Too Many Books?

I am one month away from the big move! I am almost finished packing. However in the process of picking things to go to Alaska I realized I may have too many books.

I'm kidding of course. The real problem is that I don't have enough bookshelves.

 

Yes, those are a few of my shelves. Almost all of my books have been relegated to horizontal status. And a few shelves are stacked two deep. I have four freestanding bookcases, four built in shelves, a steamer trunk filled with books, and several books in boxes to go to Alaska. If I ever have a spare room that sucker will be filled with books! The funny thing about passion is that I know these books and can tell you all about them. I love knowledge in that way. (Just don't ask me to remember those clothes in the washer.)
My point is that I am a bibliophile of the top degree. I enjoy that fact, because I am investing in knowledge.

 

The Door in the Wall, Newbery Winner 1950

This was such a wonderful book! I found it to be immensely enjoyable and favorable in its depictions of all characters. I particularly loved Brother Luke, though perhaps simply because I have met several brothers and always find them good company.
This book is likely by many to be compared to The Whipping Boy, a book I mentioned that I felt perhaps wasn't of great literary value. Indeed this work is scarcely 20 pages longer, covers the same general time, and is richly illustrated. But the story is so much stronger in my opinion. I cared about the characters and was genuinely sorry for their hardships. I was also worried for their safety, joyous in their celebration, and intrigued by their work.
The moral is much stronger in this story as well, and repeated many times to be sure that you have not missed it. What begins as a devastating blow to Robin ends up being his opportunity to save everyone. Though he is upset by his ailment in the beginning, he soon grows to find himself interested in finding new skills, which is a truly honorable attitude.

By the Decade...

In order to gauge my progress I looked at which decades I've read the most from... some interesting results.

1920s - 0, these books are by far the hardest for me to find, and though I had checked some out for reading I simply got too busy.

1930s - 3 reviewed: The Cat Who Went to Heaven, Caddie Woodlawn, and Dobry. Two of these books I liked and Dobry was boring. The others I simply haven't gotten around to yet.

1940s - 6 reviewed: Daniel Boone, Call It Courage, The Matchlock Gun, Johnny Tremain, Rabbit Hill, and King of the Wind. This is surprising, I didn't realize I was more than half done with the decade! The 40's have been a mixed bag, I loved Call It Courage and King of the Wind, but Daniel Boone and Johnny Tremain I could have lived without.

1950s - 0, that is also surprising, I didn't realize I hadn't read anything from the 50s.

1960s - 3 reviewed, Onion John, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and It's Like This, Cat.I thoroughly expected this number to be larger. Another mixed bag.

1970s - 5 reviewed: Sounder, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Julie of the Wolves, Bridge to Terebithia, and The Westing Game. I really enjoyed all of the books from this decade.

1980s - 6 reviewed: A Gathering of Days; A Visit to William Blake's Inn; Dear Mr. Henshaw; Sarah, Plain and Tall; Whipping Boy; Joyful Noise. An interesting assortment, I see a trend here that short is good. Brevity must have been a thing in the 80s. Also two poetry books, two journal books, and a father - son double win.

1990s - 6 reviewed: Number the Stars, Maniac Magee, Missing May, The Giver, The View from Saturday, and Out of the Dust. Here are the ones from my childhood, and also many of the ones I enjoyed the most thus far.

2000s - 5 reviewed: Bud, Not Buddy; Crispin; The Tale of Despereaux; Kira-Kira; and Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Here we have a batch that is truly beginning to show just how diverse children's literature can be. Far from being out of touch, I think that the Newbery Award is more in touch than ever before!

2010s -  1 reviewed: When You Reach Me. I'm excited to see how this decade works out!

It's Like This, Cat, Newbery Winner 1964

Three thoughts while reading this book:
1. No one I have ever met drags their cat around with them like a dog.
2. Wow, this book is dated by how much things cost.
3. Ah, it's finally fallen into a groove, time for it to... wait, what? This is the last page?

This book was fair, and a lot less boring than I thought at the beginning. It took me several days to want to go back to reading it, and even then I sort of plowed ahead with the intent of just ffinishing it quickly so I could choose something else. Then I finally found a story emerging, a plot at long last! Unfortunately this happened within the last 20 or so pages. Not much there to enjoy, especially considering that the book just ends. It feels like there should be a lot more tying up the story but instead you are left feeling that perhaps your book is missing several chapters. It does this throughout the book though, fight with best friend... never heard from again, gets girls number... what happens we'll never know, woman inherits fortune... well you get the idea. Overall, I didn't feel this was a particularly strong work especially compared to the books that won just a few years previously.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Newbery Winner 1972

Going into this book I thought I knew very well what would happen to everyone throughout the story... I was incorrect. But that is because I was familiar with with the movie adaptation, which it turns out is a very loose adaptation.

There are about seven things on the poster alone that are inconsistent with the book.

 

First, if you've only seen the movie there is an underlying tone of mysticism and magic, something that certainly doesn't exist in the book. (Don't get me wrong though it is an excellent movie.)  The story in the book is very heavily founded in nature and science. The best part of the book is likely the descriptions of the experiments at NIMH, there is even a control group!

There is something about fictitious rodents that is endearing. Isn't it odd how so many people fear mice and rats, yet they so often appear in literature and film? It is almost as though we recognize that they possess some sort of intelligence and capacity for learning.

There is so much to admire in the book. The characterizations of Mrs. Frisby and the rats, the questions it raises about intelligence in both human and animals, and questions about how we should act towards our neighbors. I love it when a book makes you ask questions, that means that it is teaching you not what to think, but how.

 

*Fun fact, NIMH is the National Institute of Mental Health, a real place. I was very intrigued to learn this several years ago... I wonder how they feel about the book and movie. ;)

When You Reach Me, Newbery Winner 2010

This was my first book for the summer, and it was such an enjoyable read! Let me start off by letting everyone know that this summer I won't have nearly as many opportunities to read all day. Last year I had two desk jobs and this year I'm delightfully unemployed. I've graduated college and am preparing my transition into teaching. (One thing for certain though is that I will not be using these books in the classroom yet, I've gotten a job working with preschoolers!)
If anyone is considering reading this book I highly recommend reading A Wrinkle in Time first. Why? Well, first off, this book contains some major spoilers for that book and second, you might never grasp the total genius of this book without that one first.
All of the characters were so fully developed and wonderful, and they all tied together in a fashion that had to be carefully examined. The relationships that the characters had in this novel were authentic, with friendships fading and growing the same as they do in real life. Perhaps the best part of the book was how it could seamlessly be in so many genres at once, certainly 'contemporary' realistic fiction, but also mystery and science fiction. This is another novel I highly recommend, especially for readers that love to figure out how all the details fit together.

Favorite Fictional Mothers

Last year I wrote the hugely popular Favorite Fictional Fathers post for Father's Day, so it is only natural that I would write the companion article for Mother's Day.
Moms are awesome; in fact I come from a long line of mothers... But I'll admit that this lists was hard to make because it can be a little boring to watch/ read about someone being all nurturing. Which is what the really great mothers tend to do. And it is really hard to rank that in a top ten list. So I made the rule that mom cannot have died prior to or during the first half of the work in question (Goodbye Lily Potter), simply for the sake of my sanity. And because fairness should play some role here the mom should play a significant role in raising her child (Goodbye Amy Pond).

And at this point, it looks like I just hate red-heads.

The bar was set really high on this one... So high in fact that after weeks of deliberating only seven characters made the final cut - turns out that it was much easier to find engaging father figures in fiction than mothers. Obviously we have a problem here that needs to be rectified.

7. Muthr (The Secret of WondLa)
Technically Muthr was a robot that had been programmed to care for Eva Nine. But she went beyond her programming to do things for Eva and even went against her programming on occasion. Eva Nine and Muthr share genuine emotion for each other and often make sacrifices for the well being of the other.

6. Perdita/ Missus (101 Dalmatians)
I love both the Disney film and the original books. One thing to note in the popular Disney movie the character of Perdita combines characteristics from the two characters of Perdita and Missus in the book. No matter which one you focus on though you find a mother entirely devoted to her puppies.

 

5. Miss Clavel (Madeline)
Alright she is not technically a mother (we had the same issue on the fathers' list too) but she acts as a mother in addition to teacher to Madeline. I'm of course referring to the 1998 film in which Madeline is written as an orphan. In the books Madeline's parents are alive and well.

 

I love her so much.

4.  Kala (Tarzan)
I've never read Tarzan. I've never seen the classic films. But I have seen the Disney movie and let me be honest, I didn't really like it until this year. I've recently gotten into the habit of listening to Disney songs in Spanish, and, for kicks, I decided to watch the whole movie in Spanish. Let me be clear - I only know a polite amount of Spanish, by no means enough to even begin to hope I would understand what was being said. But what I really noticed was the amazing amounts of emotion put into this movie, and the character that especially drew me in was Kala.

However, if I could I would also use Tarzan's birth mother, but she breaks my rules by not even making it through the first song.

 

Oh look, another red-head that I kicked off the list.

3. Ma Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie)
Caroline Ingalls was right there alongside her husband leading her family into the unfamiliar frontier. She was always the foundation of the home, bringing comfort and faith to her family no matter where they lived.

2. Molly Weasley (Harry Potter Series)
Molly Weasley was one of the best characters in the Harry Potter series. She had seven children of her own plus Harry to watch after. She was written with all the warmth of a real mother, and she can even be just as embarrassing as a real mother at times.

Ha! Red-head!

1. Clair Huxtable (The Cosby Show)
Working hard and raising her kids, Clair Huxtable beautifully balanced being a full time lawyer with being a full time mom. She is always able to dispense wisdom to her children concerning life and love. Honestly, with her hard work, sass, and sense of fun, she probably is the one most similar to my own mother... which may explain why she steals the number one spot.

 

 

 

So there you have it. My favorite fictional mothers, astute readers will notice that I mentioned ten moms anyway.