For this episode, we reread E.B. White’s 1952 classic Charlotte’s Web. Also by White: Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan, The Elements of Style, Is Sex Necessary?, Essays of E.B. White, Letters of E.B. White, "Death of a Pig" Blog post on Henry Fussy New Yorker article on Garth Williams The Story of Charlotte’s Web, Michael Sims Eudora Welty’s New York Times review Recommended: Anne of Green Gables, Caddie Woodlawn (Mary Grace); Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan, Mist...

For our third annual Encyclopedia Brown episode, we matched wits with each other and with Encyclopedia in trying to crack the cases in Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues, which was published in 1966. We included the relevant clues in our discussion, so you can solve along with us. We discussed the origins of Bugs Meany's hat and solved the mystery of what state Idaville is in. Also, Mary Grace mispronounced "divining rod" about 15 times. Mentioned on this episode: Other Encyclopedia Bro...

For this episode, we reread Louise Fitzhugh's 1965 novel The Long Secret, the sequel to Harriet the Spy. We discussed the mystery of who is leaving notes for residents of Water Mill and Fitzhugh's fascinating but tragic life. Mentioned on this episode: Other books by Fitzhugh: Suzuki Bean by Sandra Scoppettone, illustrated by Fitzhugh (1961) Harriet the Spy (1964) Nobody's Family is Going to Change (1974) Sport (1980) Also mentioned: Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Loui...

On this episode, syndicated columnist Jamie Stiehm joins us to reread Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women, which was published in two parts in 1868 and 1869. Mentioned on this episode: Other books by Alcott: Little Men (1871), Eight Cousins (1874), Rose in Bloom (1876), Jo’s Boys (1886) Also mentioned: Peyton Thomas’s tweet saying Alcott was trans Peyton Thomas’s New York Times guest column saying that Alcott was trans Peyton Thomas’s podcast Jo’s Boys (on Apple and Spotify) Film a...

On this episode, we reread Edward Eager’s 1957 book Magic by the Lake, the sequel to Half Magic, which we discussed during our first season. Mentioned on this episode: The Time Garden and Seven-Day Magic by Edward Eager Eager’s New York Times obituary By Pike and Dyke by G.A. Henty Deborah’s novels George Washington and the Magic Hat, John Adams and the Magic Bobblehead, and Thomas Jefferson and the Return of the Magic Hat The books of E. Nesbit Songs: “Paddlin...

On this episode, we reread Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers's beloved 1934 classic. We discuss the difference between the book and the movie version of the magical nanny, changes in the book to remove racist portrayals, and Travers's strange and interesting life. Mentioned on the episode: Other books in the series: Mary Poppins Comes Back (1935) Mary Poppins Opens the Door (1943) Mary Poppins in the Park (1952) Also mentioned: Kathryn Hughes' 2005 Guardian review of Mary Poppins Sh...

On this episode, we discuss All-of-a-Kind Family, Sydney Taylor's 1951 classic about five sisters growing up on New York's Lower East Side. Over the course of a year, the girls experience joys (like celebrating Jewish holidays and the Fourth of July) and sorrows (like getting scarlet fever and, even worse, losing a library book), and spend a lot of time thinking about how to spend their allowance (one penny). Mentioned on this episode: Other books in the series: More All-of-a-Kind...

On this episode, we discuss The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene, the first installment in the Nancy Drew series, with writer Sara Fitzgerald. Mentioned on this episode: Other Nancy Drew books: The Secret of Red Gate Farm The Hidden Staircase Other Stratemeyer Syndicate series: The Bobbsey Twins The Hardy Boys The Rover Boys Also mentioned: The Silenced Muse by Sara Fitzgerald Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly Teen romances by Betty Cavanna The CW Nancy Drew series (trailer here) The...

On this episode, we discuss Esther Forbes's Newbery Medal-winning 1943 novel Johnny Tremain, the story of an apprentice silversmith in Boston who gets caught up in the events leading up to the American Revolution. Mentioned on this episode: Other books by Esther Forbes: Paul Revere and the World He Lived In (1942), winner of the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for History. The General's Lady (1938) Miss Marvel (1935) Also mentioned: The 1957 Disney movie adaptation of Johnny Tremain (trailer here) ...

On this episode, we reread Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved 1911 classic The Secret Garden, about Mary, a neglected girl who discovers a garden on her uncle's Yorkshire estate that has been locked up for ten years. We discuss the magic of secret places and Hodgson's surprising ties to the United States, including periods living in a Tennessee log cabin and in Washington, D.C. Mentioned on this episode: Other books by Burnett: A Little Princess(originally published as Sara Crewe) (1905) Littl...

We were delighted to welcome our first guest, Judith Kalb, to talk about Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little Town on the Prairie (1941), the seventh book in the beloved Little House series. Judy is, in addition to being Deborah's sister, a literature scholar and a lifelong Laura Ingalls Wilder fan. Mentioned on this episode: Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography, by Laura Ingalls Wilder The Complete Poetical Works of Alfred Tennyson Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web by E.B. White Th...

For our last episode of 2024, we talked about our favorite children's books of 60 years ago, which we defined as 1964-1966---a great era for children's books. Here are our favorites, but it's more fun if you listen to the episode first. We disqualified books that we've done episodes on. Mary Grace's top five: 5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. 4. The Strange Light by James Reeves 3. Ismo by John Verney 2. The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander 1. The Long Secret by Lou...

On this episode, we read Susan Cooper's 1973 novel The Dark is Rising, which was a Newbery Honor Book. It's the story of Will, a British boy who discovers on his eleventh birthday that he's the last of the Old Ones, destined to fight against the forces of the Dark. It takes place over the period from the winter solstice to the 12th day of Christmas, so it's a great December read. (If the whole "British boy/eleventh birthday" thing sounds familiar, Cooper is considered by many to have influenc...

On this episode, we reread Betsy Byars' The Summer of the Swans, which won the 1971 Newbery Medal. It's an evocative story of a 14-year-old girl who's preoccupied with her big feet and her puce sneakers until the disappearance of her younger brother, who has an intellectual disability, forces her to look beyond her own adolescent thoughts. Mentioned on the podcast: The 1970 Kirkus Review review of the book 1971 Newbery Honor Book Enchantress from the Starsby Sylvia Louise Engdahl ...

On the second annual Encyclopedia Brown episode, Mary Grace and Deborah match wits with America’s most brilliant boy detective, and with each other, in solving the cases in the series’ second installment, Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch. Mentioned on the podcast: Goodreads reviews of Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes: Rereading Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective You can find Deborah’s author interviews on her blog, Bo...

On this episode, we reread Elizabeth Enright's 1941 novel The Saturdays, about four children who pool their allowances and set out on solo adventures in New York. Mentioned on the episode: Other books in the Melendy family series: The Four-Story Mistake (1942) Then There Were Five (1944) Spiderweb for Two (1951) Also by Elizabeth Enright: Thimble Summer (1938) Gone-Away Lake (1957) Return to Gone-Away (1961) Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes: Rereading Harriet the Spy by Loui...

Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Elizabeth George Speare’s 1958 Newbery Medal winner The Witch of Blackbird Pond, about a girl, Kit, who’s struggling to fit in in a Puritan community in colonial Connecticut. Mentioned in this episode: The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s 1953 play about the Salem witch trials. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Kit’s childhood reading includes The Pilgrim’s Progress and The Tempest. The Bronze Bow, Speare’s 1962 Newbery winner about a Jewish boy living at the time of ...

On this episode, Deborah (a cat person) rereads, and Mary Grace (not a cat person) reads, The Hotel Cat (1969), a late entry in Esther Averill’s long Cat Club series. Other books in the Cat Club series: The Cat Club (1944) Jenny Goes to Sea (1957) The Fire Cat (1960) Other podcast episodes: Rereading Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh Rereading Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary Rereading Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers Rereading Stuart Little by E.B. White Also mentioned: The Flophouse podcast,...

On this episode, Mary Grace and Deborah read Virginia Hamilton's 1974 novel M.C. Higgins the Great, about a teenaged boy in Appalachia whose life is turned upside down when two strangers come to town. Hamilton won the Newbery Medal for the book; she was the first African American to win the award. Mentioned on the episode: Also by Virginia Hamilton: Zeely (1967) The House of Dies Drear (1968) The Planet of Junior Brown (1971) Other Rereading Our Childhood e...

On this episode, Deborah rereads, and Mary Grace reads, a book that needs no introduction: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, also known as The Wizard of Oz. They discuss weird sequels, the history of sunglasses, the monoculture, and, of course, the movie. Mentioned on the episode: Also by L. Frank Baum: The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918) Father Goose, His Book (1899) Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes: Rereading Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken Rereading Half Magic by Edward ...