In my review of The Last of the Mohicans, I mentioned that I was reading it for an American Literature class I’m teaching this year. My students are four homeschooled girls, ages 13, 14, 15, and 16. We meet once a week for two hours. We devote the majority of our first hour to the…
Month: October 2017
Miss Suzy
Miss Suzy By Miriam Young Illustrated by Arnold Lobel I’m only two years older than Miss Suzy, but I had never seen the book until last year. How did that happen? I didn’t get to share this sweet story with my kids when they were little, but my grandkids love it. Miss Suzy’s story…
The Catholic Table
I want to tell you about a book I am reading, The Catholic Table, by Emily Stimpson Chapman. This book is fortifying me in an interesting way right now. I have really loathed my body this year. It is rare for me to mention that out loud. Typically I don’t talk about my body or…
The Blueberry Pie Elf
When the delicious smell of the baking blueberry pie stole out from the oven, the little elf sniffed. He wanted that blueberry pie so much that he almost got his nose caught in the oven door. Elmer is a house elf after my own heart! I too truly love blueberry pie, dear Elmer. I understand….
The Great Train Robbery
On May 15, 1855, the crime of the century was perpetrated by turning lead into gold. Enacting a highly sophisticated bait and switch, Edward Agar, William Pierce, Jeremy Forsyth, and James Burgess were able to steal £12,000 in gold which was being transported from London to Paris. This highly publicized crime, the Great Gold Robbery,…
An Everlasting Meal
I picked up Tamar Adler’s An Everlasting Meal because the person who recommended it likened it to The Supper of the Lamb, which I loved. Adler also appreciates Capon’s Supper and refers to it more than once. She quotes several other cookbooks, and her epigraphs are from widely varying sources, from M.F.K. Fisher to Anton…
The Practical Princess
The Practical Princess by Jay Williams surprised me. Before reading it, I assumed that it was going to be yet another addition to the current craze of feminist reimaginings of fairy tales. I wasn’t entirely wrong about that, however, I was wrong about how I would feel about that. The other day in our book…
Tumtum and Nutmeg
“Once there were two married mice called Mr. and Mrs. Nutmouse, and they lived in great style.” That is a great opening line for a children’s book! Children immediately know who and what the main characters are – married mice, that they live in such a way that we might be interested in knowing more…
Last of the Mohicans
This is part of Diane’s Literature Course I Series This summer, about six weeks before school was going to start, I was asked to teach a literature class for a small group of teen girls. “Literature” is a dauntingly broad subject. Where to focus? Based on what some of the students had already read, I decided…
The Library Lion
I cannot remember where I discovered this perfectly sweet picture book. I am sure that someone in my book group suggested it, and I regret that I cannot give them credit for the excellent recommendation. Alas, the best I can do is share this with as many others as I can so that the recommendation…