The Red Falcons of Tremoine by Hendry Peart opens in the middle of a complex story. It took this reader more than a few pages to feel at home in the text, partly because it felt as though I had walked into the middle of a conversation, and because I was met with a lot…
Month: August 2016
Why I Sabbath
When I was a student at Hillsdale College, one of my dearest friends was the daughter of a professor on campus. My friend’s family is Jewish and I was regularly invited to their home on Friday evenings to participate in their Sabbath dinner. Those Friday evenings were a time of profound beauty for me. Leading…
Phonograms
Part of our Spelling Series: Oy, Oi, Those Diphthongs! diphthong – A complex speech sound beginning with one vowel sound and moving to another vowel or semivowel position within the same syllable (Webster’s II, 1984). Somehow it helps me a little that the definition of a diphthong uses the word “complex?” Because that word sounds…
Good Old Archibald
When Bethlehem Books was having their big summer sale, I combed through their catalog for books that would captivate my reluctant boy reader. My nine-year-old son is a much better reader than he gives himself credit for, but he is easily intimidated by long or text-heavy books. I knew that Bethlehem Books would have some books…
Little Men
In May of 1868, Louisa May Alcott started her most famous novel, Little Women. It was a story that she was loathe to write and would ultimately call “moral pap for the young”. Her editors demanded it of her so she obliged, begrudgingly. Despite her reservations, readers love it. I don’t believe that Little Women…
Childcraft: About Me
Every time I open up a new to me volume of Childcraft, three things happen: 1. I marvel at the intelligent and child loving content. 2. My kids find me (no matter where I am) and pore over the pages with me. 3. My sense that these books are the key to elementary education is…
The Autobiography of G. K. Chesterton
“. . . a real life of anybody is a very difficult thing to write; and as I have failed two or three times in trying to do it to other people, I am under no illusion that I can really do it to myself.” And really, what he wrote isn’t in the style we…
Bilbo’s Journey
I had never heard of Middle Earth, J.R.R. Tolkien, or The Lord of the Rings until I entered my freshman year at Hillsdale College in 1995. The only real fantasy I had read up to that point was the Chronicles of Narnia. I quickly discovered that practically everyone on campus loved The Lord of the…
Philomena
Reading aloud is hard. It is work, it requires focus, it demands stamina, and it usually requires good habits. Reading aloud, like almost anything truly valuable, is hard to do. Over the years, I have heard great mentors give the same piece of advice: choose a book you love. Reading aloud can be much easier…
Childcraft: 1982 The Puzzle Book
This wonderful book has been printed (in different forms) at least one more time by Childcraft. In 2010, it was trimmed, re-named, and updated. For my money, this is the version to own. The year doesn’t matter – the name does. Look for Childcraft: The Puzzle Book. For details on the differences between this version…
Childcraft: Which Sets To Buy
Inspired by the richness of the Childcraft sets we have loved, a few of us have been toiling to collect, compare, and curate all of the American printings of Childcraft that we can. We want to understand the history and evolution of Childcraft and then help would-be buyers in the discernment of which Childcraft books…
Childcraft: Brain Games
In 2010, Childcraft created a new annual title called Brain Games. The thing is, I am not sure that it is all that new. In fact, I think that it is just a reorganized version of their 1982 The Puzzle Book annual. And by reorganized, I mean trimmed, condensed, and slightly updated. The 1982 annual, The…
The Terrible Speed of Mercy
Just over a year ago my Facebook book club decided that we wanted to harness some of the fun we saw in books like 84 Charing Cross Road and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. We developed a pen pal group and started exchanging letters with book friends all over the world. As…
Planning Reflection
“…the more a man looks at a thing, the less he can see it, and the more a man learns a thing the less he knows it.” – The Twelve Men, GKC Like nearly all of the homeschool moms I know, I approach term planning with a mixture of anxiety, guilt, and eager anticipation. I…