Plumfield Moms

"What we want are brave animals performing daring feats for a noble cause. Smith rolls out a cast of major and minor players, without whom Pongo and Misses could never have accomplished the rescue." 

In this nook review, Sara tells us why she loves this charming classic by one of our beloved authors - Louisa May Alcott.  You can find our Louisa May Alcott page here: https://plumfieldandpaideia.com/louisa-may-alcott/  

In our first Saturday Morning Coffee episode, Sara talks about her family's practice of resting on Sundays. 

"There are so many good reasons besides proper pronunciation for being intentional about what your children are hearing.  It is one of the ways we learn to think on true, good, lovely, and praiseworthy things, which we ought to be doing ourselves also.  We break bad habits by replacing them with good habits."

"The Author’s Note begins: 'This story was inspired by the true and courageous work of the Pack Horse Librarians, who were known as ‘Book Women” in the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky.'”

Books and Links Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte  An Essay towards a Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason   Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott  Frankenstein by Mary Shelly  The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore  Exodus Books Lorna Doone Edition List Little Britches Father and I Were Ranchers (Little Britches Book 1) by Ralph Moody   Man of the Family (Little Britches Boo...

"One day, a man comes to the village riding on a burro and leading another. Both burros are laden with books, and he carries a sign that says, “Biblioburro.” He tells the children he is a librarian, a bibliotecario , and the books on the burros, Alfa and Beto, are his moving library." 

In today's podcast, we chat with Tanya Arnold of Biblioguides and Library Ladies Sandy Hall, Kathleen Seeger, and Kristi Stansfield about the value and appeal of Historical Fiction.  Kathleen's Choice: Behold Your Queen by Gladys Malvern Kristi's Choice: Mr. Tucket by Gary Paulsen Sandy's Choice: Down the Big River by Stephen Meader Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher   The Cabin Faced Wes...

Sara Masarik’s Reads & Books Mentioned Louis de Wohl  T he Spear by Louis de Wohl  Ben Hur by Lew Wallace The Chosen  The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas Saint Helena and the True Cross by Louis de Wohl  Slave Boy from Judea by Josephina Lau  Diane’s Reads & Books Mentioned Perelandra by C. S. Lewis  Silas Marner by George Elliot The Mill on the Floss by George Elliot   Middlemarch by George Elli...

http://plumfieldandpaideia.com/the-wednesday-wars/

A reflection on the story of Elijah, the widow, and the oil. 

"The girls in the story only spend two nights alone. The author’s intention isn’t to cause children to worry about whether the girls will survive, but to make them think about what it would be like to live through such an experience. It is an interesting and enjoyable story for early-grade readers."

Books and Links: Plumfield Reads Landmark Page Alice Goudey Glenn Blough Jeanne Bendick Herbert Zim Robert McClung Ostriches Leaper Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom Apple Dumpling Gang Walt Disney True Life Nature Books The Burgess Bird Book The Life of the Spider, Fabre Evelyn Sibley Lampman Who Lives In This Meadow After The Sun Goes Down Here Come The Bears Let’s Learn About Mushrooms Bird Watchers...

"Meigs is honest about Louisa’s prickles, as Jo March is about hers. But Meigs continually points to how the family was able, through humor and their love for each other, to overcome hardship. This is an excellent starting point for a competent middle-grade reader who is interested in the life of one of our beloved authors."

In this month's Library Ladies episode, we chat with Library Ladies Sherry Early and Kathleen Seeger and Tanya Arnold from Biblioguides about this important Landmark book, The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler.  Books and Links: Plumfield Reads Landmark Page Plumfield Library Ladies Page Biblioguides Landmark Books Series Page & Free Printable List Sherry's review of The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hit...

http://plumfieldandpaideia.com/the-strange-intruder/  

In this second episode in the Forgotten Books series, Library Ladies Mary Schubert Kathleen Seeger, as well as Tanya Arnold of Biblioguides, join us to talk about a favorite book of theirs by a beloved author that is often overlooked by others.    Books and Links: Plumfield Library Ladies Page Tanya's Choice: Philomena by Kate Seredy (Find at Biblioguides and Amazon ) Mary's Choice: The Magic Fish...

Upcoming Plumfield Reads Books We Are Reading: The Space Trilogy  by C. S. Lewis Tanya’s Reads & Books Mentioned: Beorn the Proud  by Madeleine Polland  Books for Bedrest by Plumfield Moms Comfort Books by Biblioguides Pride and Prejudice The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society 84 Charing Cross Road Green Dolphin Country by Elizabeth Goudge Gentian Hill by Elizabeth Goudge  The Littl...

http://plumfieldandpaideia.com/danny-dunn-and-the-anti-gravity-paint/  

"Our hero, James Lewis MacFarlane, a stalwart Scotsman, has recently been mustered out of the army, and discharged himself from an army hospital.  He embodies qualities we hope to instill in our children or ourselves, though he wrestles with himself frequently, in an effort to maintain the true, the beautiful, and the good in his life.  He has a wound that won’t heal despite the best of care in a...

Books and Links: Plumfield Reads Page Keeper of the Bees Book Club Our Gene Stratton-Porter Page Cautionary Review of Her Father’s Daughter by Gene Stratton Porter  Keeper of the Bees Audiobook   Keeper of the Bees Purple House Press Reprint cover The Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis   Learn More About the Ladies of Biblioguides Where You Can Find Us: Plumfield and Paideia Facebook Page Plumfield Read...

http://plumfieldandpaideia.com/sun-slower-sun-faster/

In this episode, Diane and Sara chat with Jill Morgan from Purple House Press about the Ralph Moody books. In addition to talking about how they came to be and why we consider them so special, we talk about the Kickstarter that Jill is hosting later this year to fund the hardcover printing of the 3rd and 4th books.  You can find out more about the Little Britches books here: http://plumfieldandpai...

http://plumfieldandpaideia.com/philomena/

"The other day someone asked me, “How do you know if a word ends in -ible  or  -able ?”  My very helpful reply was, “I just know.  If I’ve seen it, I’ll remember.”  I really had never thought about it.  Just a few days later I happened to read the explanation and it made perfect sense."