April 2021 Books

Biography

Invincible Louisa

by Cornelia Meigs

A biography of Louisa May Alcott, describing events that impacted her life and writing, including her father's experiment with communal living, her one-month nursing career during the Civil War, and her family's friendship with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne.  IT also explains how all these events and characters were reflected in her novels, especially Little Women.  This as also a Newberry book.

Classics

The Screwtape Letters

by C. S. Lewis

A series of fictitious letters from one demon, Screwtape, to his nephew, Wormwood, giving advice on tempting and deceiving Wormwood's human "patient."  Some interesting insights.  Since several chapters focus on sexual temptation, I'd recommend this for not younger than high school age (or until you've discussed this issue with your children).

The Wind in the Willows (Junior Classics Abridged Edition)

by Kenneth Gramme

Anthropomorphic animals mole, water rat, badger and others have adventures together in England, along with their reckless friend Toad.  I'm not sure if it was the story itself or the abridged version of it that just didn't grab my interest.  At least, the abridged version didn't pique my interest to read the original, which is what abridged versions should do.

Newberry

Shadow of a Bull

by Maia Wojciechow

Abandoned this one after just a couple of chapters because I'm just not into reading about all the gore that goes along with bull fighting.

Nonfiction

One Blood : The Biblical Answer to Racism

by Ken Ham

Explains how all people are of "one blood," one race -- the human race.  Traces "racism" in its modern form to the evolutionary ideas of Darwin (and even before Darwin) and explains how departing from a biblical view of creation leads to the idea of groups that are "sub-humans" and atrocities such the holocaust, African slavery, hunting and displaying of Aborigines, and abortion.

Just For Fun

Moonlight School

by Suzanne Woods Fisher

City-girl Lucy Wilson commits to working for six months for her father's cousin in the mountains of Kentucky in the early 1900s.  She is shocked by the poverty and illiteracy of the people from which her father came. As she gets to know the people, she comes to appreciate and care for them. She joins in the effort to help them learn to read and write so they won't be taken advantage of by unscrupulous people and companies who think they are easy prey because they can't read the contracts they sign.  Contains some resolution to a personal mystery in Lucy's life.  There is an aspect of a sweet love story as well, as Lucy discovers the difference between a dashing (yet deceptive), sweep-you-off-your-feet kind of man who is really only interested in himself and an honest, God-fearing man who truly cares about her spiritual well-being.  The audio version was fantastic!  The narrator did an excellent job with the dialects and the voices and emotions of the different characters. This was definitely my favorite of the month.

Half Magic

by Edward Eager

Four children, who think their life is rather boring and unexciting, stumble on a special coin that grants wishes -- but only in halves.  They wind up on adventures in the Sahara, in King Arthur's court, and cause havoc wherever they go.  Hilarious!  This is the first in a series.  Others include Knight's Castle and Time Garden, which I reviewed last month.

Read-aloud

Paddington at Work

by Michael Bond

Paddington has returned from a visit to his Aunt Lucy in Peru and is back to his usual mishaps and adventures in London.  Read aloud to my three youngest.

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

by Jean Lee Latham

This is one of my all-time favorites!  The girls and I listened to Jim Weiss narrate this while we drove to mother/daughter horse camp.  See a more detailed review here.

History

Arabian Nights

as told by Jim Weiss

A retelling of several stories from 1001 Arabian Nights.  Well-done.  We listened to this during read-aloud time.

Catla and the Vikings

by Mary Elizabeth Nelson

Catla is the only one in her English village who escapes a Viking raid. She runs to the next village and helps them avoid a raid and brings them back to rescue her own family and village.  The story was just OK.  I thought the Viking Quest series was much better.  I didn't pass this one on to the kids.

Adam of the Road

by Elizabeth Janet Gray

Adam is the son of Roger the Minstrel in England in the Middle Ages.  He gets separated from his father while searching for his dog, who was stolen by another minstrel. We listened to this as we drove to and from our camping trip.  One of my favorites.

The Door in the Wall

by Marguerite de Angeli

Robin is left crippled by a mysterious disease and falls into the care of Brother Luke and John Go-in-the-wind.  Brother Luke tells Robin that if you go to the castle wall and follow it long enough, you'll eventually come to a door in the wall.  Robin finds this to be not only literally true, but metaphorically as well, as he learns to overcome self-pity and find ways to use his circumstances to improve himself and the lives of those around him.  We listened to this during read-aloud time.

Eric the Red and Leif the Lucky

by Barbara Schiller

A picture book with black-and-white line drawings about the adventures of Eric the Red in discovering and settling Greenland and of his son Leif's discovery of North America.  Read this aloud in one sitting with my younger three. Strewed it for the older ones.

Who Was Leif Erikson

by Nico Medina

Another excellent biography in the Who Was... series.  The only thing I wish they'd done differently was to include pronunciation guides for the names.  Interesting sidebars in addition to the main text.  Strewed this one.

Macbeth for Kids

by Lois Bardett

A reasonably well done retelling of Shakespeare's famous play.  Told in rhyming couplets, with illustrations and letters from children in the author's elementary school classes.  I'm still not fond of the story itself, with the murder and gore and witches, but I recognize the point of the horror that destructive pride and ambition can bring.

Spain

by Anita Ganeri

An engaging introduction to the country of Spain.  

Explore! Normans

by Izzi Howell

An engaging presentation of the Normans and William the Conqueror.  Read aloud.

Cathedral

by David Macaulay

A detailed look at how cathedrals were built, interspersed with a fictional story of the building of one.  I strewed the book, and we watched the PBS movie which animated the book and included life footage with the author.

A Medieval Catherdral

by Fiona MacDonald

Similar to Macaulay's book, but without the fictional story.  Strewed.

You Wouldn't Want to Work on a Medieval Cathedral

by Fiona MacDonald

My kids love these books.  Very engaging.  All about building a cathedral. Read aloud.

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Crusader

by Fiona MacDonald

Describes the life of a crusader, and a little bit of why they went.  It's a reasonable introduction to the complicated history of the crusades. Read aloud.

The Magna Carta

by Richard Barrington

A nonfiction picture book that describes how and why the Magna Carta was written, and why it is still important today. Read aloud.

Robin Hood

as told by Jim Weiss

A nice introduction to the legend of Robin Hood.  Listened to it while driving.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

by Renate Raecke

A picture book account of the legend of the Pied Piper who led away all the children from one particular town because the townspeople reneged on their pledge to pay him for getting rid of the rats.  The back matter discusses the various theories as to the origin of the story.  Read aloud.

Saint Francis of Assisi

by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

A picture book biography of Saint Francis Assisi.  Beautiful pictures.  One does show him from the back when he went out naked in the street.  I've heard the name, of course, but didn't really know much about him, so this book was enlightening.

Picture books, just for fun

Nothing new this month.

Magazines

World Magazine (2), Texas Parks and Wildlife (1).