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Mr. Apple’s Family by Jean McDevitt

Jun5

What a delightful book! Mr. and Mrs. Apple are the parents of five little Apple children: Macintosh, Jonathan, Delicious, Snow and Ann Apple. Mr. Apple is the one who wanted to name all of his children after types of apples, and the first chapter of the book tells how he managed to do so, almost. Then the story moves on to tell about how the Apple family outgrow their apartment in the city and work hard to buy a little crooked house in the country.

This easy chapter book with six stories or chapters is another one of the books I purchased from The Good and the Beautiful’s closeout sale. But this one is no longer available at a reasonable price, so if you see a used copy, snap it up. The illustrations are by classic illustrator Ninon (MacKnight) who was born in Australia, but came to the U.S. as an adult and became a well regarded artist for children’s books and for greeting cards. Her black and white illustrations for Mr. Apple’s Family are simple and sweet and quite suited to the simplicity and sweetness of the story itself.

A long time ago I had a curriculum idea book from the company Good Apple with lots of worksheets and crafts and puzzles and coloring sheets, all about apples. The idea was for teachers to do a fall/September unit study about apples that encompassed math, science, language, and literature. Although unit studies can be overdone, I think this book about Mr. Apple’s family, along with A Basket of Plums, and a few apple activities, plus a few apples to munch on, would make a fun story time or mini-homeschool unit study.

More Apple Books in the library:

  • Apple-picking Time by Michele Slawson
  • Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallotta
  • From Apple Seed to Applesauce by Hannah Lyons Johnson
  • The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree by Gail GIbbons
  • Cezanne and the Apple Boy by Laurence Anholt
  • How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
  • How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro
  • Applebet: An ABC by Clyde Watson
  • Spaceship Under the Apple Tree by Louis Slobodkin

I also like how the Apple family members, over the course of the entire story, are learning to honor one another in community as they make choices or give up their right to choose to allow for the preferences of others. As the story puts it, “They knew that they could not always have what they wanted. (Someone else) must sometimes have what they wanted.” Embedded in the story in several places, it’s not so much a moral lesson as a true commentary on the way the world should work, if we were all busy loving one another. And as the Bible says (Proverbs 25:11), “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”

The Little Grey Men Go Down the Bright Stream by B.B.

Nov25

This book is the sequel to B.B.’s award-winning gnome novel, The Little Grey Men, and I am happy to say it’s just as exciting, just as nature-loving, and just as good as the first book. Sneezewort, Baldmoney, Dodder, and Cloudberry are the last gnomes living in England, maybe in the world. They live in an old hollow tree on Folly brook sharing their lives and their fortunes with the birds, especially their owl friends, and the otters and the other wild beasts, and their special friend Squirrel–the Stream People. But the Folly has been diverted into an underground drain upstream, and now all of the Stream People, including the four gnomes must decide what to do about their homes.

Can the gnomes rehabilitate their old boat, the Jeanie Deans? Will there be enough water in the Folly to float the boat if and when they do? Where can the four old gnomes go to live safely and comfortably away from the eyes and ears of men?

In the first book the gnomes went upstream to search for their lost brother, and in this sequel they are traveling downstream to find a new home. But the adventures are the same. The gnomes have to keep the boat afloat, avoid predators and enemies, and most of all, agree on a plan for a new living situation. Unfortunately, one of the four gnomes is listening to his own evil pride and jealousy while another has some wild ideas about how to proceed. And Dodder, the oldest of the gnomes, is hard put to keep the Little Men safe and all together as they go on their dangerous journey downriver.

Content considerations with SPOILER: In this sequel, as in the first book, the gnomes and their animal friends pray to and receive help from Pan, the god of the beasts. Pan, in this story, reads to me like another name for God, the Lord of all as the animals know him (kind of like Aslan in the Narnia stories). There are no incantations or pagan sacrifices, only prayer and a faith that Pan will guard and guide. Also, one of the characters in the book (SPOILER!) plans to murder the others, and the depth of evil that lurks in this character’s mind was a surprise to me. It might be disturbing to more sensitive readers. However, goodness and perseverance win out in the end, and the bad guys get their just deserts.

This book and the one before it are absolutely full of nature lore and beautiful descriptions of the English flora and fauna, and it’s all worked into an exciting story that doesn’t lag or lose appeal. It may move a little more slowly than most contemporary adventure books for children, but I found the pace to be fast enough to keep me reading for hours. The gnomes have to survive through flood and fire and enemies without and within to make it to their new home, which turns out to be both a surprise and just what they expected and wanted it to be.

If I lived in England with children, this book and The Little Grey Men would be must-reads, read-aloud. For Anglophiles like me, the same is true. For everyone else, I would still recommend that you at least try out The Little Grey Men, and if you like it at all, pick up The Little Grey Men Go Down the Bright Stream also.

Thanksgiving, 2017

Nov22

Wednesday, November 22: Three of our eight children will not be home for Thanksgiving, but we are thankful for the ones who will be here. (And everyone gets to come home for Christmas, from Pennsylvania, from Oregon, and from the Houston area. Hooray!) We also have guests coming, a friend and my son-in-law’s family. So, it will be a full house to be thankful for and with.

Wednesday afternoon: I made two beautiful pumpkin pies, BUT I forgot to put any sugar in them. The internet informs us that pumpkin is good for dogs, so our Heinz-57-part-rat-terrier is in for a healthy treat. And I get to make more pies. The foxes in the vineyard will not steal my joy.

Wednesday evening: Engineer Husband is chopping onions for dressing and for 1015 Surprise. We had Reuben sandwiches for supper. Cook the turkey tonight, and warm the ham tomorrow. The second set of pumpkin pies are in the oven now. They are sweet. I tasted to make sure.
We are having an ongoing family-wide discussion about the best stuffing/dressing recipes. Cornbread only or cornbread and white bread together? How much broth or milk or other wet ingredients? Eggs or not? Go strictly by one recipe or mix and match and wing it? I say they are all over-thinking this part of the Thanksgiving menu, but as long as they are enjoying the process, I won’t call time-out.
Two daughters are bringing breakfast/brunch food, and we will spend tomorrow morning, cooking and discussing.

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day: We watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade; one of my children is there in person, watching. We enjoyed a breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls and pineapple.

2:00 p.m. Now there are approximately ten people in the kitchen, give or take, all trying to cook something different. One oven, four burners on the stove. Well, okay, I exaggerated, only seven people are in the kitchen. We’re making corn casserole, sweet potatoes, apple pie, mashed potatoes, 1015 Surprise, and dressing—all at the same time.

6:00 p.m. Dinner has been cooked, served, and eaten. We are all full and thankful. The family is playing games, debating movie choices, and planning a possible 42 game. All is well, and all manner of things shall be well.

Thank you, Lord Jesus.

55 Recipes I’d Like To Make

Aug7

Now I haven’t made any of these, but I am in need of some new ideas. So, these are the ones I’ve found that I’m planning to try out soon.

1. Chocolate Cherry Cake from Brenda at Coffee, Tea, Books and Me (who shares my reason for celebrating at this particular time of year)

2. Sweet Sour Meatloaf from Norma at Collecting My Thoughts

3. Pumpkin Bread Pudding from The Anchoress. I’ll probably save this recipe for autumn, the time for pumpkin.

4. Sweet and Sour Meatballs and Cherry Crockpot Cobbler from Dawn at By Sun and Candlelight Dawn always has such wonderful posts about homemaking and homeschooling and organization and loving life.

5. The winner of Rachel Held Evans’ Recipe Contest of Biblical Proportions: Medallions and Carrots It’s actually Pork and Carrots, and I think my family would like it because it’s a bit sweet. We’re all sugar addicted.

6. Gingery Marinated Beef Cubes from The Reading Zone Sometimes in addition to all the yummy books and teaching tips, Sarah includes a “slice of life”, which is where this recipe idea comes from.

7-12. Cranberry Ketchup.
Wisconsin Cheese Soup.
Spinach Lasagne.
Surprising Chili
Cheeseburger Soup
Strawberry soup
All from The Common Kitchen. A lot of the Headmistress’s recipes are way too “healthy” or labor intensive for me, but the above look just right, veggies and all that good stuff, but easy and tasty, too.

13. Recipe for a Sweet Smelling House from Carol MagistraMater.

14. Best Scones Ever from LiterariTea

15. Fruit Crisp from Like Mother, Like Daughter. Actually, I’ve made lots of fruit crisp, but Aunt Leila suggests making the crisp part ahead and freezing. I like that idea.

16. Our Favorite Potato Soup from Melissa Wiley Melissa says she’s a “disorganized cook”, like me! So her recipe should work perfectly in our disorganized, soup-loving house.

17. Spicy Lentil Meatball Soup from Violet at Promptings.

18. Winter Fudge Cake from Farm School

19. Moo-Shu Pork from Jessica Snell at Homemaking through the Church Year. Jessica is a lovely and inspiring Anglican writer, homemaker, and mom.

20. Root Beer Bundt Cake from Girl Detective. I’ve made 7-up Cake and Coke Cake, but never root beer. Girl Detective, by the way, not only reads and reviews great books; she also bakes bodacious birthday cakes. I am much too lazy to go to this much work for a birthday cake, even though I love my urchins very much.

21. Pumpkin Rolls from Sheila at Book Journey. I’m sensing a pumpkin, soup, chocolate theme in the recipes that appeal to me. Sheila’s blog is is lovely place for readers and bloggers and writers to meet together and discuss books, maybe over a slice of pumpkin roll.

22. White Chicken Chili from Hope Is The Word. I made this on Sunday, July 1, and we all enjoyed it very much. I wanted to add some corn to the recipe, but I didn’t have any.

23-24. Jama Rattigan at Jama’s Alphabet Soup is all about food and fun and books and celebration, so I found a couple of recipes there that I’d like to try
Black-eyed Pea Salad Medley.
Tracie’s Cheatin’ Shells

25. Potato Casserole from My Friend Amy.

26. Corn Salad from Heather at Sprittibee.

27. Lemony Buttered Shrimp from Jennifer at Conversion Diary Jen is a hilarious Catholic mom who lives and writes from Texas.

28. Chicken Marinara from Kim at The Upward Call

29. Banana Sheet Cake from Rebecca Writes Rebecca is a theologian as well as a homemaker, and she is worth reading on either subject.

30. Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes from Chef in Training (Actually I found a link to this and several other recipes from Pinterest at Shonya’s blog, Learning How Much I Don’t Know)

31. Chocolate Chip Pie from Renee at Add More Chocolate. Renee hasn’t posted in a while, but she still has a whole bunch of chocolate recipes in her Month of Chocolate feature that she did in February, 2010.

32. Cranberry Salsa from A Circle of Quiet. She has a food blog called Notre Pain Quotidian.

33. Gooey Butter Cake from Laura at Lines in Pleasant Places.

34. The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever from The Pioneer Woman via Beth at Weavings. I actually made this cake for the 4th of July, and everyone loved it.

35. White Chicken Enchiladas from Donna at Quiet Life.

36. Picadillo from Dorian Speed at Scrutinies.

37. Ammie’s Unbeatable Beef Stroganoff from Heather at Sprittibee.

38. Delicious Chicken Skillet from CIndy at Notes in the Key of Life. More links to Cindy’s favorite recipes.

39. Hawaiian Bread Sandwich from Staci at Writing and Living.

40. Breakfast Cookies from Susan Wise Bauer.

41. Jambalaya from Amy’s Humble Musings.

42. Seven Layer Salad from Barbara at Mommy Life.

43. Chicken Piccata from Seasonal Soundings.

44. Crockpot Swiss Chicken Casserole from These Four No More.

45. Crockpot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup from Kathie’s Garden of Life.

46. Crack Dip from Shannon at The Mommy Diaries.

47. Crockpot Cranberry Pork Tenderloin from Tiny Tidbits.

48. Greek Potatoes and Chicken from The Southern Belle.

I found the preceding four recipes at Kelly’s Korner blog on a crock pot link-up called Crockpotalooza.
49. Patty Melts from The Pioneer Woman.

50. Orange Julius. I have made this before, and I’ll post the recipe soon for those who don’t know it. Yummy summertime breakfast drink!

51. Flaky Apple Foldovers From my book, Summertime Favorite Recipes by Pillsbury.

52. Turkey Salad Polynesian. From my book, Summertime Favorite Recipes by Pillsbury.

53. Creamy Corn ‘n Zucchini. From my book, Summertime Favorite Recipes by Pillsbury. I can’t find it online. If it turns out good, I’ll post the recipe.

54. Country Morning Coffee Cake. Ditto #53.

55. Cinnamon Baked French Toast from The Pioneer Woman.

I know I could probably “pin” all these recipes on Pinterest, and it would be a lot easier, IF I could figure out to use Pinterest and IF I didn’t keep reading bloggers who are complaining about how Pinterest is eating up their lives and IF I hadn’t already spent hours making this list, so it’ll have to do, and if you want pictures click on the links and most of them have pics, and yes, I know this a run-on sentence, but I can’t stop myself which is why I’m not on Pinterest. END.

By the way, these recipes are mostly from bloggers who are on my Google Reader, bloggers whose recipes and book recommendations I trust. Thanks guys for all the new additions to my meal repertoire and for all the other lovely blog posts that you share with all of us each day.