Upcoming Plumfield Reads Books We Are Reading: Tanya’s Reads & Books Mentioned: Sarah Kim’s Reads & Books Mentioned: Diane’s Reads & Books Mentioned: Sara Masarik’s Reads & Books Mentioned: Find all of the episodes on the Our Reading Life page
Category: Book Reviews
Happy Birthday, Biblioguides!
One year ago this month, our dear friends at Biblioguides launched their new database and beautiful community. And what a year it has been! Just a few weeks later, we began laying the groundwork for the Plumfield Moms podcast. Sarah Kim and Tanya Arnold were some of our first guests on the podcast and, since…
Jack and Jill
In my childhood bedroom, there was a big white dresser with a massive hutch on top ideally suited to storing books. The dresser was pretty, and the shelves on top were inviting. I distinctly remember gazing at the prettiest book I owned: the Illustrated Junior Library unabridged edition of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. I…
Down Cut Shin Creek: The Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky
“Son, the times they was so hard, you couldn’t hardly crack them.” Grace Caudill Lucas What if you had never learned to read? Can you imagine going to a school where there were no books? What if the only books you had access to were those that libraries didn’t want anymore that, once discarded, had…
The Reb and the Redcoats
I am always on the lookout for books that would be great as book club books. That special kind of book that will please the target audience while also challenging them. A book that is easy to want to read even if it isn’t always easy to read. A book that is well-written and thought-provoking….
Waiting for the Biblioburro
On a hill behind a tree, there is a house. In the house, there is a bed and on the bed there is a little girl named Ana, fast asleep, dreaming about the world outside and beyond the hill. Ana has to help her father and mother with the farm work. When it’s hot outside,…
The Red Keep
Years ago, I purchased all of the Allen French books that Bethlehem Books had available: The Red Keep, Rolf and the Viking Bow, and The Lost Baron. I listened to the John Lee audio version of Rolf and the Viking Bow one summer when I was gardening, but for some reason, I never came back…
That Book Woman
I had already read That Book Woman once before reading it aloud to my class today. But I choked up on the last page again anyway. “‘Wish there was something I could gift you too.’ That Book Woman turns to look at me with big dark eyes. ‘Come here, Cal,’ she says real gentle, and…
Bill Peet
As my reviews will indicate, I think Kermit the Hermit is a gem worth searching out. I think The Ant and the Elephant has a certain charm. And I think Big Bad Bruce has some things that are worth noting.
Down the Big River
“His over forty books cover genres of adventure, biographical fiction, nautical historical fiction, entrepreneurial or occupational fiction, environmental fiction, sports, mystery and war. His books were meant to educate the mind and cultivate the character as well as entertain which make them books we highly recommend.” – taken from the Biblioguides author profile of Stephen…
Norman the Doorman
Norman the Doorman by Don Freeman is a totally adorable picture book that will delight little ones and the grownups reading aloud to them. “In front of a small, well-hidden hole around in the back of the Majestic Museum of Art, there once stood a mouse named Norman. Norman was a doorman, and he greeted…
Parnassus on Wheels
“As I have said, we were tremendously happy until Andrew got the fatal idea of telling the world how happy we were. I am sorry to have to admit he had always been a rather bookish man…. He would read me some of his youthful poems and stories and mutter vaguely about writing something himself…
Show Notes: Our Reading Life – March 2023
Listen Now: Upcoming Plumfield Reads Books We Are Reading: Sarah Kim’s Reads & Books Mentioned: Tanya’s Reads & Books Mentioned: Diane’s Reads & Books Mentioned: Sara Masarik’s Reads & Books Mentioned: Find all of the episodes on the Our Reading Life page
Drovers Road Trilogy
Series Overview When interviewed a number of years ago, Joyce West quoted a letter she had received from at least one sympathetic publisher of New Zealand literature at that time. ‘You must not feel that writing children’s books is a sign of arrested development. In publishing circles, writing for children is regarded as one of…
Show Notes: Forgotten Books – Historical Fiction
Listen Now: Books and Links: Kathleen’s Choice: Behold Your Queen by Gladys MalvernKristi’s Choice: Mr. Tucket by Gary PaulsenSandy’s Choice: Down the Big River by Stephen Meader Learn More About Our Guests: Library Ladies Tanya Arnold of Biblioguides Where You Can Find Us: Plumfield and Paideia Facebook Page Plumfield Reads Book Club Discussion Space at…