All-of-a-Kind Family

If you are a Jewish woman of a certain age,  you probably read All-of-a-Kind Family as a young girl. I read probably the entire series by Sydney Taylor as a little girl going to Hebrew school. Each book (there are several in the series) are full of stories about five little Jewish girls on the Lower East Side at the turn of the 20th century.

As a girl - or even now - it's rare to read stories about Jewish people doing things that Jewish people (meaning me and my family) might be doing, thinking, celebrating. To read about a family celebrating the Sabbath or observing Jewish holidays, well, that was ideal for a young girl. And sorry, brother, but my whole life I always wished I'd had a sister. Maybe these books are the reason why.

A few weeks ago, reading the news, I came across a story about a new TV miniseries based on this book series. I shared the link in Renee's Reading Club on Facebook and that started a dialogue amongst all those who loved reading the books as little girls or reading the books to our own little girls. Why did I never read these to my little girls? The conversations made me wonder if I'd enjoy reading the stories now as an adult old enough to be a grandmother! I remembered loving Little House on the Prairie as a kid but then finding it incredibly tedious as an adult. Or was I just remembering the TV series and not the books?

I found All-of-a-Kind Family in the library, borrowed it, figuring I'd read the book in a night or two since, after all, it is a children's book. After reading the first two chapters, I realized that rushing through it wasn't going to work so I started reading one chapter per night before I did my regular reading. That was probably the way it was read to me when I was younger. And it was the perfect way to consume this sweet, lovely book as an adult. Now I wish I had a little girl to share it with!
 

In the Great Green Room

If you don't recognize the phrase In the great green room, it's likely that you haven't raised kids or put kids to bed in the past 40 or 50 years. Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown's most famous book, was a staple in my house, something that was read multiple times nearly every night when my eldest was a toddler and regularly, although not quite as often, when my other kids were toddlers. Back then, I had the whole book memorized. It was a great book for making the transition from daytime to night.

In November, I read a novel called Goodnight June by Sarah Jio. It was a fictionalized account of what inspired Brown to write Goodnight Moon. After reading Goodnight June, I did a little research on Margaret Wise Brown and learned that her latest biography was the one I'm writing about today, In the Great Green Room:The Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown by Amy Gary.

I was on the fence about Goodnight June and likewise, I'm on the fence with In the Great Green Room. Not that the short life of Brown isn't interesting. It most certainly is as she did live both a brilliant and bold life.

Brown was born into a family of privilege to parents who didn't really like each other. Those two things probably set her on a path for a lifestyle outside the norms of the day.

(What I didn't understand - and have come across this in other books mostly covering the same time period - when we're told Margaret had limited means, she's still buying multiple houses, renting places to live and/or write, doing all sorts of traveling, employing a valet, among other things. To me that just doesn't jive with being of limited means.)

Brown was a very prolific children's writer. She wrote for several publishing companies, including Golden which probably had the widest distribution network at the time or maybe even ever for children's literature. I was particularly interested in the huge role Brown had in the development of children's literature as we know it today. Towards the end of her life, she had tie-ins to movies and music. (Plus who knew that Rube Goldberg was a great writer of music? Not me. To me he was a simple machines science guy.) She designed novelty books. Are you familiar with Pat the Bunny?

Gary, with a history in publishing, years after Brown's death reach out to Brown's sister, Roberta, since she wanted to republish 4 of Brown's earlier books. In a matter of fact way, not expecting much of a response, Gary asked Roberta if she knew if Margaret had left behind any unpublished works. Roberta brought down a trunk for Gary to look thru and that started 25 years of Gary researching the live and works of Margaret Wise Brown. In the Great Green Room is the culmination of those 25 years' work.

The book goes into great detail about Brown's involvement in the development of texts for children. Not only her literature and the literature of others that grew out of work. But her early work with Bank Street which evolved into creation of textbooks for children based on what children like and how they would best understand material. I loved reading about Margaret's work with her illustrators as I've always found the connection between authors and illustrators really interesting. I was also interested in her interactions with the publishers regarding payment, contracts, royalties, commitments, although a little less detail and a little less repetition of some of the details would have been fine with me.

The book also goes into great detail about Brown's love life. Overall, it was fascinating. She made quite a few poor choices along the way. But some of the minutiae of her romantic affairs got tiresome.

The biography was a quick read, but I think I would have enjoyed it more had there been fewer details where they weren't needed and an inclusion of direct results of Gary's research (quotes from diaries, letters and interviews) rather than just being straight narrative.

Margaret wanted to be remembered as a "writer of songs and nonsense," which until I read that about her, I would have had no clue. She always felt like she was somehow "less" because she wrote for children. I can understand that since children's literature wasn't really a thing back in the 30s and 40s when she was writing away. Eventually she came to appreciate her talents and skills and she seemed happiest at the time of her death. How often does that happen?

Upon finishing the book, I did want to rush back to my computer and pound out a few picture books of my own. (I have one completed draft of a middle grade picture book about the Spanish American War that I worked on with my daughter.) Instead, for now, I'll stick to blogging.

A Wrinkle in Time, a reread

I first read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, the first book in a series of apparently 5 books, back in 1999 as part of a literacy class I took on the path to elementary school teacher certification. Of the books I read for that class, this is the one that I was only lukewarm about. Nearly 20 years later, I remain lukewarm.

Admittedly, I'm not a fantasy lover nor am I a fan of science fiction. In 1999, I learned that even though some of this middle grades novel are fantastical, it falls into the science fiction genre because much of the book is based on scientific fact. Or so I'm told. I have never had the desire to delve more deeply into the science behind the story.

The story has elements that I like. An insecure older sister with a close relationship to her child prodigy younger brother, a loving yet quirky mom. A first boy-girl relationship. I really, really wanted to like this book the second time around. I can see the appeal to others, but it just held no appeal to me.

As a fifth grade teacher, I wondered if this book was appropriate for my students. And years later, I still wonder the same thing. I found the language more difficult than most of my students would have been able to comprehend. Yet many of the fans of this novel are 4th to 6th graders. Even as an adult, there were some religious references that I don't quite understand.

It really wasn't until I read the introduction by Anna Quindlen titled An Appreciation of Madeline L'Engle that I fully understood the contrast between the real world and the dystopian society on the planet Camazotz. I think I didn't get that earlier because the stuff that I don't like about fantasy and science distracted me from that aspect.

I am, however, looking forward to the movie due to come out sometime in 2018. The trailer seems intriguing. Perhaps that's an adaptation of the story that I can like.

Where to begin in my review of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Taken from one of the many film adaptations of
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

It didn't take me too long to finish reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn last night. Um, this morning. In the wee hours. I'm still having trouble sleeping post-surgery and I really did want to know how the story ended.

But all my rules for rating books on goodreads.com just kind of fly out the window when I think about Huck Finn. First, let me share once again my usual criteria for rating a book.

• If it's pure perfection and the absolute perfect fit for me, I'll assign it 5 stars.
•  If something nags at me, it goes down to a 4... which is still a pretty darn good book that I'd highly recommend to anyone who loves to read. 
• 3 stars means that I liked the book well enough but I'd only recommend it to certain people.
• 2 stars means that I got through the book just fine but I really didn't like it and I wouldn't recommend it.
• 1 star means that something at the end of the book got me really angry or was a huge disappointment in the end. Otherwise, I drop books after about 100 pages if I don't really get engrossed in anyway. When I last checked my dropped books shelf on Goodreads, I was surprised by how really full it actually was!

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn doesn't fit any of those descriptions. It wasn't pure perfection. I liked it, but I didn't love it. Nothing really nags at me. Yet I'm not sure I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves to read. And it's not like I'd only recommend it to certain people. So 5, 4 and 3 are all out. But I liked it well enough, I would recommend it and the only parts of the book that got me angry were the parts of story that Mark Twain included because he wanted me, over 100 years later, to get angry about. And yes, I really do think Mark Twain wrote this book so long ago hoping that readers would get angry - angry about discrimination and slavery.

Mark Twain also wrote this book because he loved his adventures on the Mississippi River and he wanted those adventures to live on. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn definitely falls into the genre of adventure. The story is a sequel of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which I did read as a young student although other than the themes that most people remember about Tom Sawyer from their childhood, I don't remember more than the basics.

Huck is has been taken in by a widow when his drunk father, Pap, returns to town. Pap has his own selfish reasons for wanting Huck to live with him. Huck is kept as a prisoner while living with Pap. He cleverly figures out a way to escape from his father without anyone coming to look for him. Someone else escapes at about the same time. Jim, the nigger, the slave, escapes as well. It broke Jim's heart to leave his children but he yearned to be free. As expected, Huck and Jim have loads of adventures traveling down the Mississippi on a raft and in a canoe. Huck's thoughtful planning of the journey and quick thinking in response to obstacles that appear on the trip are clever and a pleasure to read about.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is also a strong statement about slavery. At the beginning of the novel, Huck is very accepting of the institution of slavery. It's what he's grown up with and he really struggles with the idea of helping a runaway slave. He wonders about whether he should get in touch with Jim's owner to let her know where he is.

As Huck and Jim get to know one another better, Huck comes to appreciate Jim as a man. There's no way he can let Jim be captured and returned to his owner. Huck and Jim learn many life lessons from each other. I really appreciated the contrast between Pap and Jim. Who was the better role model? Jim, as it turns out. Yes, a runaway slave is a better role model on how to be a kind and caring man than the boy's own father was. Jim's goodness is recognized by others by the end of the novel.

I didn't realize that Tom Sawyer makes a return appearance in the Huckleberry Finn story. I can honestly say that the final part of the novel when Tom and Huck are back together again was my least favorite part. Huck somehow ends up at the home of relatives of Tom Sawyer. The family was expecting Tom to appear, Huck knew enough about Tom to pretend to be him, thereby insuring acceptance by the family. And somehow, Jim was turned over to the family as a runaway. They lock Jim up in a small hut as they try to find his owner and figure what to do. 

Imagine this - Tom appears and since Huck is already pretending to be Tom, Tom pretends to be his own brother, Sid. If that's not convoluted enough, Tom and Huck (or Sid and Tom) try to figure out how to break Jim free. It would seem to be very easy to get Jim out of the hut and back on the river. As much as Huck thinks logically, Tom Sawyer is all about the adventure and he has all these rules about how the friends need to help Jim escape. Some of the ideas were so over the top ridiculous and after a bit, I just wanted Jim to be free and back on the river with Huck.

And... they lived happily ever after... or so we are made to believe.

So I liked the book. I didn't love it. I was angry about the proper things. I learned a little bit more about life on the Mississippi, about people's reaction to slaves, it was all okay. BUT... I'm so happy that I read this book and that I'll be able to discuss it intelligently with everyone else who has read and thought about The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Is it a book that I think everyone needs to read? No, I don't think so. But if you decide you'd like to read it, I'll be happy to have a conversation with you after you are done! I also think that anyone should be allowed to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the way Mark Twain wrote it, n-word and all. Think teachable moments.

For the past several days, I've been googling Huck Finn. I'll end this post by sharing another article that I really enjoyed reading.

10 Facts About The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

You May Be Wondering What I'm Reading Now

It's been nearly 3 weeks since I last posted anything here. I have been reading. I am reading. But nothing that necessitates writing a review. I had parathyroid surgery on Monday so a lot of my reading has been about other people's experiences with parathyroid disease and parathyroid surgery. It's not the most common condition around (although much more common than I'd imagined) so I really had to dig to find things to satisfy my desire to learn more. Based on some of what I read, I expected to dance out of the hospital, stop for lunch on the way home and by evening be living a more energetic, healthier life. It's now Thursday. I can't comfortable to sleep through the night, my throat hurts... and I'm waiting. Waiting to feel great. Waiting for my healthy life to start.

My concentration is probably even worse than it's been in previous weeks and months. (Better concentration is supposed to be a result of the surgery. I'll wait for that, too.) As a result, I'm reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain in fits and starts. It's my Books and Beer Club title for September. I know that I'd never read Huck Finn before. I tried to read it with a fifth grade student about 15 years ago but we were "too bored." I do believe that I read Tom Sawyer back in the day. The dialect isn't as difficult to read as I thought it would be. And when I get bogged down, I just skim. I think I'm getting a full enough idea of what the book is about. Here's another book where I think the discussion is going to really add to my experience with the novel. I can't say I am loving this book, but it is a classic and like many other classics I've read recently, I'm already really glad that I'm reading it.

Just yesterday, someone asked on our book club Facebook page which Huck Finn book are we supposed to be reading. That made me wonder if there were several different Huck Finn stories. I learned that there was a "sequel" called Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer Among the Indians that Mark Twain started... and dropped... and over a hundred years later, that novel was completed by an Author named Lee Nelson. Apparently the writing is seamless and it's hard to tell where Twain left off and Nelson picked up. But that was the only other Huck Finn book that I could find.

Yes, there are several books with the name Huck Finn in them. But all those books are written by other authors and I imagine they are reviews of the original Mark Twain book.

During my searching, I found what I consider a great article about an updated edition of Huckleberry Finn. It's definitely worth a read. It ties in to the fact that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been a banned book. (Books and Beer Club always reads a banned book during September, Banned Books Month.)

I'm glad that I'm reading an "original" edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I think as long as we take the language into the context of the time period in which the story is set, we're okay. When I was teaching, whenever I was reading a novel aloud to the class... if the novel had bad language, I often had to consider how I was going to deal with that. I taught about Civil Rights and Social Injustice so the "n-word" is one that appeared in some of the books I wanted to read to my class. Rather than change the words, I'd dedicate a lesson prior to the start of reading the book to discuss that particular term, why it's not appropriate for any of us to use now but why it was written into the book and why the book needs to read as it was written. My colleagues and I would often discuss this particular "dilemma" but I don't think we ever came to an agreement on how it should be handled.

I'm 85% finished with the e-book and will certainly finish it over the weekend.

What will I read next? My community book club is reading A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. It was published in 2012 so we, as a club, didn't think it would be that difficult to find in the library. Of the many libraries I have online access to, only one library system has the e-book. When I got on the waitlist nearly 2 months ago, I was #32 on the list. I am now #16. Even though I really don't have time for audio books these days, I've requested the audiobook, but it's doubtful I'll get that in time. I'm also waitlisted for the print copy at our local library. I'm number 20 in that queue. I think I might need to come up with something else to read. I'm toying with the idea with picking up Outlander again. I left off last fall after completing the fifth book. It might be time to read book six, A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Yes... off to request that one!

The Secret Garden

Even though The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett was my mom's favorite book of all times, I'd never read it. I thought I knew the story - but I only had some vague snippets of the plot. Once I saw the musical in Philadelphia, I decided that it was about time that I read the book.

I can't believe I waited so long. I loved The Secret Garden. It was a story about how neglect and negative feelings about oneself leads to an unimaginably sad life. The reverse is also true. Positive feelings about oneself and real connections to others lead to a happy and healthy life. Colin would call these positives "magic."

Not wanting to give any spoilers is going to be tough. The story is about a 10-year old girl called Mary who was living in India with her parents when cholera took the lives of everyone she knew. She is shipped off to an uncle in Yorkshire, England. When she arrives, she is sickly looking and has no knowledge of how to communicate with people who aren't her servants. In a word, she's a brat. Her uncle lives in a large house - with over 100 rooms which aren't being used. There are many other secrets as well.

Mary is restricted to her bedroom, an adjoining sitting room and the gardens. Even though it's winter, she goes out to the gardens every day. She learns of a secret garden. The entrance to this garden was locked 10 years earlier. Mary now has a project: to find the secret garden. With the help of some new companions, first Mary finds the door for the garden. A few days later, again with a little bit of help, she finds the buried key.

Never having seen a garden before, Mary instinctively sets to work cleaning up the garden and preparing it for spring. Soon Mary has more help working in the garden. Spending time outside with a goal in mind and forming relationships with her helpers bring more than the garden back to life.

To whom would I recommend this book? First of all, you need to like books with focus on children. You need to be willing to read lots of Yorkshire dialect. And you need to love "magic."

FYI: The overarching theme of the book and the musical are completely the same. But the little details of the plot vary as do the traits of most of the characters.

The classics - Children's

How is it possible that until now I had never read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett? After all, it's a children's classic, up there with Little Women, Make Way for Ducklings and The Pokey Little Puppy.

More importantly, The Secret Garden was my mom's favorite book as a child and one that she mentioned frequently as an adult. "Oh, I loved The Secret Garden so much. What, you haven't read it?" I wish I'd read it when she was around to talk about it. I wish I knew when she read it or what she loved so much about it. But alas, the time to ask these questions is long past. Sadly, I was never really interested in picking up my mom's favorite book to read - until I saw the musical show in Philadelphia last week. I thought I knew the story but I really only knew minimal parts. I was sobbing at the end.

I'm not sure that the list I found on goodreads (click here to review the list) is even close to being definitive. My reading in children's classics would be severely lacking had I a) not become a mother, b) not taken a reading class in graduate shool and c) not been an elementary school teacher! I was such a bookworm as a kid, reading whenever I could. Was I just reading the popular children's books of the times? Think: Bobbsey Twins, All of A Kind Family, and Nancy Drew.

Just looking at the top six on this list, I read James and the Giant Peach after I'd seen the movie with my kids. Same with Matilda. Each year, as a fifth grade teacher, I'd read a book along with each one of my students. (Obviously they weren't too big on the classics either!) But if it hadn't been for that project, I probably never would have read Charlotte's Web! A Wrinkle in Time (#1 only) I read for an assignment in my graduate reading class. Should I be embarrassed to say that I still haven't read The Witches?

Thankfully, members of my Books & Beer Club are into the classics. I've read many adult classics I never thought to touch before... and the children's classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Seriously! I hadn't even read that!

Going further down the list, I'm actually not sure if I read Stuart Little as a child or if I read it after I'd seen the movie with my kids. As a teacher, I started The Boxcar Children which I somehow missed as a young mom, even though I know it was a favorite amongst my mommy friends. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein wasn't around when I was a kid so I've got a good reason for not coming across that one until I was a teacher. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was the first chapter book that my nearly 30-year old son and I read together.

I know that lots of readers avoid the classics because there's too much good current fiction out there. But in my 50s, it's nice to take a step back and embrace these books that I missed the first time around.

Now to dive back into The Secret Garden.