If you're a Goudge fan (I absolutely love her books), Green Dolphin Street was a favorite of mine (maybe I'm sentimental because it was the first of hers I read), The Damerosehay Trilogy is wonderful, Towers in the Mist (I just finished this one; it's about 16th Century Oxford), The Scent of Water, The Dean's Watch are some well-loved titles. I'd like to re-read George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie (read it years ago to my older kiddos), but right now I'm doing a 2nd round of The Chronicles of Narnia with my 2 youngest daughters, but hopefully sometime this year.
I fully agree with you about learning happening outside of books. It's good to mix things up and play games, do puzzles, field trips, experiments, crafting and such. (Still, reading books just happens a lot around here! Even through the summer - it's just more pleasure reading for the kids.) Hope you your year is off to a great start!
Thanks so much. I will try the Wodehouse book and others. I did try one of his, because I read about his books being beloved in a D.E. Stevenson book, I think one of the later “Mrs. Tim” books, but anyway I couldn’t get into it. Lilith I HAVE read and it’s haunting. I also have read-read the Curdie books and will do so again. “Back of the North Wind” was magical too. C.S. Lewis said that MacDonald was a mythological-type writer. He explained that with myths (like King Arthur stories) you remember the unforgettable story, rather than skillfully written phrases. Malcolm didn’t make much of an impression on me, but it’s been a long time, so maybe I’ll reread. The real magic of stories is when you hear or read them at just the right time in your journey.
A “just the right time” book for me was “The Enchanted Castle” by E. Nesbit, when I was in 5th grade. I was miserable in public school, there wasn’t much in the school library to help me escape the misery, just a lot of boring stuff. And we didn’t have books at home, which is why I am so voracious about them now. I did find Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators to be amusing. The Hardy Boys were too boring to consider. I remember reading something called “The Last Unicorn”, because I thought that sounded like a possible winner, but it wasn’t. Then I spied a small older book, “The Enchanted Castle”. Wow, it took me far away and was so clever and different- the right book at the right time. I wish there had been more. I was in a desert in public school.
Aww, thanks! Do you have any favorites by them? I'm hoping to read more Elizabeth Goudge this year...but I think I'll take a break from George MacDonald for a bit. 😅
The first one I read was The Scent of Water and I was hooked. The Dean’s Watch and A City of Bells. I Saw Three Ships is a good Christmas story to read to your kids.
The Eliot Family Trilogy. Really they are all wonderful.
If you're a Goudge fan (I absolutely love her books), Green Dolphin Street was a favorite of mine (maybe I'm sentimental because it was the first of hers I read), The Damerosehay Trilogy is wonderful, Towers in the Mist (I just finished this one; it's about 16th Century Oxford), The Scent of Water, The Dean's Watch are some well-loved titles. I'd like to re-read George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie (read it years ago to my older kiddos), but right now I'm doing a 2nd round of The Chronicles of Narnia with my 2 youngest daughters, but hopefully sometime this year.
I fully agree with you about learning happening outside of books. It's good to mix things up and play games, do puzzles, field trips, experiments, crafting and such. (Still, reading books just happens a lot around here! Even through the summer - it's just more pleasure reading for the kids.) Hope you your year is off to a great start!
I've read a bunch of those! Towers in the Mist is on my shelf and waiting to be picked up. Thanks for the recommendation!
You're welcome. Hope you enjoy it.
Thanks so much. I will try the Wodehouse book and others. I did try one of his, because I read about his books being beloved in a D.E. Stevenson book, I think one of the later “Mrs. Tim” books, but anyway I couldn’t get into it. Lilith I HAVE read and it’s haunting. I also have read-read the Curdie books and will do so again. “Back of the North Wind” was magical too. C.S. Lewis said that MacDonald was a mythological-type writer. He explained that with myths (like King Arthur stories) you remember the unforgettable story, rather than skillfully written phrases. Malcolm didn’t make much of an impression on me, but it’s been a long time, so maybe I’ll reread. The real magic of stories is when you hear or read them at just the right time in your journey.
A “just the right time” book for me was “The Enchanted Castle” by E. Nesbit, when I was in 5th grade. I was miserable in public school, there wasn’t much in the school library to help me escape the misery, just a lot of boring stuff. And we didn’t have books at home, which is why I am so voracious about them now. I did find Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators to be amusing. The Hardy Boys were too boring to consider. I remember reading something called “The Last Unicorn”, because I thought that sounded like a possible winner, but it wasn’t. Then I spied a small older book, “The Enchanted Castle”. Wow, it took me far away and was so clever and different- the right book at the right time. I wish there had been more. I was in a desert in public school.
Yes — God creates a beautiful curriculum in our lives. 🤍 I loved At the Back of the North Wind so much.
The Count is my all time fav novel. I've read it twice. Big fan of Gone with the Wind too.
How much time did you give the Count between readings?
George MacDonald and Elizabeth Goudge are two of my favorite authors! 🤪. Awesome list.
Aww, thanks! Do you have any favorites by them? I'm hoping to read more Elizabeth Goudge this year...but I think I'll take a break from George MacDonald for a bit. 😅
The first one I read was The Scent of Water and I was hooked. The Dean’s Watch and A City of Bells. I Saw Three Ships is a good Christmas story to read to your kids.
The Eliot Family Trilogy. Really they are all wonderful.