Howling Frog Books

For ease of reference in future, here is a complete list of January's articles about children's literature: John Newbery 19th-century Illustrators Hans Christian Andersen E. Nesbit Sydney Taylor Padraic Colum Walter de la Mare P. L. Travers L. M. Boston Tove Jansson Roger Lancelyn Green Rosemary Sutcliff Edward Eager Elizabeth Goudge Homer Price Eleanor Farjeon Meindert DeJong Wrapup and Post-1960 Bonus Amanda's overviews: first and second Arenel at Slightly Cultural, Most Thoughtful and Inevitably Irrelevant 's list of Russian classics 

It's pretty embarrassing that I didn't get around to doing the Classics Club's January meme until the last day of January, but in my defense, I was busy!  Writing posts that will benefit Classics Clubbers for generations to come!  (Yeah, that's the ticket...)  So now I'm going to do it, only there are these tree-trimmers across the street making the most horrible noise.... What is the best book you’ve read so far for The Classics Club — and why? Be sure to link to the post where you discussed the book! (Or, if you prefer, what is your least favorite read so far for the club, and why?) Oh wow.  That's a toughie.  I have loved a whole bunch of these books.  I've read 24 so far (out of probably 150 on my list now, which is completely out of control). Two of them are waiting for me to write them up.  And my favorite is one of them!  So... My first pick is Anna Karenina .  I just read it this month and finished it maybe two weeks ago....

It's the end of January and sadly, the end of our celebration of classic children's literature.  I hope you read The Princess and the Goblin , or read some other children's classic and blogged about it, or maybe put some titles on your TBR list.  I've had a lot of fun digging through my memory for favorite books and authors, and I've learned a lot about those authors while I was researching.    Our rules stated that we would keep to books pre-1960, but I do want to include two    three   four last authors for you to make sure to read.  They are a little more recent, but not by much! Joan Aiken--well, everybody's read The Wolves of Willoughby Chase , but there are 12 books in the series and they're all pretty fantastic (in both senses of the word).  Aiken's alternate history for Britain includes Jacobean kings and Hanoverian plotters who want to take over the throne with improbable schemes.  (I often have to think hard to remembe...

Meindert DeJong (1906 - 1991) was born in the Netherlands (in Friesland).  (BTW you pronounce it DeYoung, which I didn't know until just now.)  He emigrated with his family to the US when he was about 8.  His family was poor, and he was often lonely, as the other children at school bullied him.  Despite his family's circumstances, he earned a college degree from Calvin College in Michigan.  The Great Depression made it difficult for him to get steady work, though, and he changed jobs often.  The New Netherland Institute's biographical sketch says: The term “variety of jobs” may not be sufficient or descriptive. De Jong worked as a college professor, probably as an adjunct professor, as a grave digger, as a mason, as a tin smith, as a sexton in a church, and as a bricklayer. In 1938, DeJong was 32, and a librarian encouraged him to try writing.  He soon published his first book, The Big Goose and the Little White Duck .   World War I...

I've kind of saved Eleanor Farjeon until the end, and now I'm wondering if I'll have time to write all the posts I want to, so I'm going to do this one now because she's one of my very favorites. Eleanor Farjeon (1881 –  1965) lived in London.  She had 3 brothers who went to school, but she herself was short-sighted, shy, and suffered chronic ill-health, so she was educated at home.  This education consisted largely of her spending all her time reading books in the dusty attic (between this and the London air, it's no wonder she got sick all the time!).  Here is her description of her home: In the home of my childhood there was a room we called "The Little Bookroom". True, every room in the house could have been called a bookroom. Our nurseries upstairs were full of books. Downstairs my father's study was full of them. They lined the dining room walls, and overflowed into my mother's sitting-room, and up into the bedrooms. It would have...

Homer Price isn't an author, he's a character.  You'll already know the author, Robert McCloskey (1914 - 2003), as the author of Make Way for Ducklings and Blueberries for Sal.   McCloskey's two books for older children aren't seen as much any more.  They are really fun, though, so let's look at them. Homer is a kid who likes to tinker and fix radios.  He does odd jobs around the neighborhood.  And he just inexplicably winds up in crazy situations.  His uncle's new doughnut-making machine goes haywire and won't stop making doughnuts, robbers hold up a radio station, snake-oil salesmen get their comeuppances.  It's  very fun, very American and happy in style, like a tall tale.  (If you've read Henry Huggins , it's a bit like that, only turned up to 11.) Homer Price was published in 1943, and a sequel, Centerburg Tales or More Homer Price , came along in 1951.  Give them a try!

Elizabeth Goudge is one of my more recent finds, and I would really like to see her books back in circulation.  She wrote many books, both for adults and children.  Here of course we will only talk about the children's books. Elizabeth de Beauchamp Goudge (1900 - 1984) was born in Wells and her father was the vice-principal of the Theological College there (which explains why she wrote so often about cathedral cities).  Her mother was from Guernsey and Elizabeth visited it often as a child.  Goudge studied at Reading and then went on to teach design and handicrafts.  Her first successful book , Island Magic (about Guernsey), was published in 1934 and she had a long and successful career as a writer. Goudge's most famous book--and her own favorite--is The Little White Horse , and it's currently pretty easy to get in paperback, though sadly without the original illustrations.*  It's a lovely fairy tale of a story, and won the Carnegie Medal in 1946....