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 ...
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren's 1945 classic (published in English in 1950) about an anarchic Swedish girl. They discuss their love for the book as children, their mixed feelings on rereading it, and Pippi as a feminist icon. Mary Grace, who spent a month in Sweden earlier this year, talks about Lindgren's legendary status in Sweden, where she's literally on the money. Discussed on this episode:The BBC News survey on the 100 greatest children's b...
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Edward Eager's Half Magic, the first of Eager's seven books of magical adventures. Four bored siblings living in a Midwestern city in the 1920s find a magic amulet...except it only grants half of what you wish for. We talk about what has and hasn't held up in the six decades since Half Magic was published, about Eager's life, and about the real (and extremely inappropriate) silent movie they go to.Mentioned on this episode:Barbara, the inappropriate movie, revie...
Deborah and Mary Grace read Carol Ryrie Brink's 1935 Newbery Medal winner Caddie Woodlawn, which is based on Brink's grandmother's childhood adventures on the Wisconsin frontier. Mentioned on this episode:Caddie Woodlawn's Family by Carol Ryrie Brink (previously titled Magical Melons) (1939)Two Are Better Than One by Carol Ryrie Brink (1968)Louly by Carol Ryrie Brink (1974)Mary Grace mentioned what she thought were two different blog posts on a website about portrayals of American Indian...
Mary Grace and Deborah reread one of their childhood favorites, Mary Rodgers' 1972 mother-daughter body-switching story Freaky Friday. They also discuss Rodger's posthumous 2022 memoir Shy, which was a New York Times Notable Book. Mentioned on this episode:The intro to the PBS show Mystery!, with animation based on illustrations by Edward Gorey.A Billion for Boris, the sequel to Freaky Friday, which Mary Grace and Deborah both enjoyed as children. Summer Switch by Mary Rodgers, in which Ape F...
Deborah and Mary Grace celebrate Halloween by reading two books about witches, Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett, published in 1953, and The Little Leftover Witch by Florence Laughlin, published in 1960. Both books are about lonely little witches who find homes with non-magical families. Other witch-related books mentioned on the episode:The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (1958)The Active Enzyme Lemon-Freshened, Junior High School Witch by E. W. Hildick (1973)The Wiza...
Mary Grace and Deborah reread Madeleine L'Engle's 1962 classic A Wrinkle in TIme, about...well, it's hard to describe what it's about. A troubled girl. A missing father. A genius brother. Three mysterious women. Interplanetary adventure. An evil, throbbing brain. None of this does justice to a book that two science fiction-hating girls ended up loving, and that their grown-up selves had a wonderful time returning to. Discussed on this episode:Listening for Madeleine, Leonard Marcus's boo...
Deborah and Mary Grace read John D. Fitzgerald’s 1967* novel The Great Brain, the first book in the series featuring John, the narrator, and his older brother Tom, the eponymous Great Brain, who wreaks havoc on their late 19th-century Utah town with his devious moneymaking ventures. Mentioned on this episode:The Amazon review that gives parents a heads-up about disturbing content in the book. Mary Grace recommends the Encyclopedia Brown books, featured on a previous episode, for fans of The G...