Clarice Bean, Scram by Lauren Child

Jun22

I have met Clarice Bean before in other books, and I like her. At least one of my children liked her, too, and wrote about about her here and here. Some of you who are parents are not going to like Clarice Bean. Clarice is something of a menace. She’s not a delightful little girl who just needs love and attention to become The Perfect Young Lady. And she’s not really a brat, although she does have her moments. Clarice is normal. And normal kids think and act in ways that sometimes get them into trouble, or cause trouble for others. And normal parents might even get tired and annoyed enough to tell their normal child to “scram!” So if any of that, plus a bit of deception (taking in and hiding a stray dog) and some name-calling (“Little big mouth” and “creep”) are dealbreakers for you, then this book will not be for you.

I think Ramona Quimby and Clementine and Clarice Bean are funny. I enjoyed reading about how Clarice desperately tries to stay out of trouble and keep her parents and older sister and younger brother happy and amuse herself, but utterly fails. Until she finds a dog that no one seems to own or want. Then, Clarice becomes the proud caretaker of a dog named Clement (or Cement), and her only problem is how to break the news to her parents and to her granddad whose bird may or may not be averse to dogs and cats and other four-legged animals.

Other books about Clarice Bean by Lauren Child:

Short Takes on 2023 Middle Grade Fiction

Jun20

Rare Birds by Jeff Miller. Eleven year old Graham Dodds feels if his whole life is spent in one big waiting room in his mind as he waits with his mom in hospital after hospital for her heart to get fixed. And now they are waiting for a heart transplant, and Graham and his new friend Lou are waiting to find the rarest of Florida birds, the endangered Snail Kite. As they wait and watch, Graham keeps trying to believe what his mother always says, “It all happens for a reason.” Although it has lots of heart (no pun intended), the plot was a little jerky, and the intimations of reincarnation and an afterlife as a bird were not for me.

Leeva at Last by Sara Pennypacker. I like Sara Pennypacker’s books, generally speaking, especially the Clementine series for beginning chapter book readers. But Leeva is over-the-top ridiculous, and I’m not sure what to think about it. Leeva Spayce Thornblossom has been trapped inside her house in the tiny town of Nutsmore for all of her eight or nine years of life, captive to the whims and neglect of her parents, the mayor and town treasurer of Nutsmore. Since her parents have taught her nothing and allowed her little or no contact with the outside world, Leeva is not sure how to answer the question, “What are people for?” So she decides to leave her home to find out. As I said, it’s really ridiculous, and the parents are comically evil, but again the story has a good heart.

The Infinite Questions of Dottie Bing by Mollie Burnham. Dottie is a ten year old spoiled kid, and her best friend Sam had to inform the teacher in first grade or kindergarten that she/he was a boy, not a girl. Enough said.

Not an Easy Win by Chrystal Giles. “Nothing’s gone right for Lawrence since he had to move from Charlotte to Larenville, North Carolina, to live with his granny. When Lawrence ends up in one too many fights at his new school, he gets expelled. The fight wasn’t his fault, but since his pop’s been gone, it feels like no one listens to what Lawrence has to say.” Chess is the game that saves Lawrence when he learns to play at the local community center. OK, but not great.

Wild Bird by Diane Zahler. The book began as a dark but readable historical fiction story set in medieval Europe during the black plague years, fourteenth century. It progressed into sexual innuendo and bawdy songs and hinted-at sexual assault. Then, it went on to describe full-fledged child abuse, sexual abuse, and homosexual liaison between an older man and a much younger boy–all in the midst of what is supposed to be a middle grade novel for ages eight to fourteen. Not recommended for any age.

Bea and the New Deal Horse by L.M. Elliott. A well written horse story set during the Great Depression. It’s a bit too horsey for me with detailed descriptions of horse training and horse racing, but your opinion may be different if you’re into horses. And there’s some unnecessary cursing sprinkled here and there throughout the book. Otherwise, it’s a good story, recommended for those who love Black Beauty and all of the books about horses that came after.

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?

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.”

A Basket of Plums by Maud McKnight Lindsay

Jun4

This picture book is one of several that I purchased from The Good and the Beautiful recently when that publisher announced that they were going to close out all of their inventory of reprinted children’s books and in future only print original works written by living authors. I’ll say upfront that while the decision may make business sense, it’s a loss to the community. Older books (this one was originally published in 1915) are often treasures to be preserved and enjoyed by a generation that is starving for true, good, and beautiful literature. We are drowning in the new, the current, the flashy, and sometimes deceitful, but we need the the old, the tried, and the true.

Of course, not all old books are excellent, just as not all new books are sub-standard. However, A Basket of Plums would be a lovely addition to any library. Ms. Lindsay was a kindergarten teacher, founder of the first free kindergarten in Alabama. She wrote more than 18 books for children, and she was also a poet.

A Basket of Plums is a gentle story about an elderly woman who sets out from her home with a basket of plums, hoping to find apples for the apple dumpling that she wants for her supper. As the old woman walks along, looking for apples, she finds others in need of what she does have–plums and the things she trades for–but it takes a bit of time, and a few bargains, to find the apples for her apple dumpling.

The illustrations in this modern edition of Ms. LIndsay’s story, by a modern illustrator, Dan Burr, are colorful, photo-realistic paintings that complement the quaint old-fashioned tone of the story. The title old woman in Mr. Burr’s pictures feels like a real grandmotherly figure and at the same she has a storybook quality that goes with the story. That’s a a hard combination to pull off, but Mr. Burr does it beautifully.

If you can find a copy–I have one in my library now— enjoy reading this story to both preschoolers and older children. Other stories about bargaining and trading and barter include Oxcart Man by Donald Hall, A Bargain for Frances by Russell Hoban, Monkey for Sale by Sanna Stanley, and for older children (middle elementary) The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill and Alvin’s Swap Shop by Clifford B. Hicks. Oh, I checked and as of June 4, 2023, The Good and the Beautiful has a few copies of A Basket of Plums left. I recommend you purchase a copy now if you’re interested.

The Forgotten Daughter by Caroline Dale Snedeker

May14

If The Forgotten Daughter were published now, instead of in 1927, it would probably be classified as Young Adult, at least in terms of interest level. The story takes a young Greek slave girl from age twelve to seventeen as she grows up in Samnium, southern Italy, on a Roman farm villa in the second century B.C. Chloe, the slave girl, lives in a hut on the mountainside with her guardian, an older woman named Melissa. Chloe’s mother is dead, and her father, the Roman patrician and owner of the villa whom she hates, deserted her mother before Chloe was born. The first part of the book deals with the back story behind the marriage of Chloe’s parents and Chloe’s birth and enslavement.

Although The Forgotten Daughter was a Newbery Honor book, I can’t imagine anyone younger than 12 or 13 being able to read the book with enjoyment and appreciation. It took several chapters for me as an adult to be able to follow the plot and understand the deeply religious, cultural, and philosophical meanderings that the author indulges. I did eventually enjoy the insight into Roman culture and law and religion, but it took some mental adjustment to understand the purpose of the descriptions and explanations of Roman superstition, Greek religious practice, Stoicism, and Roman politics, among other subjects. (It was a bit reminiscent of Victor Hugo, Les Miserables, and the sewers of Paris, but not nearly as long as Hugo’s digressions.)

The story is a romance, but a chaste one, although there is some kissing mentioned. It’s also a story of redemption and of freedom from the bondage of hatred and of forgiveness. The author paints a vivid and memorable picture of ancient Roman family life and politics, mentioning or invoking Sappho, Plato, Euripides, the Grachi, Plutarch, and many other Roman and Greek politicians and philosophers and playwrights. Chloe grows up isolated on her father’s Roman farm property, but the politics of Rome impact her life in unexpected ways. Her journey from slavery to freedom mirrors her internal journey from hatred to forgiveness, and it’s all accomplished within a pre-Christian religious and philosophical environment that feels very true and well-researched.

Charlotte Mason educators who are following her advice and reading Plutarch with their students would find this story full of connections and insights. I recommend it for philosophical girls and stoical boys and interested adults. Available from Bethlehem Books.

Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Buttered Bread by Maj Lindman

May3

I just took a Picture Book Break from library work to re-read a childhood favorite picture book, Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Buttered Bread by Maj LIndman. I loved this series of picture books featuring the Swedish triplets, Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr when I was a kid of a girl. I loved the idea of triplets (and twins). It was intriguing to me that you could have three brothers (or sisters, Flicka, Rick and Dicka) who looked alike and were born at the same time. I think also the foreignness of these little boys growing up in a village in Sweden appealed to me.

In this particular Snipp Snapp Snurr adventure not too much happens. The boys long for some butter to spread on their mother’s fresh bread. So Mother sends them out to get some milk from Aunt Annie’s cow. But the cow, Blossom, has had no fresh grass to eat, so she can’t give milk. And there is no fresh grass to give Blossom because . . . So the story goes from one obstacle to another until the boys finally manage to overcome and get some butter for their bread. It’s just a lovely little sequential story showing how one thing depends upon another all in a great chain that finally yields food, feasting and enjoyment.

Lindman’s illustrations are delightful, too. Of course the triplets wear matching clothes, red overalls and a blue shirt, and they look just alike. The reader never knows in this book which one is Snipp or Snapp or Snurr. Lindman writes, “The sun looked down at the boys and shone and gleamed and beamed with happiness.” And the sun in the picture has a giant smile on his sunny face. Mother and Aunt Annie wear suitable but colorful farm woman dresses and aprons. Everything in the story and the pictures is just so charming and picturesque that it enhances my present enjoyment and my feeling of nostalgia.

Alice Dalgliesh writes in her foreword to Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Buttered Bread: “This is the fourth book in the series telling of the adventures of Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr. By this time these three little Swedish boys have become firmly entrenched in the affections of American children. . . . The story has the same quaint charm as the preceding ones. It has an air of reality but it takes just a step over the border of fancy. The books are entirely independent of each other. They may be read in any order, and children who first meet Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr at the farm can then go back and read any of the other adventures.”

Indeed. I am tempted to do as Dalgliesh suggests and go back and read all of the Snipp, Snapp, Snurr books as well as their companion series, Flicka, Rick, and Dicka. But my Picture Book Break time is over, so I’ll save the rest for another day.

The Merry Month of May

May2

“It was a beautiful summer afternoon, at that delicious period of the year when summer has just burst forth from the growth of spring; when summer is yet but three days old, and all the various shades of green which nature can put forth are still in their unsoiled purity of freshness. The apple blossoms were on the trees, and the hedges were sweet with may. The cuckoo at fine o’clock was still sounding his soft summer call with unabated energy, and even the common grasses of the hedgerows were sweet with the fragrance of their new growth. The foliage of the oaks was complete, so that every bough and twig was clothed; but the leave did not yet hang heavy in masses, and the bend of every bough and the tapering curve of every twig were visible through their light green covering. There is no time of the year equal in beauty to the first week in summer; and no color which nature gives, not even the gorgeous hues of autumn, which can equal the verdure produced by the first warm suns of May.” 

~Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope, p.335

The royal roses redden
And smiling deck the sod,
The world is like a picture
Where the green fields smile to God;
The birds in all the branches
Are singing to the blue,
And the winds that wave the tree-tops
Toss the blossoms over you.
Oh, the splendor of the gardens
And the glory of the green,
Of banks of singing rivers
Where the lovely lilies lean!
The tinkle, faintly wafted,
Of far-off cattle bells,
And the thrushes’ silver music
In the dim and dreamy dells!
For it’s Maytime, it’s Maytime,
And all the world is bright,
And love is in the sunshine,
And the golden stars of night.

“In Maytime” by Frank L. Stanton

The Explorations of Pere Marquette by Jim Kjelgaard

Apr4

Jim Kjelgaard was just the guy for the Landmark book series editors to ask to write about an intrepid explorer of the wilderness. Father Marquette, a Jesuit priest of the seventeenth century, along with his explorer buddy Louis Joliet, were the first Europeans to explore the Mississippi from the north in Wisconsin down to the place where the Arkansas River joins the Mississippi. Father Marquette wrote about all of the peoples, plants , and animals, that he and his fellow explorers found as they travelled down the Mississippi, and he returned to Green Bay in Wisconsin to tell of his adventures to the French governor and others.

Because Father Marquette worked among the Indian tribes in Michigan and Wisconsin and was also one of the first Europeans and Christians to minister to the Illinois Indians and the first to camp near the site of the present-day of Chicago, this book would make an excellent addition to the study of the state histories of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. In the foreword to the book historian and Jesuit R.N. Hamilton writes:

“What makes this book most interesting is that Jim Kjelgaard has based all but two incidents on the life of Father Marquette, S.J. The stories of the wounded Indian and the finding of game on the South Lakes, while not recorded of Father Marquette, are, as we know from the writings of Jesuits who were his fellow laborers, typical of what he would have done in the circumstances.”

There are content considerations for the book, however. While some individual Native Americans who appear in the story are described as handsome, strong, and courageous, the Indians as a whole group and as individual tribal groups are usually characterized as improvident, unsanitary, poor, and of course, savage. Since this was truly how the early Europeans saw the Native Americans they met in the New World, and since Father Marquette and other Jesuit missionaries were compassionate and eager to improve the physical and spiritual condition of the Native Americans they came to serve, I don’t have a problem with this characterization. I don’t believe that all cultures are equally conducive to human thriving or to honoring the God who made us, so I have no issue with the idea that the Europeans had much that was good and needed to share with with their Native American brothers. And the Native American people had things to teach the Europeans, but that aspect is not emphasized in this book.

Jim Kjelgaard wrote one other book in the Landmark series, The Coming of the Mormons, one Signature biography, The Story of Geronimo, and the historical fiction book, We Were There at the Oklahoma LandRun. Kjelgaard is also responsible for many beloved animal stories, including Big Red, Irish Red, and Outlaw Red, all dog stories. An outdoorsman and a lover of American history and adventure in particular, Mr. Kjelgaard tells the story of Father Marquette and his explorations in an engaging way that will appeal to young, beginning outdoorsmen and adventurers.

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

Apr3

I liked this book even better than I did A Gentleman in Moscow, the only other book by Towles I’ve read. I think I need to read Rules of Civility next. Mr. Towles is good at spinning a yarn and tying all the loose ends together at the end. BUT as much as I liked the story and the characters and the way everything came together, I’m still not sure about the ending. I feel as if Towles took a couple of my favorite people and corrupted them, just a little, or maybe a lot. I’m worried about what will happen to these characters after the story ends. I can’t say much more about that without spoiling the ending. So, if you’ve read The Lincoln Highway and you have some reassurance to give me, put it in the comments. I could use the encouragement that everything is going to be okay with these people in their new life after they travel the Lincoln Highway.

The story is set in June, 1954. Eighteen year old Emmett Watson has just returned home from a prison work farm where he was serving a sentence of fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. Emmett’s father has recently died, his mother deserted them long ago, and Emmett is now responsible for his eight year old brother Billy. Emmett has a plan to start life anew. Billy also has a plan. And the two inmates who hid in the trunk of the warden’s car that brought Emmett home have a completely different plan.

The book could have turned into a comedy, and it borders on the absurd. However, there are some rather dark events to come, along with the ridiculous. Emmett is determined to go straight and control the temper that got him into trouble in the first place. Billy is an inordinate rule-follower with a child’s penchant for literal and concrete thinking. But the two brothers are caught up in a situation where keeping to the letter of the law and self-control in the face of violence and deceit won’t be enough to save them. So the question is how far can you bend the rules of decency and honesty and nonviolence before you become the criminals you’re trying to escape from?

It’s a good story told from several different points of view. It does take the reader inside the mind of an amoral but likable(?) sociopath and of a confused and mentally incapacitated young man, but you’re never tempted to actually condone wrongdoing or accept the excuses of those who break the law. Until maybe at the end. I’m still not sure about that ending, not even after reading this interview with author Amor Towles. If you read it, let me know what you think.