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Secret Castle by Anne Colver

Jul30

Colver, Anne. Secret Castle. Illustrated by Vaike Low. Knopf, 1969.

My copy is a paperback published by American Education Publications. It’s marked on the front cover with a price of 75 cents. The cheapest copy I could find online was $25 for the paperback. The original hardcover is much more expensive. But maybe you can find a copy at your library, if you have a good old-fashioned public library or a private lending library near you.

In this mystery adventure story Molly-O Moore and her good friend Pip Parker go on vacation with Molly’s family to the St. Lawrence Seaway, Alexandria Bay, NY in the Thousand Islands. According to a note at the beginning of the book, “the town of Alexandria Bay, N.Y., Devil’s Oven Island, and the fascinating Boldt Castle itself, landmark of the Thousand Islands, are true settings for this imaginary story.”

Molly-O and Pip are horse-loving, pet owning, ice cream eating, giggly, and adventurous girls (about ten years old, although the book never tells their exact ages) who “set off to solve the mystery of a lost legacy.” Actually, the girls spend most of their time in the first half to three-quarters of the book looking for a mystery to solve and learning to row a boat and fish. They get to know a young man named Christie who takes the girls and Molly’s father out on his boat to learn to catch fish. Soon the girls also learn that Christie has a rather sad secret, and they are impelled to solve a mystery and help Christie find a fortune.

I would have enjoyed this mystery story if I had read it as a child right along with my Trixie Belden mysteries and the Lookout Mountain series by Emmy West and Christine Noble Govan. It’s not very challenging for an adult reader, but perfect for seven to ten year old readers who love mystery and adventure stories. If I had a library in New York or Canada or anywhere near the St. Lawrence River or Seaway, I would certainly be on the lookout for an inexpensive copy of Secret Castle for local color and a good story to boot.

Anne Colver is the author of quite a few children’s books from the sixties and seventies, including Bread-and Butter Indian and Bread-and-Butter Journey, historical fiction books that are highly recommended by those who have read them. (Pricy, too!) She also wrote another Molly-O and Pip book before this one, called Borrowed Treasure, as well as many more beloved children’s fiction books and biographies. Her husband, Stewart Graff, was also a children’s book author. Any one of the couple’s many books is worth a look if you find it in the library or at the thrift store.

This book can be borrowed by member families from Meriadoc Homeschool Library.

The Mystery of the Pilgrim Trading Post by Anne Molloy

Jun1

This mystery tale of smugglers and Native American artifacts and a fight against bridges and roads being built on top of someone’s home is fairly standard and quite readable. It reminds me of my beloved Trixie Belden mysteries and of the many mysteries by Helen Fuller Orton and the Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner. This one is not part of a series, but if you like any of Ms. Molloy’s many mystery adventure stories, you will probably enjoy this one.

Thirteen year old twins, Will and Lettie Dennis, and their cousin Jonas Wingate are invited to spend the summer at the old TIbbets homestead with Cousin Mary Peter, whose home is set to be demolished soon so that a bridge can be built from the Maine coast out to Eden Island and Smuggler’s Cove. None of the three really wants to sped their summer in Maine with a cousin they never met, but their parents have asked them to give it a week’s trial. Cousin Mary Peter, a pharmacist, storekeeper, and somewhat eccentric caregiver, assumes that the children are staying for the summer. And as it turns out, Will, Lettie, and Jo find more to pique their interest than they thought they would, including a plan to save the old homestead by having it declared a historical site. The family have always “firmly believed that it [the house] was the very place where the Pilgrims set up a post to trade with the Indians when they came from Plymouth to this bay.” If the children can prove it, the house will be protected.

Published in 1964, the mystery adventure story features free-range children exploring and sometimes doing rather foolish things like stowing away on a smuggler’s boat or taking a leaky boat out into the bay, but all’s well that ends well. (Just don’t try these exploits at home.) Even one of the “villains” of the story is redeemed in the end. It all makes for a satisfying middle grade summer novel. And as I said, it’s a stand alone book, for those who prefer their books free of series entanglements.

This book can be borrowed by member families from Meriadoc Homeschool Library.

Dog Journeys: Books About Dogs

Jun19

Roverandom by JRR Tolkien.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith.

I have often heard people say that they avoid dog books because the dog always dies. And indeed, many beloved dog books do turn out that way: Old Yeller, Sounder, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Stone Fox, White Fang, and many more. (Sorry for the spoilers. Or maybe, you’re welcome to the warning.)

Anyway, I read a couple of books recently in which the doggy plot heads in a different direction. The dogs in these two books are endangered and face obstacles and go on a difficult and challenging journey, but the dogs do not die. Roverandum by JRR Tolkien, of hobbit fame, began as a bedtime story for Tolkien’s sons to explain and console them for the loss of a toy dog on the beach. In the story Roverandom was once a real live dog, turned into a small toy by an irascible wizard. When Roverandom is lost on the beach, another, more benevolent wizard can’t undo the first wizard’s curse, but he can send Roverandom on a journey, first to the moon where he has many adventures, and then to the depths of the ocean where Roverandom, after many more adventures, finally manages to get permission to be returned to his normal doggy state. The stories in this short 148 page book would be fun as a read aloud for elementary age children and might even engage the interest of those a little older than that.

I have also heard some people opine that the adventures of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins become somewhat repetitious and even tedious after a while. Those same readers would find Roverandom even more dull. On the other hand, those of us who enjoy imaginative flights of fancy and dueling wizards and journeys full of unusual adventures are primed for reading about a toy dog who visits the dark side of the moon as well as hobbits who visit dragons and gigantic spiders.

The other book I read was 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith. I saw the Disney movie long ago, and of course, I thought I knew the story. But also of course, the book is much more engaging and humorous than the movie ever could have been. It’s a Christmas story, beginning just before Christmas, in which a pair of Dalmatians, mother and father, Pongo and Missus, go on a perilous and difficult journey to rescue their kidnapped puppies–all fifteen of them. Cruella de Vil is both cruel and devilish, but she eventually gets her just deserts. There are no wizards or magic spells in this book, but it is full of fun as the dogs, who think they own their humans, the Dearlys, exhibit humor and personality and independence and courage in the face of danger.

I highly recommend both Roverandom and 101 Dalmatians as stories in which the dog does NOT die, but instead goes on a brave journey of self-discovery and also exploration of the world and its wonders.

More good dog journey stories in which the dog does not die (I don’t think):

  • The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford.
  • Silver Chief, Dog of the North by Jack O’Brien
  • Lassie, Come-Home by Eric Knight
  • Big Red (and sequels) by Jim Kjelgaard
  • Kavik the Wolf Dog by Walt Morey
  • Red Dog by Bill Wallace
  • Hurry Home, Candy by Meindert DeJong
  • Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes

Any other suggestions?

High Lonesome by Louis L’Amour

Aug20

I read this book partly to see if it would be appropriate for the young adults who patronize my library and partly just to see if I liked L’Amour’s fiction as much as I did his autobiography, The Education of a Wandering Man. I found two instances of mildly bad language (h— and d–n), not that I’m into counting. And there was a romance, but rather chaste even though the guy is an outlaw gunslinger and the girl is the daughter of an outlaw. I think it would be perfectly good for anyone fourteen or fifteen and up.

I don’t read many Westerns, but I can see how L’Amour’s books became so popular. This story of an attractive outlaw and a young but strong girl who falls for him has more going for it than just the romance. There’s male-bonding, a bit of bromance, and a lots of fighting and honor among thieves and standing up for what’s right even when it looks hopeless.

L’Amour’s characters are flawed, but likable. The peril they find themselves in is partly due to their own bad decisions, but partly just the luck of the draw. The idea is that everybody eventually has to choose to do the right thing or be a self-seeking coward, even those who have chosen the wrong side of the law in the past. And it’s not whether you follow the law that makes you a good man, rather it’s whether or not you follow your own internal compass of right and wrong and make the hard right choice when the crisis comes. I would argue that if you haven’t built up those muscles of choosing right in the minor issues you are unlikely to choose right when a really big choice requiring self denial comes along, but L’Amour’s characters don’t have that much nuance.

Considine, the hero of the novel, is a man who “had a way of getting to where he wanted to be without being seen.” “[T]he big, quiet man was very sure of himself, and was known to be a dangerous man with a gun.’ “Considine did not seem like an outlaw. He had the air of a gentleman and there was something undefined in his manner that set him apart.” “Nor were they free of the images their own minds held of themselves. The man on horseback, the lone-riding man, the lone-thinking man, possessed an image of himself that was in part his own, in part a piece of all the dime novels he had read, for no man is free of the image his literature imposes upon him. And the dime novel made the western hero a knight-errant.”

I’m casting, of course, John Wayne, in my mind’s eye as Considine. If you like that kind of movie or book or if you like dime novel western heroes, High Lonesome should be just the ticket. No irony here, just straight up shootin’ and ridin’ and honor and heroism with a little bit of bank robbing thrown in.

Summer Reading Challenge: Books Set in the Summer

Jun28

I’m sponsoring a summer reading challenge in my library. The rules are as follows:

Out of the forty categories listed, choose the number your child intends to complete, one book per category from Meriadoc Homeschool Library.Children in grades K-12 can choose to read 10, 20, 30 or 40 books between June 1, 2019 and August 31, 2019. Books must be recorded and responses given on the official record sheet. You do not have to check out your books from Meriadoc Homeschool Library, but many categories may be easier to find in MHSL than in other libraries or at home. Books can be read and recorded in any order you choose.

The fifth category for this challenge is to read “a book about or set in the summer.”

Summer books for primary readers (grades K-3)
The Camping Trip That Changed America by Barb Rosenstock. Naturalist John Muir and President Teddy Roosevelt go on a camping trip to Yosemite.

The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow. A beautiful, poetic picture book story about a trip to the beach.

Roxaboxen by Alice McLarren. A group of children in Arizona or New Mexico, somewhere dry and desert-y, make a play town out of old woden crates, rocks, cacti and desert glass.

Sailor Jack and the Ball Game by Selma Wassermann. An easy reader about submarine sailor Jack and his friend Beanpole and jack’s parrot, Bluebell, and a rather chaotic baseball game.

Betsy’s Busy Summer by Carolyn Haywood. All of Haywood’s Betsy and Eddie books are delightful, but most of them are school stories. This one tells about Betsy and her friends and their neighborhood adventures during one fun summer.

More summer reading for younger children

Summer books for middle grade readers (grades 4-7)
Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright. Summer has a magic all its own, but this summer is different in many ways. Portia Blake and her younger brother Foster are going to the same place they always go in the summer, to visit their cousin Julian. However, this summer they’re going all by themselves while their parents spend the summer in Europe. And this summer Portia and Julian discover a deserted resort town next to a nearly dried up lake. And this summer the children also become friends with the eccentric Minnehaha Cheever and Pindar Payton, elderly sister and brother who are the only inhabitants of the ghost town across the lake. What other “magic” will the children conjure up as they listen to tales of long ago and explore the remains of Gone-Away Lake?

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall.

Henry Reed, Inc. by Keith Robertson. A great old-fashioned book about a boy who spends the summer in a small town with his uncle and aunt. Exciting things happen whenever Henry is around!

Galveston’s Summer of the Storm by Julie Lake. Very lazy Texas summer with Texas foods and hot weather and front porches and grandmother’s house. Then disaster!

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome. Originally published in 1930, this book is the first in a series of books about a group of adventurous children and a sailboat. Swallows and Amazons introduces the Walker children—John, Susan, Titty, and Roger—their camp on Wild Cat island, the able-bodied catboat Swallow, and their frenemies the two intrepid Amazons, Nancy and Peggy Blackett. The children are living the free range kids’ dream as they camp all by themselves on a small island, cook their own meals, sail their boat up and down the lake, and engage in all sorts of mock-battles and adventures.

Ash Road by Ivan Southall. This one takes place in January, summertime in Australia. A small group of children are cut off by a raging wildfire in the wilds of the Australian outback. They have only two elderly adults to help them, or perhaps it is the children who must help each other to get them all out of danger.

More summer reading for middle graders.

Summer books for teen readers (grades 8-12)
Shaking the Nickel Bush by Ralph Moody. “Skinny and suffering from diabetes, Ralph Moody is ordered by a Boston doctor to seek a more healthful climate. Now nineteen years old, he strikes out into new territory hustling odd jobs, facing the problem of getting fresh milk and leafy green vegetables. He scrapes around to survive, risking his neck as a stunt rider for a movie company.” This book is the sixth book in a series of eight autobiographical novels by Ralph Moody, the author and protagonist who had to grow up fast after his father’s death when Ralph was only eleven years old. High schoolers may want to start with the first book in the series, Little Britches, or just begin with this one, a gripping tale of a young man’s adventures and growth.

I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acampora. Set during the summer between eighth grade and high school, this mystery adventure tells the story of how three Mockingbird fans created a conspiracy to make Harper Lee’s famous novel into the hottest property on the shelves of all of the libraries, bookstores, and other book distributors in the state of Connecticut, maybe the whole U.S.

The War for Independence: The Story of the American Revolution by Albert Marrin.

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy.

My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay. Eighteen year old Cori decides to spend her summer in Indonesia, building a church, out of mixed motives. Yes, Cori is a Christian, and she wants to do something meaningful in God’s service. She also wants to get away from her confusing relationship with her boyfriend, Scott, and she just wants to experience her own adventure. She gets a lot more “adventure” than she bargained for.

More summer books for young teens

Do you have any favorite books set in the summertime?

Summer Reading Challenge: The 1700’s

Jun14

I’m sponsoring a summer reading challenge in my library. The rules are as follows:

Out of the forty categories listed, choose the number your child intends to complete, one book per category from Meriadoc Homeschool Library.Children in grades K-12 can choose to read 10, 20, 30 or 40 books between June 1, 2019 and August 31, 2019. Books must be recorded and responses given on the official record sheet. You do not have to check out your books from Meriadoc Homeschool Library, but many categories may be easier to find in MHSL than in other libraries or at home. Books can be read and recorded in any order you choose.

The third category for this challenge is to read a “book set in the eighteenth century (1700’s).”

For preschoolers and primary ages (grades K-3)

Sam the Minuteman and George the Drummer Boy, both by Nathaniel Benchely are easy readers that tell the story of the Battle of Lexington from two different perspectives. Sam and his father refighting the British soldiers at Lexington. George is a drummer boy in the British army that was sent out to capture the weapons that the American patriots were hiding at Lexington and Concord. These are great stories and great for making comparisons and contrasts between the British and the American viewpoints about the War for Independence.

The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh. “An eight-year-old girl finds courage to go alone with her father to build a new home in the Connecticut wilderness, and to stay with the Indians when her father goes back to bring the rest of the family.” This story, based on the true story of a pioneer girl, is rich in its language and inspiring in its themes.

Pirate’s Promise by Clyde Robert Bulla. Young Tom Pippin is sold by his greedy uncle into indentured servanthood, but in a strange turn of events it’s a pirate captain who eventually helps Tom to gain his freedom. Bulla is such a great author, and his books are easy enough for young readers to comprehend, but exciting enough to hold their interest.

George Washington’s Mother by Jean Fritz. Mary Ball Washington, the mother of our first president, sometimes smoked a pipe and hated to get all dressed up. This book shows a very human, down-to-earth founding mother who nevertheless loved little George very much. Don’t read it if all you want is a flattering portrait of an early American, but if you want relatable, this book is great. Several other books by Jean Fritz fall into this time period including Why Don’t You Get a Horse, Sam Adams, Can’t You Make Them Behave, King George?, and And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?.

Ben Franklin and the Magic Squares by Frank Murphy. Benjamin Franklin was such a polymath–politician, inventor, scientist, author, publisher, and diplomat. While he was serving as clerk for the Pennsylvania Assembly, he became bored and came up with a math game to amuse himself. He called the game “magic squares”, and this easy to read book explains the magic square game and also talks about other ingenious ideas and devices that Franklin invented.

For upper elementary ages (grades 4-6) and middle schoolers (grades 7-8)

A Heart Strangely Warmed by Louise A. Vernon. Fiction based on the life and work of Methodist evangelist John Wesley.

Jonathan Edwards (Christian Biographies for Young Readers) by Simonetta Carr. This series of picture books with advanced text for older children has several books that are both beautiful and readable. Jonathan Edwards was a fascinating character and one of the true luminaries of colonial America. This biography serves as a lovely introduction to his life and ministry.

Handel at the Court of Kings by Opal Wheeler. Read about the life and times of composer George Frederic Handel who was court composer to Queen Anne and to George I, her successor. Opal Wheeler tells the story of Handel’s music and his life with such engaging text that the reader can’t help but be interested in listening to Handel’s music.

Stowaway by Karen Hesse. Eleven-year-old Nicholas Young is a stowaway aboard Captain James Cook’s ship Endeavour in 1768 as Cook and his crew voyage around the world.

For adults and young adults:

In Mozart’s Shadow by Carolyn Meyer. A fictional story about Nannerl, Mozart’s sister, who was a musician and composer in her own right but never got the chance to rival her little brother, Wolfgang Amadeus.

Or Give Me Death by Ann Rinaldi. Patriot and Virginia statesman Patrick Henry has a daughter and a family secret. In this fictional account we can read about the American revolution in Virginia from the point of view of Patrick Henry’s daughter and his wife. Ann Rinaldi also wrote several other historical fiction books set during this time period, including Cast Two Shadows, Mutiny’s Daughter, Takng Liberty, The Fifth of March, and The Secret of Sarah Revere.

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. A girl slave sold to a master loyal to England during the American Revolution. She must decide whether to become a spy for the American rebels; this book is the first in the Seeds of America trilogy. The other two books, which follow the same characters throughout the American Revolution, are Forge and Ashes.

Since the books in my library that deal with history, both nonfiction and historical fiction, are shelved in chronological order, it’s easy to find a multitude of books set during the 1700’s. Just check the correct shelf and find one that suits your reading interests. Or check out one of the books on this list. What books do you know and love that are set during the eighteenth century?

Summer Reading Challenge: Poets and Poetry

Jun12

I’m sponsoring a summer reading challenge in my library. The rules are as follows:

Out of the forty categories listed, choose the number your child intends to complete, one book per category from Meriadoc Homeschool Library.Children in grades K-12 can choose to read 10, 20, 30 or 40 books between June 1, 2019 and August 31, 2019. Books must be recorded and responses given on the official record sheet. You do not have to check out your books from Meriadoc Homeschool Library, but many categories may be easier to find in MHSL than in other libraries or at home. Books can be read and recorded in any order you choose.

The second category for this challenge is “a book about poetry or about a poet.”

What Is Poetry? The Essential Guide to Reading and Writing Poems by Michael Rosen. If you’re interested writing your own poetry (or song lyrics), this book is a great guide for getting started. It covers definitions, ways to start a poem, editing, technical points about reading and writing poems, and more. Summer is a great time for daydreaming and brainstorming and writing poetry.

Picture books and picture book biographies of famous poets:
A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jennifer Bryant. Williams was both a doctor and poet, and his life story as told in this picture book is inspirational and absorbing.

Emily by Michael Bedard. This picture book is a fiction story about Emily Dickinson and the little girl who lives across the street from Emily and comes to visit one day. Such a good story.

Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash. One of my favorite poems just for fun.

Belinda lived in a little white house,
With a little black kitten and a little gray mouse,
And a little yellow dog and a little red wagon,
And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Biographies for chapter book readers:
Phillis Wheatley : Young Colonial Poet by Helen Ross Speicher. In the Childhood of Famous Americans series, this biography tells about the first African American women to have her poetry published and acclaimed in colonial America.

James Whitcomb Riley: Hoosier Boy (Childhood of Famous Americans) by Minnie Belle Mitchell. Another COFA that you can pair with the picture book version of Riley’s poem, The Gobble-Uns ‘ll Git You Ef You Don’t Watch Out! James Whitcomb Riley’s Little Orphant Annie.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, His Life by Catherine Owens Peare. I love Longfellow, and this is a great biography, easy to read but really informative. I think if you read a couple of Longfellow’s poems together, children will be interested in learning more about the poet. The picture book that goes with this biography is Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Poetry and fiction:
The Mouse of Amherst by Elizabeth Spires. Another fiction book about Emily Dickinson and her friend; this time the friend is a little mouse who lives in Emily’s house.

May B. by Caroline Starr Rose. “When a failed wheat crop nearly bankrupts the Betterly family, Pa pulls twelve-year-old May from school and hires her out to a couple new to the Kansas frontier.” Verse novels are stories written in poetic form, usually free verse. The poems tell the story, and this one is a good tribute to perseverance and determination. Two other verse novels that I can recommend are Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate and Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech.

I have lots of other poetry books in my library. I didn’t even get to the regular poetry collections like Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends and others and the subject-related collections of poems, for example Beat the Drum, Independence Day Has Come and Marvelous Math: A Book of Poems, both by Lee Bennett Hopkins.

What are your favorite poetry-related books?

Summer Reading Challenge: Nature Study

Jun11

I’m sponsoring a summer reading challenge in my library. The rules are as follows:

Out of the forty categories listed, choose the number your child intends to complete, one book per category from Meriadoc Homeschool Library. Children in grades K-12 can choose to read 10, 20, 30 or 40 books between June 1, 2019 and August 31, 2019. Books must be recorded and responses given on the official record sheet. You do not have to check out your books from Meriadoc Homeschool Library, but many categories may be easier to find in MHSL than in other libraries or at home. Books can be read and recorded in any order you choose.

The first category is “books about nature study.” Here are a few suggestions from my library:

Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Jessica Lanon. A picture book biography of the well-known educator and naturalist. Here’s a link to my review of this lovely story of a girl who was in love with nature.

The Boy Who Drew Birds by Jacqueline Davies is another picture book biography, this one about John James Audubon.

Jim Arnosky has a plethora of wonderful nature books. I have the following books in my library:
Sketching Outdoors in Summer
Secrets of a Wildlife Watcher
Turtle in the Sea
Raccoons and Ripe Corn
Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats
Come Out, Muskrats
All About Turkeys
All About Frogs
All About Owls
Thunder Birds: Nature’s Flying Predators
Hook, Line, And Seeker: A Beginner’s Guide To Fishing, Boating, and Watching Water Wildlife
Read more about Mr. Arnosky and his fabulous books. You can find more of them at the bookstore or at the public library.

The Adventure Book of Nature Craft by Richard F. Dempewolff. This book is from an old series that used to be sold in hobby shops and craft stores. Other books in the series that would qualify as “nature study” are The Adventure Book of Birds, The Adventure Book of Insects, The Adventure Book of Leaves, and The Adventure Book of Growing Plants. These are for the child (or adult) who wants to start a new hobby or collection: a leaf collection, a garden or terrarium, bird-watching, or an insect collection. Good reading and lots of good fun to go with it.

Right in Your Own Backyard: Nature Math by Anne Miranda. From the I Love Math series, published by Time-Life Education. Discover patterns in nature, study animals tracks with Professor Guesser, and learn about the geometry of a spider’s web.

In Woods and Fields by Margaret Waring Buck. “This book is for boys and girls and other beginning naturalists. Every effort has been made to make it as accurate as if it were written and illustrated for scientists.It is the result of years of firsthand observation and study.” Ms. Buck describes the birds, insects, and plants that a nature lover is likely to encounter during each season of the year, with detailed drawings of each one of the flora and fauna mentioned. I also have In Yards and Gardens, a similar books by the same author.

Ruby Throat: The Story of a Hummingbird by Robert M McClung. Mr. McClung is another author whose books are all worth reading —over and over again. In this one, the author tells about the life and habits of Ruby Throat, a hummingbird, only three and a half inches long.

The Bug Club Book: A Handbook for Young Bug Collectors by Gladys Plemon Conklin. Ms. COnklin was a librarian who hosted a bug club for “young bug collectors” at her library. Read her book and find out how to start your own bug club.

For parents who want to join in the nature fun:

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. Mr. Louv, father of boys himself, describes “the human costs of alienation from nature.”

Wild Days: Creating Discovery Journals by Karen Skidmore Rackliffe. Learn how you and your child can start a nature discovery journal of your own.

The Country Diary of An Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden. This book I’m going to read to see what I can learn about Edwardian ladies and their affinity for nature.

Do you have a favorite nature study book? Are you planning to make some time to get outdoors this summer and experience nature with your children?

If you like Little House: The Older (Golden) Years of Laura . . .

Jul3

For the month of July, I’m planning a series of posts about readalikes: what to read (or what to suggest to your favorite child reader) when you’ve read all of your favorite author’s books or all of the books of a certain genre that you know of, and you don’t know what to read next.

On Saturday we talked about Little House (Laura Ingalls Wilder) readalike books for middle grade readers; today I have some prairie and frontier fiction for middle school, high school and even adult readers.

The Jumping-Off Place by Marian Hurd McNeely. Becky, Dick, Phil, and Joan, orphaned brothers and sisters, work hard to retain their Uncle Jim’s homestead in Tripp County, South Dakota at the turn of the century, early 1900’s. This book won a Newbery Honor in 1930, around the same time that the Little House books were being published, but it’s not nearly as well known. I put it here in this post for older children and teens because it’s a little darker in tone than the Little House books. A baby dies of snakebite; some homesteaders go hungry; life is hard. But the children/young people survive and thrive with grit and determination.

Patricia Beatty’s historical heroines are usually strong, spunky, and full of life and mischief. Often her novels have themes related to women’s rights, women’s suffrage, and feminism. These have a much more comical, individualistic, and adventurous tone to them than the Little House series, and they’re written for twelve year olds and older.
A selection of some of my favorite frontier fiction titles by Patricia Beatty:
That’s One Ornery Orphan. In Texas in the 1870’s orphan Hallie Lee Baker tries to get herself adopted, but her plan go awry.
Just Some Weeds from the Wilderness. In Oregon in 1873, Adelina Westlake, with the help of her niece Lucinda, goes into business, unheard of for a well-bred female, to save her family from financial ruin.
Something to Shout About. Thirteen year old Hope Foster and her family become the new residents of a new town in 1875: Ottenberg in Montana Territory.
How Many Miles to Sundown? Beeler Quimey and her pet longhorn, Travis, travel with brother Leo and another boy, Nate through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona in the 1880’s.
By Crumbs It’s Mine. In 1882, thirteen year old Damaris and her family are traveling through Arizona territory in hopes of settling somewhere when her father catches gold fever and deserts the family for the gold fields of California. When Damaris accidentally becomes a hotel owner, the family calls on Aunt Willa to help.
Bonanza Girl. Ann Katie Scott and her mother move to a mining boom-town in Idaho Territory and begin to make a living by opening a restaurant.But how will they survive if the gold gives out?
The Nickel-Plated Beauty. In Washington state in 1886, the Kimballs order their mother a new, shiny, nickel-plated cookstove for Christmas. They keep their plan a secret and spend half the year working to try to pay for the beautiful new stove.
Hail Columbia! In 1893, Louisa’s Aunt Columbia bring her suffragette and other political ideas to the frontier in Astoria, Oregon.
O The Red Rose Tree. Also set in 1893, but back in Washington state, this novel features four thirteen year old girls trying to help an old woman complete her special quilt pattern.
Eight Mules from Monterey. In 1916, Fayette and her librarian mother try to bring library services by mule to the people living in and around Monterrey, California.

When Molly Was a Harvey Girl by Frances M. Wood. Molly pretends to be eighteen years old so that she can get a job as a Harvey girl at the famous Harvey House restaurant.

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson. The orphaned sixteen year old Hattie Brooks decides to leave Iowa and move to Vida, Montana, to prove up on her late uncle’s homestead claim. In Montana in 1918, Hattie finds adventure, hardship, and family.
Hattie Ever After by Kirby Larson. In this sequel to Hattie Big Sky, Hattie wants to follow in the footsteps of Nellie Bly and become a real newspaper reporter.

If you’ve tried all of these and the ones in the previous Little House readalike post and you still want more, let me know in the comments. I can probably come up with a few more authors and books to sate your appetite for girls and families in historical frontier fiction.