Today I’d like to pay tribute to one of the most accomplished, most celebrated, most beloved children’s authors in history. Growing up, the name Beverly Cleary rolled off my tongue as easily as “Ronald Reagan” or “Michael Jackson”. Everyone knew who she was. And her characters – Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, Ribsy, Beezus and Ralph […]
Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne, Book Review
This entertaining novel was first published in 1873 by French writer, Jules Verne. It is the story of a rich English gentleman who accepts a bet to travel around the entire world (no easy feat in 1873; one that had only recently become possible) in 80 days. The gentlemen of the Reform club, of which […]
Why Read the Classics?
I love to see what’s new in the world of children’s literature, and I’m so excited about the new ebook revolution with its possibilities and opportunities for new authors. But I am and always will be a great proponent of the classics. These are stories that have stood the test of time. They became classics […]
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Book Review
Probably ten million folks have written opinions on Harper Lee’s classic during the last fifty years, but I’m going to add my ten cents to the pot anyway. Because To Kill a Mockingbird is worth every coin we toss in. This is the story of a black man standing trial in Alabama for a crime he didn’t […]
It's Like This, Cat, by Emily Neville, Book Review by Emily, age 11
The title of this book is It’s Like This, Cat. The author is Emily Neville. This book won the Newbery Award. It is fiction. The story begins in New York with the main character, Dave Mitchell, arguing with his dad. He gets in all sorts of arguments with his dad. He goes to an apartment […]
The Bronze Bow, by Elizabeth George Speare, Book Review
How have I missed this book for so many years? I’m familiar with Elizabeth George Speare. Her Newberry-winning story, The Witch of Blackbird Pond was one of my very first lasting favorites as an adolescent, and I later fell in love with The Sign of the Beaver. How did I miss The Bronze Bow? I stumbled […]
Sounder, by William Armstrong, Book Review
Has anyone out there not yet read this incredible book? Written by William H. Armstrong in 1969, it won the Newberry Medal, the most distinguished award for children’s literature, and not by any stroke of luck. Sounder is a masterful coming of age story, but it’s also far, far more. Set in the deep South in […]
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving, Book Review
This week, in the spirit of Halloween, I reread The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving. I confess, I am not familiar with most of the works of this celebrated American writer, but the first time I heard this story as a fourth grader, it captured my imagination like few other stories ever have. […]
The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkein, Book Review
Right now, among all my many other projects, I am making my sixth pilgrimage through Middle Earth. Some of you, I’m sure, are wondering why I would read through the nearly 1,500 pages of the Lord of the Rings trilogy when there are three very good movies that cover the same material. And others are […]