Letters from Pemberley

I’ve noticed that girls are more willing to read boys’ books than otherwise.  So here’s a list of mine with no help from Derek:

Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I’m pretty sure you can’t grow up in America without reading these books, but just in case you were wondering….yes, every girl must read them.  I still reread them every year…that’s 20+ times and counting.  My favorite is The Long Winter…with the cost of heating in Chicago, maybe we should start burning hay in our furnace to keep ourselves alive…

Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery.  I’m pained to know that some women never read these as girls.  That’s okay.  Anne and Diana’s exploits are probably funnier to me now (in my annual read-throughs) than when my mom and I read them aloud together 18 years ago.  The creative genius of Anne (and then of her children and their chums) is inspiring and hilarious.

Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace.  Another must-read series, though the early ones are pretty much for young girls, and the high school/college/marriage ones are definitely going to appeal to an older girl.  I love series about aspiring female writers…and the friendship of Betsy and Tacy over the 20 years covered in the books is wonderful.

American Girls series.  Okay…so this week Leann and I discovered that there are about 10 more historical and countless more modern girls than when we were girls.  I can’t speak to the quality of the stuff post Felicity, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha, and Molly, but I loved how much history I learned while getting to know these girls.  And I’ve promised myself that my daughters will actually get a doll someday (sometimes it takes a generation for dreams to come true, right?).

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney.  Okay, the Pepper books are melodramatic, but growing up, I wanted to BE Polly Pepper, who keeps her impoverished family together while her mother takes in sewing and her brother chops wood to help them survive.  Some of the sequels feel dated, but the creativity of the Peppers and their simple pleasures make up for it in my book.

They Loved to Laugh by Kathryn Worth.  This one is less familiar to many, but it’s a delightful story of how a young girl goes to live with a Quaker family and finds love and acceptance and her own identity in the midst of a bunch of laughing lads.  Apparently Clare decided to give this to me for Christmas within minutes of meeting me our first day at Hillsdale, and I’ve enjoyed it so many times in the intervening years!

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare.  This author does amazing historical fiction, but this may be my favorite.  Kit’s adjustment to life with her relatives in a Puritan community and her friendship with an older Quacker woman is always compelling.  I love books in which you really see the characters grow and mature. 

Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott.  Yep, this one, not Little Women, is my favorite Alcott, probably because everybody ends up marrying the right person in the sequel, Rose in Bloom.  When sickly Rose Campbell comes to live in the Aunt Hill with her relations (including 7 rambunctious boy cousins), she blossoms into a lovely young woman.  Oh, to have the adventures that those Campbell kids had!

Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field.  This one is probably geared towards lower elementary girls, but it’s a great family read-aloud for all ages.  Apparently the first “doll novel” in America, it won the Newberry award in 1930.  Hitty’s first century of adventures on land and sea are delightful.

Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen.  There’s a whole city-family-moves-out-to-country genre out there from the mid-20th century, but this one is my favorite.  It’s also a Newberry winner.

The Borrowers by Mary Norton.  When I was young, I wished there really were little people who lived under the floorboards of my house.  An older family from church even made a little borrowers home in one of their hollow basement steps!  Pod, Homily, and Arietty captivated my imagination more than any dollhouse every could.

The Moffats by Eleanor Estes.  This whole series captures the innocence and ingenuity of childhood in a simpler time.  There’s something so loveable about poor families who struggle along together.  After reading The Moffat Museum, we neighbor kids set up our own museum down in the woods.  Classic.

Derek and I have been doing some reading aloud again, and we just love the great boys’ books out there.  We can’t wait to share these favorites with Tommy in a few years:

Homer Price by Robert McCloskey.  Homer is one of those clever small-town boys who always has us in stitches.  We don’t want Tommy adopting a skunk as a pet any time soon, though.

Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan.  I think my brothers and I read this book religiously at least once a year for a decade.  We love how a few clever Norwegian children outwit Nazi occupiers.

The Winged Watchman by Hilda van Stockum.  Another Willett family favorite, this is another WWII classic that has it all–adventure, Resistance activities, family dynamics, and the sweet love of a boy and his dog.

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  We love how much Almanzo can eat, and oh! how he loves his father’s horses!

The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald.  You could say we fell in love reading these to each other…we certainly were reading this series aloud on a school trip the week we started dating.  From the amazing water closet to Tom’s escapades in his Catholic boarding school, this Utah family has us hooked.

Escape from Warsaw (The Silver Sword) by Ian Serrallier.  This one isn’t as well-written as the previously mentioned WWII adventures, but we Willett children still loved the adventures of three children trying to escape to Switzerland and find their father while dodging enemies left and right!

Eddie the Dog Holder by Carolyn Haywood.  Derek actually introduced the Eddie series to me, and since they’re out of print, we’ve been scanning book sales for copies ever since.  There’s something so great about a little boy and his dog when an author captures it well, and I can’t wait to read more in this series.

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois.  The definitive inspirational book for boys who dream of inventing, ballooning, or setting up their own colony in a desert island somewhere.

Detectives in Togas by Henry Winterfield.  A definite read-aloud, the crazy adventures of these Roman lads will capture any boy’s attention…and he won’t even realize how much Roman history he’s learning on the side. =)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.  I’m not as much of a Dahl fan as Derek is, but there are some images in this book that just can’t be beaten.  Reread the beginning where Charlie’s dad loses his job screwing on toothpaste caps onto tubes and the four grandparents share the one bed, and you’ll be pulled into the story again, even if you’ve had the misfortune to see either motion picture travesty of the same name.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.  Sometimes Derek or I will just whisper out of the blue, “Death-or-Glory Toads!” just to get a chuckle.  Toad’s adventures are hilarious, and Mole and Rat are great friends, too.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.  Pirates-adventure-sailing-treasure-and a great movie adaptation starring a young Christian Bale.  Maybe I should add this one to the girl’s list just for the sake of the eye candy.  Sigh.