making space for creativity
King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian, Marguerite Henry’s 1949 book and the winner of the 28th Newbery, spins the tale of mute stable boy Agba and his beloved colt Sham as they are bought and sold, forgotten and celebrated throughout North Africa and Europe. It is one of the Newberys…
William Pène du Bois’s 1948 Newbery winning book The Twenty-One Balloons tells the story of a math teacher – turned amateur balloonist who ends up stranded on the supposedly uninhabited Pacific island of Krakatoa right before its fated (and real-life) volcanic eruption in 1883. The majority of the book takes place on (and the…
The 26th Newbery, Carolyn Sherwin Bailey’s 1947 Miss Hickory, is a quirky, but fairly charming, tale of a wooden doll’s extraordinary year when her little girl moves away, a chipmunk takes over her home, and she’s forced to fend for herself in the great New England woods. Similarity to other…
At the end of January, my friend, and recommender of fabulous books, Loren, went to the American Library Association mid-winter conference. I too was invited to trek down to Chicago and drool over the hundreds of 2015 upcoming releases in the exhibit hall, but for various boring reasons, mostly having to do with grading…
Twenty-Five Newberies in, I thought I’d pause and reflect on a quarter century’s worth of award winning children books from 1922 to 1946. I started this project with pretty high hopes about the delight of reading so many wonderful children’s books. However, it became apparent only a few books in that this was going to…
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski tells the story of Biddie Boyer and her family as they move south to a new town in northern Florida in the early years of the 1900s. This lovely historical fiction Newbery captures the rural poverty and toughness of the Florida “Crackers” as the Boyers begin to farm (strawberries)…
The 1945 Newbery, Robert Lawson’s Rabbit Hill, tells the tale of a community of wild animals that live near a vacant farm house. They receive news that a new family is moving in that spring. Rumors are that the new family are farmers, and times of plenty may be around the corner for the…
Today, I am highly honored to be a part of celebrating the upcoming release of Caroline Starr Rose’s newest verse novel: Blue Birds. It’s a tale of going to a strange land and being brave. At the end of high school I went to France for a few weeks with about 8 girls…
This year has been filled with good books. In addition to reading the first 23 Newberies, here are some of the other books I’ve enjoyed this year in no particular order. 30 books in honor of turning 30 last Saturday. May 2015 be filled with even more! Memoirs 1. A Good…
The 1944 Newbery winner Johnny Tremain by Esther Hoskins Forbes came at the exact time that I’ve been helping Evan’s 10th graders study the American Revolution. I wanted to get 65 copies of the book and make them all read about this Boston silver smith who at their age got wrapped up in…
Yesterday was Christ the King Sunday. For Anglicans and Catholics, and anyone following the Revised Common Lectionary, it’s the last Sunday before Advent and the start of a new Church year. It’s a fairly new feast day, Pope Pius XI inaugurated it only in the 1925, and it joined the Revised Common Lectionary in…
Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray was the first re-read in this Newbery journey. I read Adam of the Road for the first time less than two years ago. Adam of the Road was a favorite of my husband’s, and we own a well loved copy. It is about a 13th century…
Walter Edmond’s, The Matchlock Gun is the 1942 Newbery winner. This little tale is the story of Edward Van Alstyne, a ten year old boy of Dutch and German descent living in upstate New York about the time of the American Revolution who helps his mother protect his home and sister against warring local…
With Call it Courage by Armstrong Sperry, the 1941 Newbery winner (number 20), we join Mafatu, a boy afraid of the sea, as he leaves his island in a moment of rash courage and survives a wild storm. He lands on a wild island where he must survive and escape being made a human…
The 1940 Newbery Medal Winning book was Daniel Boone by James Daughtery. What I liked. Once in passing, my maternal grandmother mentioned that our family is directly descended from Daniel Boone. I haven’t done any research into whether this is true, but it’s always stuck with me. It seems me that most people, myself…