The titles listed below were written several decades ago (0r more). Each of these ten books intrigued me for some reason and I enjoyed reading these Children’s Literature Classics as well as some Grown-up books that came my way. Some choices were selected because I have seen theatre productions of these titles in New York in London.
YOUNG PEOPLE
BALLET SHOES by Noel Streatfeild /1936
WHY? Read this in preparation of seeing the theatre production at the National Theatre in London
Since its publication many decades ago, Ballet Shoe has been a favourite of thousands of young readers (girls?). it is the story of three girls, the adopted Fossil sisters, each discovered as a baby by Great Uncler Matthew (GUM), an elderly professor who travels the world. The girls come to live in England with the very GUM’s practical great niece Sylvia and a nanny named Nana. To make ends meet, Sylvia takes end a group of boarders who contribute to the girls education by tutoring them. Each of the girls has a special talent. Pauline longs to be an actress. Petrova wants to fly planes and Posy wants to dance dance dance. The story is mostly centred on the Children’s Academy of Dancing and Stage training where they embark on rigorous training to enrich their talents which may or may not lead to their vocation in the arts. Readers who enjoy this story are likely cheering on the three determined children as they grow up, develop a warm sisterly relationship, practice practice practice dancing and acting and pursue their dreams, and perchance fame in each of their pursuits. Although it has entranced readers for generations, I wouldn’t say this is my favourite children’s book, but I am not British, a girl or a wannabe ballet dancer! However, Hurrah, Hurrah for any book that espouses the arts!!!!
PIPPI LONGSTOCKING by Astrid Lindgren / 1950
WHY? Read this in preparation of a visit to Sweden (presenting 2 workshops to teachers)
I’m sure I read this classic Swedish novel many years ago, but re-reading Pippi Longstocking while riding on a train from Copenhagen, Denmark to Helsingborg, Sweden provided me with some delightful (and hilarious) reading on my journey. What a character Pippi is!! The nine-year old girl lives in an old house (Villa Villekula) in an overgrown garden in a tiny little town. She has no parents to tell her what to do and her adventures with neighbours Tommy and Annika show how unique and outrageous, how brave and clever this character with crazy red pigtails is. Such rollicking episodes as walking backwards, making pancakes by throwing eggs into the air, being a ‘thing-finder and discovering an empty can over her head to pretend it’s midnight, outwitting two policemen who have come to take her to a children’s school; horseback riding; going to school and drawing a picture of a large horse on the classroom floor; going on a picnic and getting into a fight with a bull; going to the circus and winning one hundred dollars by lifting strong man the Mighty Adolf up into the air. No wonder that this title, created by renowned author Astrid Lindgren (winner of the 1958 Hans Christian Medal) has been a favourite for generations of Swedish citizens and – for readers around the world, There are two sequels: Pippi Goes On Board and Pippi on the South Seas. Oh what fun Pippilotta Delicatessa, Windowshade, Mackrelmint Efraimsdotter Longstocking, (and her pet monkey, Mr. Nilsson, are. Pippi Longstcoking is a fun and absurdly funny classic to be read – and read again.
BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE by Kate DiCamillo /2000
WHY? I am a Kate DiCamillo fan and after enjoying recent publications (Ferris; The Hotal Balzaar) I wanted to re-read her first novel publication.
On page one of this novel we are introduced to India Opal Buloni, a young girl who lives with her daddy, the preacher. One day she was sent to buy some groceries at the nieghbourhood Florida store (Winn-Dixie) and she came back with a dog (Winn-Dixie). As the story unfolds we meet a remarkable cast of characters: Otis, a guitar playing, pickle loving worker at the local pet store’ Gertude a squawing parrot, Gloria Dump, who was rumoured to be a witch, but is a recovering alcoholic with a heart of gold (who owns a tree with hanging bottles), Miss Franny Block, somewhat neurotic soul who’s in charge of all the books in the library; Amanda Wilkinson who’s face was always pinched up like she was smelling something really bad; Sweet-Pie Thomas who was only five years old, Dunlap and Stevie Dewberry, two brothers who looked like twins, but weren’t , But readers hearts will wrap especially wrap themselves around the rescue dog, Winn-Dixie who has a human-like smile, who loves to listen to stories, who is afraid of thunder, who is able to catch mice without harming them, and who is as loyable and lovable a canine as anyone would want for a pet – especially India Opal Buloni. With this Newbery Honor Book, Kate DiCamillo has stepped up the ladder whose books are fantastic and seem to have gotten better as the climbed up and up that ladder (The Tale of Desperaux, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Flora and Ulysses). I’m so glad I re-read this book and look forward to spending time re-visiting other books by this author. You are a wise, funny, errific storyteller, Kate DiCamillo who has grown and grown because of Because of Winn-Dixie. I love your books. Of course, kids do too.
Excerpt (p. 96)
“It’s different for everyone,” she said. “You find out on your own. But in the meantime, you got to remember, you can’t always judge people by the things they done. You got to judge them by what they are doing now.”
GROWN-UPS
THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN by Mark Twain /1884/1885
WHY? James by Percival Everett was at the top of my 2024 list of favourite books and I promised by self I would read Mark Twain’s story which inspired Everett’s brilliant book.
This is the classic story of a young boy named Huck Fin who runs away from home and travels down the Mississippi River. He is accompanied by Jim, an escaped slave and the two companions encounter a cast of colourful characters and experience a wide range of adventures, funny, fascinating and suspenseful. The book digs into the themes of freedom, friendship and societal norms. As stated on the back cover, ‘the book is famous for its vivid portrayal of American life and its critique of social issues.’ If truth be told, I found myself skipping sections, hoping tHuck and Jim would get on with their journey. But who am I to argue with a classic?
OUR TOWN by Thornton Wilder/ 1938
WHY? I saw a Broadway production of this play in January 2025. I sometimes like to read the play after having watched it.
“Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? – every minute.” (p. 108)
I am a fan of this classic script by Thornton Wilder, which is one of the most produced plays across North America. I have seen and enjoyed several productions and am often moved by the story of life in the small village of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. Most of all, it is an allegorical representation of all life. The play, in 3 acts, introduces us to a community, to a marriage and to death. Noteworthy, is the minimalist use of sets for producing this play. I was somewhat disappointed with a recent production I saw in New York, with Jim Parsons as the Stage Manager (terrific) and featuring a cast of actors both black and white. I’m glad I saw it, but there were some artistic choices that didn’t, for me, enrich the simplicity and heart of this great play.
ROOMS FOR RENT IN THE OUTER PLANETS: Selected Poems 1962-1996 by Al Purdy / 1996
WHY? Raise your hand if you received a poetry anthology as a gift this past year. For Channukah/Christmas a dear friend gifted me Al Purdy’s poetry collection. Maybe poetry wouldn’t have been my first choice of books to read during the holidays, I decided to dig into this book, poem by poem since it was a gift.
Margaret Atwood claimed Purdy to be ‘the voice of the Canadian vernacular.’ Michael Ondaatje wrote, “Who is he like, you ask yourself. And in Canada there is no one. I can’t think of a single parallel in English literature… What a brave wonder.” I do tend to buy poetry from time to time (especially for audiences of young people). Rooms for Rent in the Outer Planets (a Canada Reads finalist, 2006) is a selection of three decades worth of thought-provoking work poems by the man described by the Globe & Mail as “the greatest of our poets.” Confession: For me, this poet’s work is of the ‘I don’t really get it’ ilk. I tried. There are glimpses of narratives hidden in each piece, there are some astonishing sensory images (e.g., ‘chain saws stencil the silence in my head’ (p.81); ‘it is moonlight milk pouring over the islands’ (p, 107); ‘listening how the new house built with savaged old lumber bent a little in the wind and dreamt of the trees it came from’ (p., 17) (many which I struggled to quickly grasp), and there is no doubt wordsmith genius throughout but if truth be told, I found most pieces mystifying or challenging. I often slowed down to read the poems. I tried to paint pictures in my head. Line by line, the language was rather accessible, but poetic arrangements and some new vocabulary puzzled me (e.g., ‘uxurious’ wife beater; a great ‘Jeroboam’, ‘trilobites’ and swamps). The ‘messages’ sometimes escaped me. Perhaps hearing these poems out loud. Perhaps having someone to talk to help me unlock the meanings might have helped. And so I dare to admit, that my brain cells didn’t connect to the brain of ‘the greatest of our poets.’ Should I try again?
Excerpts
“… suddenly/ I become the whole damn feminine principle so /happily noticing little tendrils of affection steal /out from each to each unshy honest / encompassing golden calves in Israel and slum babies in Canada.” (from ‘The Winemakers Beat-Etude’ (p. 54)
“Not again shall bud conceive/ or the stars bear witness/ and lightning flas over chao/ nor any deity of teh flesh send hsi small amphibians scuttling onto land for safety/ the amino acids are dissolved/ their formulas forgotten.” (from ‘Adam and Eve’ (p. 118).
TALES OF THE JAZZ AGE by F. Scott Fitzgerald /1922
WHY? In preparation for seeing the musical “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” based on Fitzgerald’s short story.
These eleven stories, written over 100 years ago, have a contemporary appeal to them in their study of relationships, dreams, infatuation, class and culture. Though Fitzgerald captures a Jazz age place and time, the stories describe pursuits of love (The Camel’s Back): drinking and gambling and lusting (Jelly Bean); class (The Diamond as Big as the Ritz) and a girl in a bathtub (Porcelain and Pink/ script). The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an intriguing, engaging reading challenging readers to suspend disbelief about a man born as an adult in his 70s and the narrative works backwards as he gets younger and younger while the people around him age. Benjamin’s schooling, marriage, and business successes are described throughout in a life story that spans decades in a story told in less than 20 pages
Note: There is a film version of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button starring Brad Pitt. However, the screenplay only borrows from the premise of the Fitzgerald story and invents an entirely new life for this character.
WHAT THE DORMOUSE SAID: Lessons for Grown-ups From Children’s Books by Amy Gash (ed) / 1999
WHY? Believe in the World: Wisdom for Grown-ups from Children’s Books is a 2024 publication of quotations collected by Amy Gash and Elise Howard. This book provides references to some classics as well as some 21st Century titles. What the Dormouse Said is a noteworthy prelude to this recent release of quotations.
This is a collection of inspirational quotations from children’s literature is organized under such headings as’ Faith and Courage, Imagination and Adventure, Practical Musings, Character and Individuality, Acceptance, Goodness and Silence. We met words of wisdom from such authors as William Steig, Antoine de Saint-Expuery, Aesop, Dr. Suess and Judy Blume. In the preface to the book, author Judy Blume writes that What the Dormouse Said “reminds us that we should never grow so old, or change so much, that we cannot find room in our hearts for the wisdom of children’s books.” (p. xii).
Samples
I hate being good. ~ Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers, 1934
Shirking responsibilities is teh curse of our modern life – the secret of all the unrest and discontent that is seething in this world. ~ Anne’s House of Dreams, L.M. Montgomery, 1917
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. ~ The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1943
WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK by Nathan Englander, (Short Stories) /2012
WHY? In preparation for seeing the theatre production in London.
This collection of eight short stories by award-winning author Nathan Englander isn’t that old (published in 2012) and even thought I read it when it was first published I decided to re-visit the book particularly for the title story. Two Jewish couples are meeting in the kitchen of the husband and wife who live in Florida. Lauren/ Shoshana and Mark are an orthodox couple visiting from Israel. This is a reunion of the two women who once went to a Yeshiva school and were best friends. This is a room with ‘four Jews bitching’ as they discuss religious convictions, being kosher, smoking pot, parenthood, and The Holocaust. What they talk about when they talk about Anne Frank is centred on a ‘game’ of who or who might not take the responsibility of taking a Jewish person into hiding. This was a clever and intriguing story of two marriages, four viewpoints and one provocative dilemma.
THE YEARS by Annie Ernaux / 2008 / English Translation by Alison L. Strayer / 2017 / Memoir
WHY? In preparation for seeing the theatre production in London.
Seven Stories Press claimed that this autobiography that is ‘at once subjective and impersonal, private and collective.”
This hybrid memoir spans the years 1941-2006. by Nobel literature prize-winning author (2022), Anne Ernaux. She uses the pronoun ‘we’ instead of the expected ‘I’ of autobiography and when writings about her personal history from childhood, youth, and adulthood, she uses the third person voice (i.e., she). Drawing on notes from six decades of diaries, the author takes a close-up look at French society just after the Second World War into the early 21st century by giving reference to personal photos, books, song titles, radio and television and movies. The author digs into such issues as consumerism, illegal abortion, a troubled marriage, her mother’s Alzheimer and experiences with cancer in rather short passages. The writing is fearless, critical and both personal and universal and certainly original.
SHOUT OUT
HOW DO YOU LIVE? by Genzaburo Yoshino /1937 / 2021 (English Translation)
WHY? An intriguing review in the New York Times + book blurb “The Heartwarming Classic: over two million copies sold. This is a book for young adolescents who are coming to learn about their identies and their place in society as well as for adults of any age, who have come to wonder ‘What is a life well-lived?”
As we go through the journey life, most of us wonder: “What’s it all about, Alfie?” Some questions that frame this book: How do we live our lives as caring citizens of the world, How do we pursue our dreams? How do we build trusting family and friend relationships? What does the class structure we are born into influence our views of the world? As young people move into adolescent hood they come to think about their identities, the ‘invisible knapsacks’ they carry. and their place in the world today and tomorrow? Following the death of his father, a fifteen year old teenager named Copper encounters changes particularly in his education, his friendships, and in his insights into history (Napolean’s conquests), and science (Copernicus) talent (making tofu, playing sports). In a number of chapters we are told stories of Copper’s every day life but these chapters are framed with chapters that appear as journal entries from Copper’s uncle who shares advice wisdom, and raises questions for that help Copper consider what matters most. In a translator’s note we are told that Yoshino wanted to write an ethics textbook but turned to the novel format that containing lessons and messages about thinking for oneself. That the book was written in 1937, speaks to the universal quest to of being living a life “like a true human being.” In particular, I was knocked out by the strong lesson to be learned about the question os standing up for others when encountering bullies and determining ‘What should you do: ‘What would you do?’. Genzburo Yoshino has indeed accomplished his goal to have his character reflect on the question “How Do you Live?” and as readers, young and old connect to Copper’s story, they too will wonder . ‘How Do You Live?’ and “How will you live?”
As I write about this book I recognize what a philosophical marvel this is. Everyojne needs an uncle to help us sort out confusions and guide is into a path of well-being, belonging and kindness. With this book, Yoshino serves as an uncle to us all. How lucky we are to have this translation. I also look forward to seeing the film version by renowned animator Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away; My Neighbor Totoro)
Excerpt; (p, 275) Reminder this book was written 1in 1937
“I think there has to come a time when everyone in the world treats each other as if they were good friends. Since humanity has come so far, I think now we will definitely be able to make it to such a place. So I think I want to become a person who can help that happen.