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© 2024 Rereading Our Childhood
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Revisiting the children's books that made us who we are today
36 Episodes
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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 EngdahlAnot...
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 PitchOther Rereading Our Childhood episodes:Rereading Encyclopedia Brown, Boy DetectiveYou can find Deborah’s author interviews on her blog, Books Q...
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 Louise Fitzhugh...
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 Chris...
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 FitzhughRereading Ramona the Pest by Beverly ClearyRereading Freaky Friday by Mary RodgersRereading Stuart Little by E.B. WhiteAlso mentioned:The Flophouse podcast, Episode #3...
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 episode...
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 Eager&n...
Mary Grace and Deborah commemorate the 100th anniversary of Joan Aiken’s birth by reading Black Hearts in Battersea, the second in her Wolves Chronicles series, featuring resourceful orphans and sinister plots in an alt-history version of nineteenth-century London.Mentioned on the episode:Other books by Aiken:The Wolves of Willoughby ChaseNightbirds on NantucketJane FairfaxAlso mentioned:The Shortest History of England by James HawesPost on the blog A Son of the Rock questioning King James's ...
Deborah and Mary Grace discuss Beverly Cleary's 1968 classic Ramona the Pest. This was the first book starring Ramona, who appeared in Cleary's earlier books as Beezus's annoying little sister before going on to become Cleary's most beloved character. Mentioned in this episode:Other books by Beverly Cleary:Ellen Tebbits (1951)Henry Huggins (1950)Henry and Beezus (1952)Mitch and Amy (1967)Dear Mr. Henshaw (1983, winner of the 1984 Newbery Medal)Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes:Rerea...
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Ellen Raskin’s 1971 mystery romp, The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel), about a woman’s decades-long search for her husband, whom she married as a child. (It’s a long story.) The book is full of word games, puzzles, and creative illustrations by Raskin, who was also a graphic artist.Other books by Ellen Raskin:Nothing Ever Happens on My Block (1967). This picture book, a childhood favorite of Mary Grace’s, was the first book Raskin wrote after illu...
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Misty of Chincoteague, Marguerite Henry's classic 1947 novel about Misty and her mother Phantom, wild ponies from the island of Assateague, and Paul and Maureen, a brother and sister from the neighboring island of Chincoteague who long to own them. Other books by Henry:Stormy, Misty’s Foal (1963)Justin Morgan Had a Horse (1945), a Newbery Honor BookKing of the Wind (1948), winner of the 1949 Newbery MedalSea Star, Orphan of Chincoteague (1949)Misty’s ...
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss The Book of Three (1964) by Lloyd Alexander. Other books in the series:The Black Cauldron (1965)The Castle of Llyr (1966)Taran Wanderer (1967)The High King (1968)Other books by Alexander:Time Cat (1963), discussed by Deborah on a blog postAnd Let the Credit Go (1955)Janine is French (1960)The Wizard in the Tree (1974)Park Avenue Vet (1960)Fifty Years in the Doghouse (1964)The King's Fountain (1971)Also mentioned:A 2012 School Library Journal pollSam, Banks, and ...
Deborah and Mary Grace discuss Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery's beloved 1908 tale of a strong-willed and imaginative orphan.Other books in the series:Anne of AvonleaAnne of the IslandAnne of Windy PoplarsAnne's House of DreamsAnne of InglesideThe Blythes are Quoted (short stories)Also mentioned:Some books and poems that Anne reads:"Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight" by Rose Hartwick Thorpe"The Lady of Shallot" by Alfred, Lord TennysonBen Hur by Lew Wallace"Marmion" by Sir Walter Scott...
Mary Grace introduces Deborah to John Verney’s 1961 novel February’s Road. Other books by Verney:Friday’s Tunnel (1959)Ismo (1964)Seven Sunflower Seeds (1968)Samson’s Hoard (1973)Going to the Wars (1955)A Dinner of Herbs (1966)Also mentioned:The Arm of the Starfish (1965) by Madeleine L’Engle,Verney’s illustrations.A post on the blog Clothes in Books.The illustrations of Edward Ardizzone.An obituary of Verney in The Independent.A post on the Farnham Trust’s website about Verney. Joj...
Deborah and Mary Grace reread Stuart Little, E.B. White's 1945 classic about the adventures of a New York boy who looks exactly like a mouse. They discuss their early memories of reading Stuart Little (or, in Mary Grace's case, having her mom read it to her), Garth Williams' wonderful illustrations, and pioneering children's librarian Annie Carroll Moore's vehement opposition to the book. Mentioned on this episode:Charlotte's Web by E.B. WhiteThe Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. WhiteTh...
On this episode, Mary Grace and Deborah discuss The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster's 1961 classic about Milo, a boy who's bored with life until a mysterious tollbooth takes him and his electric car to The Lands Beyond, where he meets the warring kings of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis and many other memorable characters. Jules Feiffer's numerous illustrations are as important a part of the story as the text.This is the last episode of our first season. We'll be back in May. Mentioned on...
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss The Egypt Game, Zilpha Keatley Snyder's 1967 Newbery Honor Book about a group of children who create an elaborate game based on ancient Egypt. Mentioned on this episode:The Egypt Game: A Second Look, The Horn BookThe Kirkus Review review of The Egypt GameA 2011 post on the website Banned Reads Project featuring three teenagers' perspectives on The Egypt GameThe ACLU’s list of The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000The Waste Lan...
On this episode, Deborah and Mary Grace discuss Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint, published in 1956. In the first book of the popular series, Danny discovers a secret rocket project and, oops, accidentally launches the rocket into space.Discussed in this episode:A 2023 New Yorker article about Danny DunnOther books in the series:Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine Danny Dunn and the Fossil CaveAs Deborah mentions, Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint was illustrated by Ezra Jack Ke...
Mary Grace and Deborah ring in 2024 with a special episode where they count down their five favorite books from 50 years ago, defined as published between 1972 and 1974. They (mostly) didn't reread these books for the episode, so their choices are based on their childhood memories.As Mary Grace mentions, the format was inspired by the Book Riot podcast, which has done a number of similar countdowns, including a fun episode on the top bookish phenomena of the past 25 years. Here are Deborah's ...
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