Children's Books discussion

Come join us to discuss any or all of these noteworthy children's books:

Tree of Freedom by Rebecca Caudill
The Blue Cat of Castle Town by Catherine Cate Coblentz
Kildee House by Rutherford G. Montgomery
George Washington by Genevieve Foster
Song of the Pines: A Story of Norwegian Lumbering in Wisconsin by Walter Havighurst

(I must say, we've already read a book on GW by Foster - did the committee notice that children weren't reading it, and so this is their second attempt to foist Father of our Country history on the kiddies?)

(I don't recall ever hearing of Havighurst, despite having grown up in NW Wisconsin, and in fact participating in some logging myself. I'm excited to read that book!)

George Washington is a biography and short, and available on Open Library.

Tree of Freedom, set in 1780, is interesting. Apparently all the dialect, customs, and cultural references are accurate, because Caudill herself grew up in that culture. Lots and lots of non-standard spellings, vocabulary, etc. Hit for it, ballet for song, I'm guessing via ballad, the idea that book-larnin' ruints a boy, stuff like that.

There's a good bit about how wrong slavery is. And the women are strong, brave, and intelligent.

Otoh, there's nothing redeeming about how the "red men" are portrayed. At first we're led to think they're just vicious, and then it's revealed that the British are bribing them to raid the new white settlements, as another strategy to wear down the colonists besides the battles up North.

Neither Washington nor the activists in Philadelphia are revered, or even universally respected. Most ordinary people just want to be left alone to live their own lives, and so a major theme of the book is that it's not possible to do so. To simplify, Caudill claims that either a citizen does his civic duty, and makes some sacrifices, or he gets trampled by a tyrant.

Of course these brave pioneers work hard etc., and do get their happy ending. Some threads are left unanswered, but nothing major. And the cover is silly. Steffy is most always barefoot, and in a simple dress rather than a skirt and blouse. The only teen boy sulking around is her brother, who is fair (or at least tanned not much more than she is).

And I'm not so sure about the title tree, either. I'm pretty sure one seed is not going to grow enough in one summer to be strong enough for a winter (though maybe Kentucky is warm enough), and I'm even more sure that, without a scion, there's going to be fruit. Even Eric Sloane mentions grafts in his writings about the earliest years of the colonies.

Is there an online forum anyone knows of where we could read Song of the Pines? I'm not finding this one in my local library system at all.

I don't see one. Can your library order out-of-system Inter-Library Loan? WorldCat seems to indicate that many universities, and other Midwestern libraries, still have a copy.

Here's my review of Kildee House, which I read in one session at bedtime last night:

I did not care for most animal stories when I was a child, and the human aspect of this would have been irrelevant to me. Other children might like it more. I do like it now. And it does not feel, omg, almost 7 decades old. I do recommend it.

Now, when I'm on my own (eventually, assuming my husband passes first), will I relish the peace and quiet? Or will I wish that neighbor children and critters would invade and make my life interesting?

Song of the Pines: A Story of Norwegian Lumbering in Wisconsin was a bit slower, and quite a bit less interesting. Here's my review:

Cleng Peerson is real. But..: The development of the cant hook is probably not as described in the book. The book is not terribly racist to Indians, but the bottom line is that the only people you can trust are Norskies. And the Norskies are almost as 'brave and good' as Kate Seredy's Hungarians. Also, there's a bit more about farming than lumbering, so the title is not good. And I just didn't learn enough about any of the subject settings, peoples, or cultures.

Otoh, the pictures are appealing. And it's not a bad book. And it scratched my itch for a juv. HF that wasn't all 'sturm und drang' drama. I'm glad that I found it, and saved it from being discarded through lack of circulation. Do I recommend it? I dunno... probably not unless you have a personal connection to the history or are on a Newbery project.

The Blue Cat of Castle Town is a poetic fable set in antebellum Vermont. The 'plot' is an episodic adventure of the quest of a special cat to find it's own hearth.

It's got a bit in common, more than just a sentient cat, with some of the works by Elizabeth Coatsworth in that there are 'songs' every so often. I'm enjoying it, but finding it difficult to immerse myself in it, having a need to take a break every dozen pages or so. But it does give me things to think about in those breaks. And there are plenty of delightful pictures.

I'm about 1/2-way and impressed with the cat's feelings after he escape's from Hyde's 'mansion.' The cat feels pity for this rich, powerful, and grasping man, in much the same way that I feel pity for Trump. One doesn't encounter subtle perspectives on 'villains' in children's books very often....

The story is told with grace and charm. But I'm not sure I'm following along well. A motto is oft-repeated: "Beauty and peace and content." Well, what does that mean? Shouldn't it be 'contentment?' And aren't Peace and Content almost synonymous, making the motto awkwardly a near-redundancy?

Just finished. And learned that Castlet'on is real, as are all the named human characters and their works of beauty.... Wow.

I do recommend this book and am grateful to Wiscat to letting me read it.

George Washington is indeed a short biography, easy to read & digest. Probably was good for 9 year-olds writing research reports, back in the day. A little too glossy, too reverent, too simplistic... but then, I learned a few things.

Interesting that GW admired a man who lived in the east but who owned 5 million acres of land 'out west' ... and we learn in another book we're reading this month, Tree of Freedom, that men like that were speculators who made it difficult for honest pioneers to actually settle the west. And besides, it seems like large acreages would lead to the plantation and sharecropper cultures of the south, which were obviously Bad Things for a lot of people.

(Sorry, maybe you all know all this stuff, but my public school lessons in history were about worthless and I'm learning a lot just from all these children's books.)

Cheryl wrote: "George Washington is indeed a short biography, easy to read & digest. Probably was good for 9 year-olds writing research reports, back in the day. A little too glossy, too reverent, ..."

I guess part of the admiration is probably simply based on the fact that the high and mighty (and the rich) were more readily admired than those who were simply pioneers with the hope and desire to start a new life. Kind of ironic for an individual like George Washington (who was after all one of the main movers and shakers of the American Revolution) to admire an individual who basically and for all intents and purposes acted very similar to the British aristocrats against whom the American Revolution was supposedly fought (I have always found this to be rather strange and not simply the case with George Washington either, but with many early American politicians).

Well, George was young at the time. And he wasn't, according to the book, much of a politician per se, but rather wanted to be a farmer. And there were other potentially mitigating factors.

But, yeah, wealth and power have always been linked, and skills both in leadership and in political machinations help people gain both.

I enjoyed George Washington. It was certainly a quick read, unlike George Washington's World which took a lot of time to read and absorb!

I can't say I learned much but I did find it to be a good, historic overview for young readers.

Good!