Author: Plumfield Kids

Mr. Hermit Miser and the Neighborly Pumpkin

A Plumfield Kids Book Review by Elsa, age 11

In a day when pumpkin pies are bought from the store, this book made me wish I knew how to make a “rich, spicy, luscious, crisp pumpkin pie.” I am not the greatest judge of children’s books but I’d say this one is a great story. The illustrations are simply stupendous. For instance, in the pictures on pages 18, and 31, the pumpkins look somewhat like they have faces. Also on the cover you can vaguely see a face on the pumpkin in the lower right corner. This seems to allow the child the opportunity to imagine the pumpkins as characters.

Maggie the Magnificent 

Maggie the Magnificent is the story of an Australian magpie. I would not have been surprised if Maggie flew off the page and began to sing. This book chronicles the life of Maggie–a typical magpie–from a fledgling to an adult bird. Maggie does not tell us about himself–he acts, thinks, and communicates like a bird. Magnificently life-like human characters give us an account of what magpies are and do. And when they can’t, Thompson fills the gap. The people in this story tell us other facts that many of us probably don’t know. 

Warrigal the Warrior

C. K. Thompson’s books give us an accurate account of Australian wildlife. But unlike some science books, they also tell a story beautifully. Thompson does not condemn or excuse the animal he writes about. The back of the Living Book Press edition quotes him, saying, “I have not sought to glorify Warrigal, neither have I condemned him. I have just tried to present him as he really is, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.”

Willy Wagtail

C. K. Thompson portrays this small black and white bird as the greatest gossip in the Australian bush country (the Australian backcountry). Willy just has to know what is going on and must be in everything. When some birds are fighting with some other birds that are trying to take their nest, Willy is the referee, to make sure that it is a fair fight and there is no cheating. When there are cuckoos,  Willy is the first one to kick them out. But sometimes his nosy ways get him and his mate in trouble. 

Monarch of the Western Skies

I reached for some of the birds first when choosing books from C. K. Thompson’s Australian Nature Stories series. Maggie the Magnificent, an Australian Magpie, was the first I read. I loved it. I read one about a dingo next, Warrigal the Warrior. And then Monarch of the Western Skies. Apparently, and this is unlike me, I prefer predators. Warrigal the Warrior was awesome. And this one, Monarch of the Western Skies, was just as good.

Nurses Who Led the Way 

Adele and Cateau de Leeuw made me care about women I had never heard of before, like Dorothy Davis, a Heroic WWII nurse who tried so hard to be sent to the Philippines but was detained over and over again. Or Mary Ann Bickerdyke, a Civil War nurse, who even told the general what to do.

The Avion My Uncle Flew

Then follows Nazi plots, new friends, language mixups, and last but not least, l’avion, built by oncle Paul, which is a central part of the story. Even if, like me, you’re not a plane enthusiast, you will become personally invested into this avion. 

Pouring Iron

A Plumfield Kids book review by Jack, age 12

David Weitzman’s picture book Pouring Iron is about a foundry and a boy who, every time he goes to visit his grandparents, walks past a foundry and looks in, but it’s always too dark and dusty to see a thing. David Weitzman writes picture books about young people growing up in a trade that will become their life’s work. This particular book is on the business of ironworking.