Strawberry Girl

Some of you are busy scrounging around books (and lists?) for summer reading.  Well, let me make a recommendation.  In fact, I'm going to try to make at least one recommendation a week for those who are itching to read on their very own.  Try Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski (c. 1945).  Don't be deceived by the cover, this is a Florida pioneer story that holds the boys' attention as much as, if not more than, the girls'.  Along with her family, our heroine Birdie Boyer braves carving a new living in a new region.  If you're thinking of Little House on the Prairie, just kick it up a few notches in the vein of the musical Oklahoma.

Lois Lenski received the 1946 Newbery Medal for her story Strawberry Girl.  You will also enjoy her illustrations which so perfectly accompany her story.  Lenski wrote a whole series of regional stories.  I'd like to try Blue Ridge Billy next, a story about a boy who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  For a complete listing of Lenski's regional stories, click here.

And if you're looking for more of Lenski's illustrations, be sure to check out the heartwarming friendship stories of Betsy, Tacy and Tib.

There, that gives you many books (especially if you click on the links) to include in your summer reading lists.

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Right now, we're reading Mr. Popper's Penguins (c. 1938) by Richard and Florence Atwater with illustrations by Robert Lawson.  The recommendation kindly came from Jo Betsy Kinser and her grandchildren Ashley and Jacob who went to the Chattanooga Aquarium to see all the penguins once they completed the book.  Can't wait to see photos!

Anyway, my kids won't let me put this book down!  I especially recommend reading it during the heat of summer so that you're transported into a much colder climate.

I could write and write about this charming read, but let me quote from the jacket cover instead:
Mr. Popper's Penguins is one of the handful of American books for children that has attained the status of a classic.  First published in 1938, this story of a housepainter who is sent a male penguin by the great Admiral Drake . . . has amused and enchanted generations of children and their parents.

Right from the start, Mr. Popper's Penguins was received warmly.  The New York Herald Tribune wrote of it: One of those books which parents will carry downstairs to finish after the fifteen minutes' bedtime reading is done.

That charm has exerted its power for fifty years, and Mr. Popper's Penguins continues to delight readers, old and young alike.

I especially encourage you to read Mr. Popper's Penguins before seeing the upcoming movie starring Jim Carey.  Personally, I can't imagine Carey's zaney antics to properly represent the absent-minded Mr. Popper.  What do you think?

Carol Ryrie Brink

How many of you are familiar with Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink?  Often a forgotten jewel of a story, I wish there was a resurging awareness of this frontier narrative.  Caddie grows up in a family full of brothers, and she conducts herself as an adventure loving tomboy, much to her Boston bred mother's chagrin.  Brink packs each chapter with the spunky Caddie and her brother's escapades as they maneuver the hazards of frontier life in mid-nineteenth century Wisconsin.  What stands out most to me in remembering this book, however, is that Brink casts Caddie's father as the hero.  I think we need more of those around -- books that cast daddies as heroes!  Caddie Woodlawn is a "must read" for all members of the family, perfect for either reading alone or reading aloud.  Also of noteworthy interest, Brink bases Caddie's story on her own grandmother's childhood.   I've included a copy of the old edition cover I grew up reading.

Now that you know how much I fell for Brink's little jewel of a book, you can imagine my surprise and elation when I discovered Brink's poem Goody O'Grumpity in the children's book section of our library.  Ashley Wolff's intricate hand-colored linoleum prints further lend a detailed description to this simple story poem.  The poem opens with "When Goody O'Grumpity baked a cake" and continues on about an early Plymouth Plantation neighbor making a spice cake while the village children eagerly wait "With wishful eyes / and watering mouth."  Don't be mislead by Goody's last name "O'Grumpity."  It's not at all a characterization of her.  Brink uses it for the rhyme.  So do check out this harvest season gem of a book, and be sure to read the illustrator's note at the beginning.

If you end up enjoying Goody O'Grumpity as much as I did, try Jane Yolen's Harvest Home poem illustrated by Greg Shed.  Yolen's beautiful lyrical narrative describes a family's and community's work in harvesting wheat and the harvest traditions that follow.  Shed's illustrations reverberate the harvest theme in its golden, "sun kissed hues done in gouache on canvas."  Again, be sure to read the "Harvest Customs" note in the back of the book.