Kindred Spirits discussion

Please use this thread to ask questions, gauge interest in things you might be interested in hosting, and make suggestions for other things we could do as a group!

Questions are always welcome, though please do take the time to get to know the group and familiarize yourself with what we do, have done, etc., before making suggestions.

Question: Has anyone in this group read the borrowers by Mary Norton? It is a very sweet book if you ever get the chance to read it. I read it about 25 years ago. It has stayed in my heart a very long time.

Oh yes! I loved that book as a kid. It's on my list to reread soon.

Yes!! I read when I was younger - several times actually - and loved it!!

I've never read it! :O I've always meant to, but never gotten around to it. Anna, if you ever feel like hosting a readalong of this one, I will join in if I can.

I wouldn't mind re-reading , it was a favorite when I was a kid (I still have this old paperback with the cover off...) Or another childhood favorite.

Or because I've never read it.

dichotomy- I haven't ready either of those. might check them out

I love The Borrowers and wouldn't mind a re-read!

I haven't read MAGIC ELIZABETH yet, although I'm pretty sure I have a battered secondhand copy somewhere! And I think I added SECRET LANGUAGE to my list awhile back because of you. Those two might be harder for people to find if they're out of print, though--not sure if they're around or available as ebook.

There are a few books I've been hankering to reread this spring. In no particular order:

A Little Princess
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
The Great Brain at the Academy
The Middle Moffat
Behind the Attic Wall
Fifteen (It's Beverly Cleary's 100th birthday on April 16th!!)

Also all the Betsy-Tacy books, per a quick conversation with Indiana on the introductions thread.

There are some classic YA books I've never read or don't remember (LORD OF THE FLIES, Robert Cormier, etc), and it'd be nice to have some fantasy in there, too. But I'm so all over the place this year I am in the mood for comfort reads for the time being. (I'd consider joining in fantasy readalongs other people are hosting if the timing is right, though!)

For a fantasy novel that is also a good comfort read, I would recommend "The Children of Green Knowe" by L.M. Boston. This is the first book in a series of six, all set in and around a house in England that actually exists and that the author lived in. Growing up and reading the books I never could have imagined the place really existed. But it does and you can visit it! And it is as magical in real life as it was in fiction. The first one is a good Christmastime read.

But I am really enjoying everyone else's suggestions. Its a nice mix of new to me books and books I already have on my shelves.

You know, I think I tried reading GREEN KNOWE when I was too little, I should give that another go sometime. Thanks for pointing out the seasonal appropriateness too, I love Christmassy books! And I had no idea that was a real place.

I would really like to do the Emily of New Moon series, too. I love Anne, but Emily is even dearer to my heart. Also only 3 short books, albeit with a lot of drama within them.

I'd LOVE to re-read the Emily of New Moon series! I too love them and haven't read them since I was a teenager.

Last summer I hosted a read along of the entire Anne of Green Gables series; it was absolutely magical and such a lovely summer reading list.

Anna wrote: "Question: Has anyone in this group read the borrowers by Mary Norton? ..." It's been ages since I thought of this book. I even think it is one I actually have a copy of somewhere too :)

Has anyone read Ballet Shoes ? I know it's silly but everytime I hear Meg Ryan's name I think of that book and am curious as to whether it is any good or not.

Books I would love to re-read include
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret I can't seem to recall much about this book, curious about how I would enjoy it now.
Ellen Tebbits I remember this being one of my favorites, but one that I can easily pickup and read anytime.
Peter Pan & Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Both of these two I really want to read, but have struggled over which edition is the best.

I would love to read 'A Little Princess' and 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' - both of which are sitting on my book shelf :)

Yes, Brenda, I loved Ballet Shoes and all the Streatfield books as a child, and I still have my childhood copies.

I actually love all these suggestions, and yes, Wendy, to Behind the Attic Wall! I have been wanting to re-read that one. Of course I adore the Emily trilogy and would gladly re-read those. If we are ever in the mood for something spooky, Montgomery's collection, Among the Shadows: Tales from the Darker Side is splendid. I also love how funny A Tangled Web is!
The Children of Green Knowe is one that is very dear to my heart as I used that book as one of my texts for my Master's thesis. I would love to read other books of Lucy Boston as well. Marianne Dreams is another interesting British post WWII fantasy.

So many good titles to choose from!

We read Emily of New Moon for our FYA book club last year. I really loved reading it again! It had been quite a while since I last read it and was surprised at some of what was in there...it reminded me that people who claim YA is too "dark" these days need to look at some older books like this one. Wouldn't mind rereading the other two books again.

I also have my childhood copy of Ballet Shoes.

And Katie...so excited to find someone else who knows of and loves The Children of Green Knowe!

Okay suggestion/question...can we have a thread for new YA and children's literature that are coming out that we are looking forward to and/or recent ones we have read and enjoyed? Then as a sub-question, if enough of us were looking forward to an upcoming book could we then have a thread to discuss it here? For example, I'm looking forward to Maggie Stiefvater's 4th Raven Boys book next month. I have no one to really squee/sob over it with so would love if others here were going to read it if we could have a thread to discuss it.

I have just joined your group because I love children's literature, especially fantasy. I see many of my favourites on your book list.
I have read The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key and recommend it highly. Have any of you read E. Nesbit or Edward Eager? I think their books are a lot of fun.

Rosemarie wrote: "I have just joined your group because I love children's literature, especially fantasy. I see many of my favourites on your book list.
I have read The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key and recommend ..."

I have the whole Edward Eager collection, they were favorites when I was young! I've read Five Children and It and I think the railway Children, by Nesbitt, but I think that's it.

The Phoenix and the Carpet and The Story of the Amulethave the same group of children as in The Five Children and It. There is newish trilogy by Stephen Augarde about time shifting, the first of which is called Celandine enjoyed the story and his style of writing.

Ooo, Ellen Tebbits is a favorite of mine too, Brenda! I'd like to read something Beverly Cleary for her birthday, perhaps that would be a good one. Would you like to host a readalong for that, or would you like me to? I think I'll go ahead and add a few other books (Margaret, A Little Princess, Attic Wall,) I'm intending to read to the readalong thread, and people can join in if they like or it's convenient for them.

I hope you all feel comfortable (or will feel comfortable) hosting readalongs of your own when the mood strikes you as well. As I mentioned, my head space is mostly reserved for comfort reads at this moment if I'm hosting (which means sweet everyday stories or books I'm very familiar with) right now, but I'd be interested in joining others as well.

I also enjoyed BALLET SHOES as a kid, but don't remember it at all, so I'd love to read it again.

Catie--hooray for Emily! Let's do it. :) We only read the first Anne book together when we did this series on the blog, but I think it'll be much easier to continue from book to book here on GoodReads if we move past Moon. I just found out yesterday that our own Katie has BEEN to PEI, which fills me with all kinds of longing. I love those other suggestions for LMM as well, I've really only read the ancillary novels/short stories once, and it would be lovely to revisit.

Hi Rosemarie, welcome! (I've really got to pop in on the welcome thread as well, I'm just so busy and behiiiind. Please forgive me.) I'm glad you found us. I LOVE Edward Eager (have all the Half Magic series on my shelves) and have meant to check out Key and Nesbit, so those are stellar suggestions as well. I'm always sad that so few kids know Eager these days.

Indiana--yes, absolutely! There's already a thread in the "Just for Fun" section that's titled "What are you reading?" or something like that that I thought would be good for what you're suggesting--any and all books we're looking forward to or reading. If you'd like a separate thread for something like TRC, which is a series that lends itself to a LOT of discussions about complicated theories and squees, a separate thread is fine, too.

You're all welcome to create threads yourself, honestly--I might occasionally retitle something or move it to another section for clarity, but for the most part my intention is for this to be a pretty open forum. It's nice to have a place where we can find like-minded lovers of children's lit, but obviously we all are interested in other bookish things that might interest our fellow kindred spirits, too!

Indiana--apologies! I MEANT to create that thread when I first started the group, but apparently I did not, hah. So there is a general reading thread there now, but feel free to create a Maggie/TRC one if you wish. I had a zillion conspiracy theories posted on my The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves reviews, so it's probably a good idea for that to have its own space.

Also, I've been adding books to our group "to read" bookshelf when I'm seeing more than one person indicating interest in a specific title, just so we can sort of keep track of possible future readalongs--so if you're lurking, don't feel shy about chiming in! Also, if I've missed one in reading these threads that you strongly want to do, please do nudge me here to add it to our shelves.

Okay, gauging more interest! :)

Thoughts on

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Where the Red Fern Grows
Old Yeller

or The Phantom Tollbooth, which I've never read but always meant to?

We also read one book each for the Little House and Mary Poppins series on the blog--I'd love to read the rest sometime as well.

I first read The Phantom Tollbooth when I was getting my teaching degree. It was recommended by one of the other srudents in Engish class. It is wonderful.

Wendy Darling wrote: "Okay, gauging more interest! :)

Thoughts on

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Where the Red Fern Grows
Old Yeller

or The Phantom Tollbooth, whic..."

I've been wanting to read some of the younger Judy Blume stuff again, And I've never never Read Red Fern or Old Yeller.

I did read Phantom Tollbooth last year though, unfortunately I was immune to it's magic.

Wendy Darling wrote: "Ooo, Ellen Tebbits is a favorite of mine too, Brenda! I'd like to read something Beverly Cleary for her birthday, perhaps that would be a good one. Would you like to host a readalong for that, or w..."
I'd love to do a re-read of Ellen Tebbits for Beverly Cleary's birthday. Looks like Tracey put up a suggestion for a April readalong, so not sure if you want more then one going on at a time, but I'd be up for reading it.

Wendy, Excellent, thanks! If I create a Raven Boys thread or any other just published/squee thread should it go in the Readalong Discussion section or Just For Fun?

And yes, Rosemarie, I've got all the Edward Eager books. I think the thing I always enjoyed about them was it was magical experiences in the Midwest which was so unusual in my reading experience. It seemed you always had to go to England in literature for magical things to happen. The one at the lake always amazed me as it was set in the most seemingly unmagical location in Indiana! And yet the book made it seem magical. (I've been to the lake, it seems quite ordinary and unmagical but for the book.)

I'm a little late to the game and didn't join until the end of last months discussion, but I was just wondering how the monthly book discussions work? Is there a book that we pick to read every month (like "No Flying in the House" for February) or are they more informal? How long do the discussions officially last for or are they just ongoing?

Sorry, just want to make sure I plan enough "reading time" with everything else I have going on at the moment ;) Looking forward to reading with all of you!!

Brenda--fantastic! While it's probably best to be mindful of what else is going on in the group for participation and such, I don't think there's an issue with doing more than one readalong at once. Her birthday is April 12, what date would you want for the discussion? I'm out of town the weekend just proceeding, but not sure if the Friday before that (April 1st, 3 weeks from now) gives everyone enough time to get the book and read it? Or maybe it'll be just the two of us, hah.

Sometimes people do maps showing locations of different books--I wish there was a comprehensive one that included classics. I didn't remember the exact location of the Eager books, but I did remember that it was an American setting.

Btw---have any of you read the Penderwicks series starting with The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy? I LOVED the first book but still haven't read the others. It's probably too new to technically be considered a classic yet, but it will be someday--it feels very timeless, old-fashioned, and sweet.

Trisha--hi! I'm going to personally try to host at least one "official" readalong every month so there's at least one thing going on that people may join if they wish, but it's also more informal in that everyone's welcome to host readalong themselves once you've kind of gotten the lay of the land. I updated the "rules for creating readalong discussions" post so hopefully things are a bit more clear.

There should be an official date listed for each readalong that serves as the starting point for discussions, but I think it's fine if people are starting early and want to share feelings as they go along as well. It's also going to be natural that latecomers add to the thread later, since books come in late/life happens, etc--I'd encourage all readalong hosts to try and keep an eye on new comments even after discussion dates have passed so the conversation doesn't stall and everyone has a chance to participate.

And no worries at all! Great questions. I'd like to get a few more readalongs on the calendar in the next day or so myself, so I can see what this busy spring will look like. :)

Oh, and Indiana--I think since TRC isn't an official readalong and isn't a classic (yet!), the thread should probably go under "Just for Fun" for now. We can revisit if this type of thing evolves...perhaps we create a new section that's devoted to non-classic books or something like that.

There are so many good choices that I'm probably going to enjoy whatever book you get, so long as it's easily available, and most of the titles you have mentioned are.

Wendy Darling wrote: "Brenda--fantastic! While it's probably best to be mindful of what else is going on in the group for participation and such, I don't think there's an issue with doing more than one readalong at once..."
What about starting the discussion on her birthday and anyone can chime in through the end of the month? I might need some help setting up the discussion thread, but could give it a go if you want.

I'd also be up for a buddy read too, either way.

Brenda, I haven't read anything by Beverly Cleary for a long time. It should be fun, but there are so many good books to choose from. I haven't read Ellen Tebbits, but have read some of the Ramona books.

Hi Brenda--is it possible to do Monday 4/11? A little better for me timing-wise.

And yes, please do feel free to start the thread! Just go into the Readalongs folder, and towards the top right (right under "last activity," you'll see a New Topic link. Follow the instructions there after you check the "rules for a hosting a readalong discussion" thread. :)

I'm here for help if you need it! So excited about ELLEN, it's been a couple of years since I read it.

I'm getting lost in all the wonderful suggestions! Even writing them out on paper I am overwhelmed with all the choices!

I would love to read:
The Borrowers
A Little Princess
Are You There God?
Penderwicks
Ellen Tebbits (or any Beverly Cleary book)
Where the Red Fern Grows
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Old Yeller
Ballet Shoes

Brenda, I've been interested in reading Ballet Shoes ever since watching You've Got Mail and being slightly, okay completely, enamoured with that gorgeous bookshop.

Dichotomy Girl, I read The Phantom Tollbooth last year and was the same for me - there was no magic. I thought it was too long. I love puns and word play but I feel it was a case of too much of a good thing.

Wendy, I read The Middle Moffat earlier this year and it was so sweet. I recently bought the next book in the series Rufus M.

A friend of mine lives near PEI and has been there several times on family holidays but she still hasn't read Anne! And she is a reader too. I am absolutely mortified! I sent her a copy for her birthday the year before last but she still hasn't read it. She did send me some PEI souvenirs for Christmas thought so she has slightly redeemed herself.

Wendy Darling wrote: "Brenda--fantastic! While it's probably best to be mindful of what else is going on in the group for participation and such, I don't think there's an issue with doing more than one readalong at once..."

Sounds great - thank you :)

Heather wrote: "I'm getting lost in all the wonderful suggestions! Even writing them out on paper I am overwhelmed with all the choices!

I would love to read:
The Borrowers
A Little Princess
Are You There God?
..."

Lives by PEI and has never read Anne? That's like total blasphemy right there!

Wendy- might need a smidge of help getting the image of the book into the read-along. Not sure what I'm doing wrong there. Are You There God? is another book that I'd really like to re-read sometime. My copy is sitting at my parents house on my old bookshelf.

Wendy & Brenda, I love the idea of a Beverly Cleary book, especially because it's her birthday and am glad we have the thread going for Ellen Tebbits! I don't think I've read that one, though have read many others of hers.

The Penderwicks series is popular in our school library and I have always wanted to read the books as well. I definitely remember reading Are You There, God as a young reader, and would like to revisit as an adult. I'm always so interested in how our reactions to books change as adult readers....or remain the same.

Heather--You've Got Mail is one of my favorite movies and I love the scene where Meg Ryan helps the woman find the Streatfield books!

Dichtomy Girl and Heather--I was actually a bit afraid of reading PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH because I wasn't sure if it was my thing, either, thanks for the feedback. I suppose I should find out at some point anway...

Duly noted on everyone's interest...also in Penderwicks, which pleases me! It's so charming, and the first one is a good book for summer, I think. Maybe we can have a "soon to be classics" section, hah. I just know kids will still be reading that 50 years from now.

I'm so happy you enjoyed THE MIDDLE MOFFAT too, Heather! The whole series is great (especially if anyone is a fan of historical fiction and everyday stories), but that one's my favorite because of Jane. My favorite chapter is the one with the pork chop dilemma, hah. I'm glad you're reading the others.

BLASPHEMY INDEED on living near PEI and not going there. Major side-eye, I'm desperate to go sometime. But goodies are nice. :)

You'll enjoy ELLEN, Katie! I think it's one of her best middle grade books. I also really liked Mitch and Amy, which for some reason is also not as popular.

Brenda--adding a book image is very easy! It's the same way you add a link to the book within a comment, but when you hit the "add a book part," you'll see a choice for "cover" or "link" at the bottom. Let me know if that works or if you need more help.

I remember reading The Middle Moffat as a little girl. I also remember crying my eyes out when Bambi's mother died. I also read a lot of dog stories and the Black Stallion books.

Wendy Darling wrote: "Brenda--adding a book image is very easy! It's the same way you add a link to the book within a comment, but when you hit the "add a book part," you'll see a choice for "cover" or "link" at the bot..."

I'm stuck on how to make the image bigger via using the html. I was trying to make the image larger, like the one you put into the No Flying in the House readalong post.

Wendy Darling wrote: "I also really liked Mitch and Amy..."

I totally got my Amy's confused for a minute, but then realized I was thinking of Amy and Laura. I honestly don't think I've read much of Cleary's younger stuff beyond Ramona.

Wendy Darling, I like pork chop story in The Middle Moffat, too. I also remember that she worked her through the library alphabeticallyy. It must be a special book because I read that book more than 50 years ago. I read the first book in the series aloud my daughters.

Brenda,

Oh yes, I made a separate bigger image for NFITH because I liked the way it looked. You insert that like any picture file; if you look at the top of the comment box where it says, some html is ok, you can go from there. Or if it's helpful, here it is step by step:

1.You put the following HTML code where you want the image to go

(except without the extra spaces/"no space" words which I'm using so you can see the code)

< no space img src="https://www.goodreads.com/image...&qu...

(view spoiler)[(or alternatively,

img src="https://www.goodreads.com/image...&qu...

without the <> brackets) (hide spoiler)]

2. In the URL section, you then want to copy and paste the link to an image of your own that's hosted elsewhere (like on your website), or I think in this situation it's okay to borrow GoodReads'. For example, for Ellen Tebbits, go to the book's page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...

Click on the book image to bring up a bigger size
https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/...

3. Right click (if you're on a Mac) and choose view image/copy image location to copy and paste the URL for the photo

https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1214425...

into the HTML like so:

< no spaces img src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1214425...

(again, without the extra space/"no space" words)

and you should get this:



Note that on the "some html is ok" link, the actual recommended code is this < no space img src="https://www.goodreads.com/image..." width="40" height="100" alt="description"/>** which resizes the image. That's too small for my taste for most things, but the code is handy if you happen to copy an image that is too big and would like to manually adjust the width and height.

Let me know if that works for you!

Rosemarie--Jane Moffat is the best. The alphabet thing was cute, and I also loved her playing the novel (at the time) sport of basketball! I also like her sewing the fancy-in-her-mind brocade bag for Mama.

Dichotomy Girl--ohh, I love Amy and Laura! Although Laura's Luck is my favorite because of camp, and The Little Mermaid. I'm very fond of almost all of Cleary's books--the only ones I haven't ever felt a connection to are DEAR MR. HENSHAW and EMILY'S RUNAWAY IMAGINATION, but I should probably revisit both at some point. Especially EMILY, since some of it was based on her own life, I think. I like the Henry books too, though not as much as Ramona--and SOCKS is super adorable for anyone who's ever had a cat.

And obviously I love her malt shop romances for the YA set!

Wendy Darling wrote: "Brenda,

Oh yes, I made a separate bigger image for NFITH because I liked the way it looked. You insert that like any picture file; if you look at the top of the comment box where it says, some htm..."

Worked great thank you !! What width and height did you use for this image?