This recently re-issued classic children’s book is damn delightful. John, Janey and Pete are children growing up in 1950’s midwest. Their babysitter, Mr. Pudgins, has a magical pipe, a flying car and a pet Dodo. The children have a series of magical adventures, until Mr. Pudgins has to leave to share his magic with a new group of siblings. This book was re-issued as part of the Nancy Pearl’s Book Crush series for NPR. It’s a really sweet book with only a few issues. […]
“Everything that isn’t loving a child is just for show.”
Grace is a married mother of three. Her youngest, three year old Jack, is terminally ill. She has a background in epidemiology. She also is having an affair with her high school boyfriend. An allegation is made by an unknown party, accusing Grace of Munchhausen’s by proxy – making Jack sick in order to get attention from medical personnel. She is horrified to realize that she does perfectly fit the profile of a MBP mother. This book was absolutely heartbreaking, but I absolutely adored it. […]
Love and Monsters in a New Age
Wow, what a book to start the year. The novel starts sort of mysteriously and I don’t want to spoil the mystery (though it’s been out a while now so you may know the mystery anyway–I think I knew before I bought the book, but I didn’t read it right away so I had forgotten by the time I picked it up again). I will say it’s a post-apocalyptic novel–you get that within the first three pages, so that’s not a spoiler. Also there are monsters and […]
A Young Woman’s Dreams
Last year, my sister bought me the young adult memoir-in-verse, Brown Girl Dreaming. And then it went on to win the National Book Award for young readers! Hooray! I have been meaning to read it again and again, and something else got in the way. So when I was at my conference, chilling in my hotel room, I decided to pull out the audio copy I had borrowed from the library and listen to it. It was a good choice. Jacqueline Woodson covers her birth […]
The Perfect Book For Spring
For some unknown reason, The Secret Garden was an overlooked book in my childhood. My parents mostly read science fiction to me and I was content in my personal reading of girlhood staples like the Anne of Green Gables series, Little Women, and The Baby-Sitters Club. But because I’ve really been enjoying the Misselthwaite webseries based on The Secret Garden, I figured it was finally time to give this classic a read. Mary Lennox is a little girl living in early 20th century India. When […]
Adventure writ small
I received this book from my brother in law this past Christmas, as he knew I liked graphic novels and is always willing to take a stab in the dark. I had actually already seen this book, although not read, as my son had already borrowed it from the library. He had been trying to get me to read it, and we ran out of time, so was very happy to have it cross my lap again. The Mouse Guard is a unit of mice […]