Flambards is the first book in a trilogy of books about a horse loving family in rural England before, and in later books, during World War I. Christina Parsons, a twelve year old orphan, is sent to live with her uncle Russell’s family in the country, forty miles outside London, where the main pastime for the gentry seems to be fox-hunting. Christina is immediately taught to ride and hunt, and her disabled and abusive Uncle Russell expects her to become an expert horsewoman and love the hunt as much as he and her Cousin Mark do. Mark’s young brother Will, however, introduces Christina to his passion, airplanes. Will fears and hates horses and hunting, even as Christina grow to enjoy the sport. But Christina also grows increasingly fond of Will, and she has mixed feelings about Mark, whom she is expected to marry when she grows up.

This trilogy is for older teens and adults. Uncle Russell beats his two sons and exercises autocratic control over the entire household. He is a cruel tyrant. There are also incidents of sexual immorality, greed, self-harm, and violence, not described in detail, but definitely implied or stated plainly. The information about English country life and horse riding and fox hunting and early flight experimentation embedded in the story are interesting, but the heart of the story is Christina’s inner life and growth and how she comes to understand the family and her place in it.

It’s also a classic story of a man with two sons, one of whom shares his interests and the other whom the father doesn’t understand or even like very much. I read this book and its two sequels fifty years ago when I was a teen and remembered it as a good story without remembering much about the plot or the characters. I was right: it is a good story, but darker than I remembered. Still, there is hope at the end of volume one of this three-parter, and I am anxious to read the other two books in the series to see if they hold up as well.

The Great Riverboat Race: The Story of the Natchez and the Robert E. Lee by Manly Wade Wellman

In the summer of 1870, Robert E. Lee won a famed steamboat race against Natchez, going from New Orleans to St. Louis, Missouri, a distance of 1,154 miles (1,857 km), in 3 days, 18 hours and 14 minutes. John W. Cannon, the captain of Robert E. Lee, ensured victory by removing excess weight, carrying only a few passengers, and using prearranged barges to increase the speed of refueling.  Natchez finished the race several hours later, but had been delayed by fog for six hours, and had numerous passengers to weigh it down.

~Wikipedia

The Great Riverboat Race is historical fiction that fleshes out this famous-at-the-time, but now forgotten, race. The main point of view character is Matt Parham, a young aspiring engineer who is actually more interested in the new transportation revolution of trains and railroads than he is in old-fashioned steamboats. One of the themes of the book is change. It’s 1870, the beginning of the Gilded Age and the Age of Railroads and Industry. The transcontinental railroad was finished in 1869. Things are about to change, with steamboats going the way of oil lamps and horses pulling wagons. At such a time, Matt Parham, whose “talent and taste were for machinery,” is invited aboard the Robert E. Lee just as the boat is off to the race. The chief engineer of the Robert E. Lee says to Matt, “I want two extra assistant engineers, besides Andy Berry and the strikers. I’ve got John Weist, now I want you. I know some of the things you’ve been studying. It’s good pay, fast trip—come on, come on!”

And off he goes. The trip from New Orleans to St. Louis is an exciting one, fraught with dangers and obstacles, and Matt gets more than one chance to prove his mettle and save the day—and the race for the Robert E. Lee. At the end of the race, Matt has a decision to make: will he make his career with the old steamboats or with the new railroads?

Non-engineer that I am, I nevertheless found it fascinating to learn about the intricacies of steamboat engines and steamboat travel as I read this story, but even more, what has lingered in my thoughts is the thread of the story that is about rapid change and what we gain and what we lose and how inevitable it all seems. The old steamboat captain can’t bear to always be hearing about trains and railroads and how much better and faster they are than steamboats. But as soon as he enters into a race with the Natchez, doesn’t the Robert E. Lee‘s captain become a part of that rush to change and become faster and better and stronger than the next guy?

Philosophical questions abound in response to this little book, but that’s not the main thrust of the story itself. It’s really a story about how Matt gets roped into the race between two steamboats, how that race progresses, and how Matt responds to the call to work hard and think creatively as an engineer. He responds well, and this book would be a great one to give to aspiring engineers and to young men who long for a challenge. It might well stick with teen readers as it has with me.

In 2020 when I first read Urchin of the Riding Stars, the first book in the Mistmantle Chronicles, I was not too impressed. It took a while for me to get around to reading the next three books in the series, and somewhere along the way, I became a fan. But I failed to review those three middle books in the five part series, and I couldn’t finish the chronicles until Purple House Press published the fifth book, Urchin and the Rage Tide. So, here I am, finally, to say that I thoroughly enjoyed all five Mistmantle books, and I think you should read them all if you are a fantasy lover.

The heroes of this last book are all of the islanders–Urchin, King Crispin, Sepia, Queen Cedar, Juniper, Corr, and more. (There’s a list of all of the characters in the front of the Purple House Press edition of the book, and it’s a great help in keeping everyone straight.) The villain this time around is a new squirrel character, Mossberry, who reminds me of certain current politicians (who shall remain unnamed). To quote Ms. McAllister in the preface, “Mossberry uses deceitful and dishonest ways to turn vulnerable animals to himself. He doesn’t want what’s best for them. He wants to be obeyed and adored.” Enough said, except that this book was first published in 2010. In a prophetic note, Ms. McAllister writes, “Sadly there will always be those who follow someone like Mossberry, and believe me, it never ends well. Look out for the Mossberrys!”

So the challenges and threats in the book are real: a tidal wave from the ocean out beyond Mistmantle and an internal enemy, Mossberry, the charismatic megalomaniacal squirrel who causes even more damage and heartache than the storm. But the Heart is with the animals of Mistmantle, and Hope remains in the end. I would say that although beloved characters do die in this final installment of the Mistmantle story, it is ultimately a hopeful sort of story. Good wins, with some sacrifice required. Evil is defeated.

Recommended for fans of: Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga, S.D. Smith’s Green Ember books, and the Redwall series by Brian Jacques.

“A fine and beautiful life lies before thee, because thou hast a lively mind and a good wit. Thine arms are very strong and sturdy. Swimming hath helped to make them so, but only because thou hast had the will to do it. Fret not, my son. None of us is perfect. It is better to have crooked legs than a crooked spirit. We can only do the best we can with what we have. That, after all, is the measure of success: what we do with what we have.”

Robin is the boy protagonist of The Door in the Wall and the recipient of this sage bit of wisdom and encouragement from his mentor, Brother Luke. The story takes place in fourteenth century England. Edward III is king. Robin, the son of one of the King’s knights who is at war and of a lady mother who is in the Queen’s service, is ten years old and “no longer a child to be looked after by womenfolk.” His mother has left him to go to court, but he is in the capable hands of two trusted servants who are to hand him over to an escort who will take him to a neighboring castle where Robin will become a squire in training to be a knight like his father. However, Robin falls ill the day after his mother leaves, and he becomes unable to move his legs.

“I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door and no man shall shut it: for thou hast a little strength and hast not denied my Name.” ~Revelation 3:8

This verse is featured on the page before the title page of the book, and it makes for a good summation of the themes of the book. Robin has lost his ability to walk and run, but he still has a “door” or doors of other abilities and gifts with which to make a good life. He learns to walk with crutches. He learns to work with wood. He exercises his muscles by swimming. And when the crisis comes in the story, it is Robin who is able to save the day and the castle and its inhabitants.

The Door in the Wall is a lovely story, well deserving of its Newbery Award. I would recommend it to any child who is interested in knights and castles or who is studying the Middle Ages or who just enjoys a good story about overcoming and adjusting to hardship and suffering. Oh, and it’s also a Christmas book since the final scene, where Robin gets to meet the king, takes place at Christmastide.

Mr. Mysterious & Company by Sid Fleischman. Magic, mystery and adventure in the Old West.

Mr. Mysterious & Company, aka the Hackett family, made up of Mama, Pa, Jane Paul, and Anne, is traveling west in a covered wagon. The year is 1884.

“[I]t was like no other wagon seen in those parts before. To begin with, it was the wrong color. Its canvas was bright red and could be seen for miles. The wheels were painted gold, like a circus wagon, and the horses (if seeing was believing) were as white as swans.”

“The man driving this most remarkable wagon and these white horses was himself a most remarkable man. He wore a stovepipe hat, as tall as Abe Lincoln’s and just as black, and had a smiling red beard even sharper than the letter V. If the hawks and buzzards could have read, they would have seen his name in golden letters a foot high on the sides of the wagon: MR. MYSTERIOUS & COMPANY.”

First narration project: everybody draw the wagon or Mr. Mysterious or both from that description. The writing in this 150 page Western novel is spare and easily accessible to anyone age ten or older, but it is also descriptive in a sort of caricature way. The children in the story, ages 11, 9, and 7, and their parents come across as real people. The other adults are somewhat stereotypical westerners: the sheriff, the outlaw, the cowboys, the storekeeper, the undertaker, the fresh-faced young ingenue.

The story moves along with gentle humor, as the Hacketts move from town to town entertaining the townspeople with their magic show. They are headed for California where the family plan to settle down and live on a ranch. Jane can’t wait to live in one place and make real friends. Paul has mixed feelings, depending on whether he wants to become a traveling magician like Pa or a cowboy on any given day. Anne wants to find a ballet teacher who will teach her to dance on her toes.

The story could be a Christmas read aloud, since the goal for Mr. Mysterious & Company is to reach California and their uncle and aunt’s house by Christmas Day. There are, of course, both obstacles and celebrations along the way. Warning: your children may want to plan their own Abracadabra Day* after reading this book, a celebration which could be either hazardous or humorous.

*Abracadabra Day: “It was a secret holiday that belonged to the show family. They had invented it, and no one else knew about it. The secret was this: no matter how bad you were on Abracadabra Day or no matter what pranks you pulled, you would not be spanked or punished. It was the one day in the year, in the Hackett family at least, on which you were supposed to be bad.” Sort of a once a year get out of jail free card.

I’m working with some friends and fellow librarians on a project that involves looking back 100 years ago to the children’s literature published in 1924. We’re looking for the best children’s books of 1924. Have you read any of the following books, all first published in 1924, and if so, what did you think of them? (Links are to reviews here at Semicolon or elsewhere or to Biblioguides for more information.)

The Box-car Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner.

The Boy Whaleman by George Fox Tucker.

A Boy at Gettysburg by Elsie Singmaster.

Boys and Girls of Pioneer Days: From Washington to Lincoln by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey. Stories for the time period indicated, some true, some fictional, some good, some not so good. It’s an uneven collection.

Boys Games Among the North American Indians by Edith Stowe. “A fun book for boys to learn the history and how to play Native American games from different tribes. It is cool, but would take some guidance from an adult to help a child explore it.” (~T. Shown)

Children of the Lighthouse by Nora Archibald Smith.

A Child’s History of the World by V.M. Hillyer. Possible history spine, recommended in some homeschool curricula.

The Colonial Twins of Virginia by Lucy Fitch Perkins.

Dr. Doolittle’s Circus by Hugh Lofting.

Down the Big River by Stephen Meader. Reviewed at Plumfield & Paideia.

The Dream Coach by Anne Parish. Newbery Honor.

Egyptian Tales of Magic by Eleanore Myers Jewett.

The Gift of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois. Reprinted by Purple House Press. Possible history spine, but not really a book for children. Recommended for high school and adult readers.

A Girl of the Plains Country by Alice McGowan.

Girlhood Stories of Famous Women by Katherine Dunlap Cather.

Grampa in Oz by Ruth Plumley Thompson.

Hari, the Jungle Lad by Dhan Gopal Mukerji.

The Heart of a Dog by Albert Payson Terhune.

The Island of the Mighty: Being the Hero Stories of Celtic Britain by Padraic Colum.

Little Maid of Mohawk Valley by Alice Turner Curtis.

Little Princess Nina: The Story of a Russian Girl by Lydia Charskaya.

The New Moon: The Story of Dick Martin’s Courage, His Silver Sixpence, and His Friends in the New World by Cornelia Meigs.

Nicholas: A Manhattan Christmas Story by Anne Carroll Moore. Newbery Honor.

The Pearl Lagoon by Charles Nordhoff.

Persimmon Jim: The Possum by Joseph Lipppincott.

The Poppy Seed Cakes by Margery Clarke.

Powder-Patches and Patty by Emilie and Allen Knipe.

Red Caps and Lilies by Katharine Adams.

Round the Year in Pudding Lane by Sarah Addington. Reviewed at Semicolon by Jeannette Tulis.

Ruffs and Pompons by Beulah King.

The Silver Tarn by Katharine Adams. A Story Of Mehitable Webster, A Young New England Girl And Her Life In School In The Wilds Of Yorkshire In Great Britain.

The Sprite: The Story of a Red Fox by Ernest Harold Baynes.

The Story of the Elizabeths by Grace Humphrey. Ten short biographies of famous Elizabeths in history, including Elizabeth I, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and others.

Tales from Silver Lands by Charles Finger. Newbery Award.

Taxis and Toadstools by Rachel Field. Reviewed by Jeannette Tulis. “This is a very charming collection of poems by one of my favorite children’s poets. In this collection, Rachel Field describes in these short lovely poems so many features of life in the city in days long gone by. Children who have read literature from the early 20th century classics will recognize some of the things being described but other children may not. There are also poetry selections on the sea, islands, animals, plants and fairyland, all very relatable to children anywhere. Many of the poems are accompanied by equally charming small black and white illustrations. There are even a few colored illustrations. Just pick a poem, any poem. With Rachel Field, you cannot go wrong!” 

Theras and His Town by Caroline Snedeker.

The Thrings of the Dark Mountain by Morgan Taylor.

Thunder Boy by Olaf Baker.

Tony by Eliza Orne White.

The Trail Blazers: The Story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition by Mary Wade.

When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne. Semicolon review.

If you’ve read any of these and can recommend or review them, please leave us a note in the comments section. If you know of other children’s books published in 1924 that we should consider, please also leave us a note. Many of these books can be borrowed and read on Internet Archive. We hope to announce our list of the best children’s books of 1924 sometime in Spring 2024.

“Lighthouses, Ronnie, are like a helping hand reaching out from Heaven itself. And the tending of them is good work–good.“

What a great Christmas story! I’m not sure why it is not more familiar and recommended as the Christmas story that it certainly is. Perhaps it needs a subtitle, A Christmas Story.

Eleven year old Ronnie and his Aunt Martha now live together on the edge of town, but before Ronnie came to live with his aunt, she and her late husband were the lighthouse keepers of Tern Rock Lighthouse. Now the current lighthouse keeper, Mr. Flagg, wants to make a pre-Christmas visit to his family, and he asks Martha Morse and Ronnie to substitute for him at the lighthouse, just for a couple of weeks until December 15th. Ronnie is eager to go on this lighthouse adventure as long as he can get back for Christmas and the festivities at school and at home that will be coming.

I expected this story to be about a storm or a wrecked ship or some other exciting event, but Ronnie’s stay at the lighthouse is much more about what doesn’t happen than what does. Ronnie learns some lessons about joy and contentment and keeping promises. Aunt Martha guides her nephew with wise words and a quiet “masterly inactivity” in which Ronnie comes to his own conclusions about the lighthouse, and forgiveness, and the meaning of Christmas. The lighthouse itself with its steady warning beacon plays a part in showing Ronnie and Aunt Martha what is really important about celebrating Christmas, and the story points gently and subtly to Jesus and the light that He provides in this world of darkness and sin. (It’s not didactic at all.)

I’m hoping to share this story with lots of families, during the Christmas season and after. By the way, I’m not the only one who sees its worthiness. The Light at Tern Rock was a Newbery Honor book in 1951. You could pair this story with any of these other lighthouse books:

• Lightship by Brian Floca
• Gracie the Lighthouse Cat by Ruth Brown
• Birdie’s Lighthouse by Deborah Hopkinson
• Abbie Against the Storm: The True Story of a Young Heroine and a Lighthouse by Marcia K. Vaughan
• Hello, Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall (Caldecott Award winning picture book)
• Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie by Peter and Connie Roop
• Beacons of Light: Lighthouses by Gail Gibbons
• Three Boys and a Lighthouse by Nan Hayden Agle
• The Lighthouse Family (series) by Cynthia Rylant
• The Lighthouse Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner.
• A Light in the Storm: The Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin by Karen Hesse