Author: Diane Pendergraft

I found inspiration for the figure of Brother Hugo himself in an Oxford manuscript. At the end of an eleventh-century copy of St. Jerome’s Commentary of Isaiah, now kept in the Bodleian Library, I came across the endearing self-portrait of a Benedictine monk who had labeled his picture Hugo pictor: “the painter Hugo.” Beebe built … Continue reading Brother Hugo and the Bear

In my review of The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane, I linked two books the author lists as further resources. One of them I hadn’t read was Across a Dark and Wild Sea by Don Brown. I have read it now. This is the story of Columcille (koll-m-kill), an Irish monk who lived in the … Continue reading Across a Dark and Wild Sea

This is part of Diane’s Literature For the Ages Series Each of the girls in my class has read Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, and last year we read Life on the Mississippi together. So they have had a good taste of Mark Twain’s usual style. This month we read Twain’s Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc. … Continue reading Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc

Near the end of Sterling North’s Rascal, Sterling and his aunt Lillie discuss what Sterling might want to be when he grows up. Aunt Lillie thinks Sterling’s deceased mother would have wanted him to be a writer. When he asks why, she says; “And then you could put it all down, the way it is … Continue reading Rascal Study Guide

I’m sure I can’t expect everyone to be as excited about this recipe as I am. Many of you probably already do this with a yogurt maker, or some other method, and know more about the process than I. But I want to share because I’m thrilled to find this so simple. I have been … Continue reading Homemade Yogurt

C.M. MillenIllustrated by Andrea Wisnewski When I was teaching at a classical Christian school, in a multi-level classroom, we studied the history of the Middle Ages and Renaissance every three years. I always looked forward to the projects related to the preservation of ancient manuscripts and the art of illumination. Some of the now-adult students … Continue reading The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane

I wonder if Gene Stratton-Porter’s success went to her head. She was always opinionated, but in Her Father’s Daughter, she reaches her height of preachiness. If it were only that, it wouldn’t be an insurmountable aspect of the story. We put up with a bit of that from other beloved authors. In this book, Stratton-Porter … Continue reading Her Father’s Daughter

  Finding Escargot is another of those happy library accidents. We picked it up because the little snail on the cover is so cute! The happenstance is even happier because Escargot himself is a delightful character. The sad part is that my daughter wouldn’t let me record her reading the book to her kids in … Continue reading Escargot by Dashka Slater

The reason we read N.D. Wilson’s The Boys of Blur smack in the middle of several ancient literature selections is its relationship to Beowulf, which we read first. Apparently I forgot to mention this to the girls in my literature class. I assigned half the book for one week. When we met the next week … Continue reading Beowulf and Boys of Blur