Robert was a happy little horse. He lived on a farm. He lived with his mother And father. That is, until the fateful birthday party. All of his friends come. They wait expectantly as Robert’s mother brings in the cake decorated with beautiful red roses. Robert puts his nose right into a rose and takes…
Author: Diane Pendergraft
You Have Given Me Life
Hiding His Word in My Heart Each time I read through the Psalms, I wish I could commit more of them to memory. I even started working on one recently. I did really well for two weeks or so, then just gradually forgot to make it a priority. All right, then! I need a plan….
The Virginian
This is part of Diane’s Literature Course I Series Owen Wister’s The Virginian Oh, that old thing? Why, yes, it’s been one of my favorites for many years. I noticed, though, while doing research for our American literature class, that it seems to be going out of style. Too trite and formulaic, perhaps? Wait! Please note…
Ramona
This is part of Diane’s Literature Course I Series The first time I read Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson (not Beverly Cleary), was with my beloved book group in Colorado Springs. The person who chose the book for group perusal chose it partly because of Jackson’s Colorado Springs ties. As I’ve read more about her, I…
1860s American Literature
This is part of Diane’s Literature Course I Series This is a good time of year for the load to lighten a bit. Not knowing for sure what kind of progress we might be able to make through the list, I couldn’t have planned it this way, but our 1860s selections have fallen quite nicely between…
The Song of Hiawatha
This is part of Diane’s Literature Course I Series My grandpa was born in 1906. He went to school in the ancient days of America when memorization was considered a good way to, well, remember things. When I was a child, he could still recite large chunks of Longfellow’s Evangeline. I believe I first heard from…
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
This is part of Diane’s Literature Course I Series It wasn’t easy to read Uncle Tom’s Cabin again. I knew how it was going to end. It has been about a quarter of a century since I read it the first time, so I didn’t remember details, but it came back to me as I got…
Literature Course I
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…
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…
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…
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…
Felix Salten’s Bambi
Though my husband assured me that it was nothing like the cartoon, for over 30 years I resisted reading Felix Salten’s Bambi.
Pat of Silver Bush & Mistress Pat
Pat Gardiner of Silver Bush is a nice girl. She is seven years old when her story opens. She is obedient to her parents and to the housekeeper, Judy Plum. She is helpful, loving, and kind to animals. Her life is comfortable, but she hates change of any kind, and she has to struggle against…
The Wednesday Witch at Stump Lake
The Wednesday Witch at Stump Lake I could almost believe a whiff of certain smells, caught just right, has the power to physically transport me to another time or place. Sourdough can be like that for me. This summer it was the mint in my garden. Mmm, Oregon cow pasture! Most recently, though, I experienced…
The Blue Castle
“Valancy was in the midst of realities after a lifetime of unrealities.” L.M. Montgomery’s The Blue Castle is one of her stand-alone novels. It is also one of the few she wrote for adults. The story opens on the morning of Valancy Stirling’s twenty-ninth birthday. “The only homely girl in a handsome clan, with no…