revealed. I mean, Pa is a bit of a loose cannon, isn't he? It seems like he is fascinated by living in the wilderness and while he probably would have done very well on his own, he drags his family into perilous situations there and again with little forethought.

Only towards the end of the book, and after some intriguing run ins with Indians, do we learn that their entire escapade was ill fated. Their settling in Indian Territory is creating conflicts and very much against the governments wishes now. Pa had been hoping that the government would ultimately retract the land from the Indians and open it to homesteading (and I suppose this may have happened with other Indian Territories), but he's been making these plans based un ungrounded rumors, and once the situation has become contentious enough that the army may intervene, he decides to back out and take to the road again.

These last chapters of Little House on the Prairie were totally mind boggling to me and heartbreaking. It did lift the book a bit for me though, because I had been struggling with it some before this. I was also wondering: Starting with On the Banks of Plum Creek most of the books in the series received a Newbery distinction, but the first two books did not. I am reading these books in English for the first time now, and all the while finding them fascinating by topic I struggle sometimes with reading them aloud because the language, which I find rater flat and tedious, doesn't give me any pleasure. Does the language grow more sophisticated in the later books, as Laura grows older, or is this just the style we are in for for the rest of the series?

Thank you for the clear & thorough explanation. I guess I do remember it somewhat, now. Yes, I was always disturbed by Pa dragging the family on these adventures, and I always felt sorry for poor Ma (and Mary and Carrie) who really would have been happier in town.

I'm about 1/3 through Silver Lake and am being wowed by the grace of the writing. I'll be sharing some quotes soon to illustrate my point. Maybe Amy's recommendation of Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography would explain the difference.

Thank you Steve and Amy for bringing your posts over here. :)

I'm in the middle of Silver Lake and like it but not as much as Little House in the Big Woods. It is the very first book in the series and I remember reading it with my sister. I have a first edition safely housed on my collectables shelf. So will continue reading Silver Lake and then compare the two books and let our group know my opinion then!

Amy wrote: "I think that the language does become more sophisticated as the books progress, showing Laura's maturation as the character of Laura grows up in the book as well as Wilder's growth as a writer. Th..."

Yes, this is what I was wondering about, and you capture exactly why I was sometimes finding it awfully hard to read the book aloud with a natural, flowing cadence. If the short sentences and simple words (although sprinkled with odd technical words modern children might find daunting) already made the reading choppy, it was hard to get through all the "how to make your own ... " passages. I was tempted to go back every time I missed the thread, but couldn't really while reading aloud, even though I honestly wanted to understand the mechanics. I had actually already ordered the audio books for the next two volumes, in the hope they would feel less strenuous for me. I'm glad to hear they are worth it.

This said, I also did appreciate Laura's voice in the narrative, and it does make sense that the language is simple to reflect how young the narrator is. And she's often so painfully honest, it's amazing. As when describing some of the rivalry with Mary, or that scene towards the end of Little House on the Prairie where she starts throwing a tantrum because she wants to keep the little Indian baby that passed by her house.

On her first train ride, Laura tries to comprehend the view out the window:

"A telegraph wire swooped up and down beyond the window.... Beyond the wire, grasslands and fields and scattered farmhouses went by. They went so fast that Laura could not really look at them before they were gone. In one hour that train would go twenty miles -- as far as the horses traveled in a whole day."

On a wagon trip across the wild empty prairie:

"Noon ended too soon. Pa led the horses to drink from the creek, while Ma and Laura picked up the eggshells and bits of paper, to leave the place tidy."

Laura has never ridden horseback:

"Jean's pony seemed larger every minute. It was big and strong enough to kill Laura if it wanted to.... She was so scared to ride it that she had to try."

Pa is excited about their new home:

"'And best of all, Caroline, we're among the very first out here!'
But all their talking did not mean anything to the enormous silence of that prairie."

This is the one where there are finally hopes that Ma can have neighbors, the family can settle down, and Laura realizes that, since Mary is now blind, Laura is the daughter who will be a teacher in this generation. (Though I do always wonder why it couldn't be Carrie who follows in her mother's footsteps....) Mary is a bit of a prig - but it's probably her way of coping with her new disability. Ma still irons laundry every week - I suppose it's her pride, her way of clinging to her sense of self. Carrie and Grace are nondescript. Pa plays and sings a *lot* of songs, almost none of which I know.

Cheryl wrote: "On her first train ride, Laura tries to comprehend the view out the window:

"A telegraph wire swooped up and down beyond the window.... Beyond the wire, grasslands and fields and scattered farmhou..."

I actually think that once Mary turns blind, she becomes less of a goody two shoes than she was in the first books where she always was descriibed as being very much not only too good to be true but someone who flaunted this every chance she got, especially towards Laura (on the other hand, Mary is depicted through Laura's filter, and that also must be taken into consideration).

Cheryl wrote: "Oh, Karol, how wonderful that you had such a rich and enjoyable experience reading The Singing Tree. Have you read the other Newbery books by Seredy, or any of her less famous works? I really like her artwork, so I hunted down a copy of A Tree for Peter. That's a heartwarming story; even made tears come to my eyes. I want to read The Tenement Tree and Philomena, too, but they're not in my library system.
..."

Cheryl, I'm sorry it took me so long to respond . . . unfortunately, this is the only book by Seredy that I've read. I really was so impressed. Would you believe that my Mom, who was born in 1928, remembers reading the book? It was sometime during her "tween" years, she thinks...

Great posts about By the Shores of Silver Lake! Reading this book reminded me of why I liked the series so much. I actually wasn't so sure after reading Little House in the Big Woods.

The writing style does mature, and I agree it seems a reflection of Laura's maturation. The earlier books may have been aimed at a younger audience, and I can imagine a whole generation of girls "growing up" with this series.

There is so much in the book that is of historical significance, showing us how people lived in the time. It was a different era with different challenges than today, but a strong family overcoming obstacles is a great theme in any time period.

Well, I tried to read Runner Of The Mountain Tops: The Life Of Louis Agassiz and just couldn't become engaged. Despite the author's disclaimers in her introduction, I felt that she created a story that was both too dry and too laudatory.

I do like the idea of a bio of a scientist getting honored, though, instead of just a political leader or warrior-type. Maybe if I'd read this when I was a child, in paper rather than online, I'd have appreciated it more.

Cheryl wrote: "Well, I tried to read Runner Of The Mountain Tops: The Life Of Louis Agassiz and just couldn't become engaged. Despite the author's disclaimers in her introduction, I felt that she ..."

I agree. To me it read like a long and not particularly lively wikipedia entry.

Heh, well-put.

I very much enjoyed Runner Of The Mountain Tops: The Life Of Louis Agassiz. It's a different kind of biography. I don't know that I could have read the whole book online, however.

One must remember that Agassiz was HUGE in his time and after. You can see numerous mentions of Agassiz Societies in old issues of St. Nicholas (and elsewhere). These were clubs for children interested in nature and biology - Ernest Hemingway was a member of one, apparently. This was happening well before the founding of Boy Scouts (1910), even before the Audubon Society (1905). There was a great deal of amateur interest in the natural world. Kids back then weren't scheduled to death by their helicopter parents with karate lessons, soccer practice, and SAT prep (and they certainly weren't surfing the net and playing Minecraft).

By 1940, it would seem that the age of Agassiz was fading into history, but Mabel Robinson was one of those disciples from back at the turn of the century.

That background helps, Michael, thank you.

I think part of the problem for me is that I've never been a big fan of any kind of biography - I always want to know more about the works, not the person. I can see that this book would appeal to readers of biographies, esp. if they already were familiar w/ the name.