Purple House Press Sale

Here is a cheat sheet for the books we have reviewed that are in the Purple House Press Spring 2022 Sale – May 6-9, 2022. From their Facebook Sale Post: We had our 22nd birthday a few days ago, so naturally we’re having a 22% off sale….wait no, we can do better…let’s have our biggest…

Rowan Farm

Rowan Farm is a delightful sequel to Margot Benary-Isbert’s treasure, The Ark. This sequel picks up just a few weeks after The Ark concludes. I enjoyed this book. Rowan Farm is just as wholesome and enriching as the first. I am handing it to my 13-year-old without any concern except for one which I will…

The Ark

Oh, how I would have loved Margot Benary-Isbert’s The Ark when I was a teen! The Ark’s main character, Margaret Lechow, is a lovely soul whose sympathy with animals resonates with my own deep longing to have been raised on a farm. Like Margaret, I was never more comfortable anywhere than when I was at…

Pickle-Chiffon Pie

Do you read dust jackets? Be honest. Do you? Do I? If I am honest, only sometimes.  Last fall Jill Morgan sent me a box of some of her favorite Purple House Press books hoping that I would like them as much as she does. It turns out that I do. I. Really. Do. When…

Miss Jaster’s Garden

Miss Jaster’s Garden by illustrator turned author N. M. Bodecker is one of those picture books that every family library should have. The illustration has a daydream-like quality with soft watercolors, the story line is adorable and the kind that children love to giggle at, and the writing is charming and intelligent. If Anne Shirley-Blythe…

Alexander

What is it about Alexanders and their no good days? One of my favorite books from my childhood is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. In that story, Alexander has one of those days wherein nothing goes right and he is his own worst enemy. Little kids find…

The Practical Princess

The Practical Princess by Jay Williams surprised me. Before reading it, I assumed that it was going to be yet another addition to the current craze of feminist reimaginings of fairy tales. I wasn’t entirely wrong about that, however, I was wrong about how I would feel about that. The other day in our book…