Deb Nance
A woman visits the town of Dunnet Landing, Maine for several summers. Her landlord makes sure she becomes familiar with all of the residents of the town. This little book is a collection of stories of the characters the woman meets and comes to know.
This is a beautifully written book, a quiet book, a small book, a book that feels so true that I have the feeling that this is exactly what Dunnet Landing, Maine was like at the turn of the twentieth century.
George has a heart condition that makes it inevitable that he was not live long. He is fascinated with the new book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and his older sister, Megs, is determined to meet the author who teaches at the university she attends and to ask him the question George has posed to her: “Where did Narnia come from?” She does, and C. S. Lewis answers the question by sharing a series of stories about his own life that suggest answers.
I would have enjoyed this story much more, I think, had I not already been very familiar with the events of C. S. Lewis' life and if I wasn't clear where the story about George was going from the very beginning.
Laurie Zaleski tells the story of her life from the early days of her childhood as her mother takes refuge from her abusive husband on a broken-down farm in the country to her efforts to make her mother's dream of having an animal rescue center of her own.
The stories of memorable animals Zaleski has encountered are intermingled with stories of Zaleski's life.
Jess wants to start over, so she's reached out to her half-brother and, reluctantly, Ben has agreed to let her come stay with him. But when she arrives at his surprisingly luxurious apartment, she discovers that he is missing, and when she questions the others in the building, no one seems to know where he has gone.
I don't like books that are very scary, but this one wasn't scary, and yet I still wasn't crazy about the story. I love anything set in Paris, but the Paris aspects of the story felt added on. I'm disappointed to say that this was, for me, just an okay read.
The underground swimming pool is a haven for many until a crack appears in the bottom and it is closed. One of the swimmers is Alice who is slowly losing her memory, and, without her time in the pool, the process accelerates and her mind is lost to the world.
A beautifully written book, some sort of a novel mix of poetry and list-making, that nevertheless paints a story, too.
There once lived a girl who was very smart and very wise. She helped her people make decisions, but the king was jealous of her, and he tried to put her to death. Every time she evaded the king, and finally he was forced to work with her. But again he became jealous of her and tried to have her killed, and the people deposed the wicked king and replaced the king with the wise girl.
An old story set in Cameroon.
Tiger, Gibbon, Water Buffalo, and Gecko argue about who would make the best king, and a competition is proposed to see who can arrive first from the ruins of Angkor Wat to a distant hill. But who is the real winner when everything is considered?
A lovely story about what qualities it takes to be a good leader set in Cambodia.
Amina is visiting her family in Mali and she hopes that her loose tooth will fall out while she is there. The story is that if you lose a tooth in Africa you get a chicken, and Amina wants a chicken. Happily her tooth does fall out while she is there and she does get a chicken.
Based on a true story and written and illustrated by a daughter-father team.
Lalla sees others wearing a malafa and she wants to join them. She likes the beauty of the malafa, she likes the mystery of the malafa, she likes the queenliness of the malafa. But it is only after she sees the way the malafa helps with faith that she really understands the true nature of the malafa.
Set in Mauritania.
People are trapped inside Warsaw's Ghetto during the war and they do not have enough food. To help the people inside the ghetto, others are bringing food on a train. The Gestapo has learned of this plan and they are coming to the train station with dogs to sniff out the food. But the people inside the ghetto have a plan...
Based on a true story. Set in Poland during WWII.
Carlos sets out into the rainforest in search of animals. When he reaches a giant fig tree, he sets down his umbrella and climbs up into the tree, in hopes of seeing farther away. While Carlos is up in the tree, many animals climb into his umbrella. But by the time Carlos climbs down, all the animals are gone.
Set in the rainforests of Costa Rica.
Two groups of boys in Otterbury spend their days play-fighting each other but one day a window in the school is broken. To pay for the window, the two groups come together to earn money, but before the money can be given to the school, it is stolen. The boys must quickly figure out who committed the theft and recover the money before the payment for the window is due.
An exciting story, full of action, well told, with occasional illustrations.
Maria Luz's family is not doing well. Their farmland is not producing enough food for the family. Her father must go to find work to earn enough money to buy seeds and fertilizer. While he is gone, Maria Luz has a new teacher who shares secrets of good gardening, including feeding the soil with compost, terracing, growing cash crops, and getting past the middleman. All of these greatly benefit her family.
A story set in Honduras.
How long have I been trying to find a copy of this book from the 1001 Children's Books list to read? Happily, today I found a video of this book in the Julian the Rabbit series. Yes, it was in Italian, but it was only twelve pages, so I could type the story into Google Translate to read it fairly easily.
It's a very bright colorful book, and the text is just right for little ones. Giulio Coniglio is stung by a bee, but somehow the bee and Giulio become friends.
Who is the most beautiful bird? Blackbird, of course. All the other birds, all colors of the rainbow, envy Blackbird his beauty, and they beg Blackbird to share a bit of his beautiful black color with them. And so he does, painting black on the neck of a dove, and adding black spots here on this bird, and putting black lines there on another bird.
A celebration of the color black based on a folktale from Zambia.
Little Spook and the little Prince were playing together when they heard a terrible noise. They went to find Little Spook's parents who revealed that the noise came from Little Spook's brand-new baby sister. And that sister can make some noises!
A 1001 Children's Book You Must Read Before You Grow Up.
Marcelino is an orphan who is being raised by the friars at the monastery. One day he wanders into the attic and there he sees the Lord on the cross. He shares his food with the Lord. Again and again, Marcelino returns to the attic, and each time the boy brings food, and the boy and the Lord become close friends.
A Spanish folktale retold by José María Sánchez-Silva. One of the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read.
Julilly is sold away from her mother and is taken to work on a cotton farm in the deep South. Before she leaves, her mother tells her about the promise of freedom in Canada. Julilly befriends Liza, a girl who has attempted to run away but was captured and severely beaten. They meet an ornithologist from Canada who uses his profession as a cover to help the enslaved escape to freedom, and he helps the two girls along with two young men get started on the road to Canada.
What a great story!
A 1001 Children's Book You Must Read.