Archive | October 2009

Poetry Friday: The Childrens Hour by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Oct30

Betsy-Bee (age 10) is memorizing this poem by Longfellow. It reminds me of the way she and her sister, Z-Baby, treat their father. Engineer Husband is a very popular guy at our house.

BETWEEN the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day’s occupations,
That is known as the Children’s Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.

From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret
O’er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.

And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away!

Alice, Allegra, and Edith were Longfellow’s three daughters. About a year after this poem was written, in 1861, Longfellow’s second wife and the children’s mother, Fanny, was putting locks of her children’s hair into an envelope and sealing it with hot wax when her dress caught on fire. Longfellow, who was in the room next door taking a nap, was aroused and tried to put out the flames. He was badly burned in the process, and Fanny died the next day from her severe burns.

Sad story, but a delightful family poem.

A Celebration of Longfellow.

Anna’s World by Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin

Oct29

I’ve always been interested in aberrant minds, people who think differently from the rest of us, and in aberrant religious groups, group that detour from orthodox Christianity into a spiritual path that obviously has its roots in Christianity, but doesn’t adhere to Biblical teaching. The Shakers of nineteenth century America were such a group.

Anna’s World is a Shaker world. When Anna is first left at the Shaker colony of Goshen by her bereaved and destitute father, she doesn’t understand how anyone can live according to Shaker rules and regulations. The Shakers were a “plain people” believing in plain dress and in simplicity in lifestyle. They also believed that the sin that condemned Adam and Eve was the sin of having sexual relations. (The Shakers and Phillip Pullman— what a combination!) So all Shakers were required to live celibate lives. They also held all possessions in common and owned no personal property. Anna is only fourteen when the story begins and not too concerned about relationships with boys, but she does find it difficult to follow all the rules that the Shakers have to regulate daily life. She longs for the day when her father will return to take her to Boston to live with him again.

In the meantime Anna makes friends at Goshen and becomes accustomed to Shaker life. When her father does return after she has experienced a long year of Shaker living, she realizes that her life will never be the same as it was before the flood and disease that destroyed their old life. Anna’s World is a coming of age story with a twist: Anna decides to enter a religious life and a world that her father will never understand or approve.

Although this book presents a seemingly accurate picture of Shaker life and of a young girl who is welcomed into a cultic group that has both a good side and some more questionable practices, I would not recommend it for children. It would require more discernment than an eight year old would typically have, even though the blurb on the back of the book says “for ages 8 and up.” The subject matter is much more appropriate for high school students, and even some adults, maybe those who are interested in the whole “Amish fiction” craze, would enjoy this story. Anna’s World was nominated for Cybils Middle Grade Fiction, but I would recommend it as young adult fiction. I just don’t think the 8-13 year old crowd would be very interested.

Amazon Affiliate. If you click on a book cover here to go to Amazon and buy something, I receive a very small percentage of the purchase price.
This book is also nominated for a Cybil Award, but the views expressed here are strictly my own.

Read Aloud Thursday: Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace

Oct29

Z-Baby (age eight) has been listening all week to Betsy-Tacy on CD’s. As far as I can tell this first book in the series is the only one that is available in audiobook form, but Z-Baby would very much like for someone to record the other books in the series so that she can listen to them.

Me: So what have you been listening to and what did you like about it?

Z-Baby: Well, I’ve been listening to Besty-Tacy over and over again. Probably what I like the best about it is that in every chapter something happens. Some audiotapes nothing happens, and it’s boring.

Me: Tell me one of their adventures.

Z-Baby: One of them is called “Betsy Meets Tacy,” and that’s the first one. Betsy has her nose pasted against the window, and she saw a little girl step out of the new house. That was Tacy, but she didn’t know it. Tacy went up on a hill and stared into the black. Betsy knew just how she felt because she thought the girl wanted to know what this place was like. Betsy asked to go outside to meet the girl, and Julia helped Betsy get dressed. But when Tacy saw Betsy, she ran away because Tacy was bashful. But Tacy called out “Tacy,” and Betsy thought she was calling her a name. Betsy finds out Tacy’s name in the next chapter.

Me: Do you have a friend like Tacy?

Z-Baby: Unfortunately, I don’t really. None of my friends are really shy and bashful.

Me: If Tacy is shy and bashful, what is Betsy like?

Z-Baby: Betsy always wears braids, and she is kind of plump. She’s usually the one that makes up games and stories.

Me: Did you hear anything in the book that you would like to do?

Z-Baby: I would like to float up on a feather.

Me: ?????

Z-Baby: Just listen to the book and you’ll find out.

Me: Anything else you want to tell us about this book?

Z-Baby: I like it, and it’s interesting. I would play with Betsy and Tacy if they lived here because everyone on my block isn’t my age so I really can’t play with anyone on my block.

Read Aloud Thursday: Love Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur

Oct29

Bethy-Bee (age 10) read and then listened to this book on CD and enjoyed it very much, although it’s not a Pollyanna-type book. In fact it’s rather sad, as we repeated many times in our talk about the book.

Me: What was Love, Aubrey about?

BB: A girl named Aubrey whose dad and sister died in a car crash and her mom abandoned her. It’s kind of a sad book, Her grandma comes to visit her and her mom, and when she finds out that her mom isn’t there, she has to take Aubrey back to where the grandma lives.

Me: How old is Aubrey?

BB: She’s eleven.

Me: Do you think you could take care of yourself? You’re ten. How long could you take care of yourself?

BB: Yeah I’d be really scared, but yeah, I could. As long as the TV was working and I had lots of food. As long as everything was still working. I could probably do it for a while.

Me: Aubrey made a friend when she came to her grandma’s. Why do you think Bridget wanted to be Aubrey’s friend?

BB: She knew Aubrey didn’t have any other friends, and Aubrey had been having a really hard time. And they just started playing together and became friends.

Me: What did Bridget do for Aubrey to be a friend to her?

BB: She was nice to her, didn’t talk about what happened to her dad and sister.

Me: What did you like best about the book?

BB: Hmmm. I liked the part where she stayed with Bridget for a while when her Grandma went to be with her mom. Really, I liked all the parts where she kept remembering stuff, all the little flashbacks.

Me: Was there anything you didn’t like?

BB: Not really.

Me: I thought it was kind of weird that she was friends with that boy, Marcus.

BB: Yeah, he was strange.

BB: One thing is Aubrey was always sad. Most of the book she always remembered her dad and little sister, and she was really sad. And when I listened to the audio version the reader made her sound really sad all the time and depressed. I guess I would be sad, too, if it happened to me. The audio version also made Aubrey’s little sister sound really countrified, like she was from the Veggie Tales Grapes of Wrath or something.

Me: Aubrey had to make a hard decision at the end of the book. Do you think she made the right decision?

BB: I think she did make the right decision because her mom was ready, but she wasn’t. I think if she went back to her mom then it wouldn’t work because she would still be really sad. I thought that counselor lady in the book sort of helped her, but she was kind of annoying. She was kind of interfering with Aubrey’s business, and it made her annoyed. And her grandma was dumb to think she needed a guidance counselor. Aubrey was already writing letters, and that helped her. But the counselor did help her when she was trying to run away, and that was good. If Aubrey did need to talk to anybody, though, she could talk to her fish.

Amazon Affiliate. If you click on a book cover here to go to Amazon and buy something, I receive a very small percentage of the purchase price.
This book is also nominated for a Cybil Award, but the views expressed here are strictly my own —and Betsy-Bee’s.

Wednesday’s Whatever: Blogiversary

Oct28

On October 28, 2003, I began this blogging gig with a post about Stephen Lawhead’s Patrick. And ever since then, for six years, I’ve been telling everybody who’s remotely interested what I’m reading and what I think about it. I’ve also indulged in the occasional political opinion piece, essays and observations about homeschooling, even poetry.

If you enjoy reading what I write here at Semicolon, I am both appreciative and humbled. If you’ve commented, even once or even negatively, I thank you for the contribution. If you read and never comment, I thank you, too, for making it fun to blog. Without readers, even if it’s only one, I am the proverbial tree falling in the forest. Maybe the tree would fall and make a sound anyway, but it wouldn’t make nearly as satisfying a boom. Communication and sharpening of thoughts and ideas are what blogging is all about for me.

I hope to continue blogging for as long as the process satisfies something within me and keeps me thinking. I hope you’ll continue reading for whatever your reasons are. In addition to the links above, here are some of my favorite posts from the past six years. Enjoy.

Why Read?

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry.

Interview with J.B. Cheaney, author of The Middle of Somewhere.

Welcome Autumn!

Hurley Needs a Cool Code Name

LOST Names

Narnia Aslant: A Narnia-Inspired Reading List.

The End of the Alphabet, Wit and John Donne.

107 Best Movies

Of Psalms and Semicolons.

Law and Order Argues for Life?

Oct27

In this recent episode of Law and Order, based loosely on the murder of abortionist George Tiller, a TV show seems to present a fair and balanced and truthful view of abortion. What’s up with that?

If you have the time, you can watch the entire episode here by clicking to close the advertisement in the box above.

Silly Talk: Laughing It Up with Middle Grade Fiction

Oct26

The Dunderheads by Paul Fleischman.

The Problem With the Puddles by Kate Feiffer.

Dessert First by Hallie Durand.

All three of these very silly stories were nominated for the Cybils Middle Grade Fiction Award. The Dunderheads is almost a picture book (56 pages), very silly, about a class of dunderheads whose teacher, Miss Breakbone hates kids. She also confiscates contraband, including a one-eared toy cat that Theodore aka Junkyard found in the trash and planned to give to his cat-loving mother for her birthday. Dunderheads to the rescue! The gang of multi-talented misfits finds its way to Miss Breakbone’s house to reclaim the cat and show Miss Breakbone that she can’t get away with stealing from the Dunderheads.

Fleischman says of his story, “Behind The Dunderheads lies not only Ocean’s Eleven and Mission: Impossible but also The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, The Five Chinese Brothers, and similar folk tales from deep in our past.” I was also reminded of Harry Allard’s Miss Nelson Is Missing.

Becky on The Dunderheads: “The premise of this is fun. And most readers will probably enjoy it more than I did. What with the plotting, pranking, and spitting.”

Dessert First features a teacher, Mrs. Howdy Doody, with quite a different personality from that of Miss Breakbone. In fact, I would guess that Miss Howdy Doody’s middle name is Pollyanna, and she says things like “I am inspired!” and “My dear happy learners.” A little too much sugar in Mrs. Howdy Doody’s make-up, and it turns out that sugar is Dessert Schneider’s problem, too. She likes dessert, talks her family into serving dessert first, and finds it hard to resist any dessert available. When Dessert’s mom makes Double Decker Chocolate Bars and leaves a note instructing everyone to leave them alone, Dessert is sorely tempted. What’s an eight year old dessert lover to do when there are Double D’s in the refrigerator “sitting together neatly on Mummy’s shiny turquoise paper”?

I enjoyed this little tale about temptation, and repentance, and confession, and forgiveness, and restitution–all in a shiny, easy to read package! I may have to read this one to Z-baby who has her own issues with sugar, and dessert and resisting temptation.

Reading Zone on Dessert First: “Dessert reminded me a lot of another fun early middle grade character- Clementine. She’s spunky, spirited, happy, and even a little “fresh” at times. Even better? She’s real! She reminded me a lot of the 3rd graders I student taught a few years ago.”

The Problem with the Puddles is the silliest of the three Sillies. Norton Juster (author of one of my favorites, The Phantom Tollbooth) contributes a blurb on the back of the cover extolling the wordplay and the “lively boisterous manner” of this book, and I would agree. However, it’s just not The Phantom Tollbooth. The Puddle family leaves the country for the city and accidentally leaves their two dogs, both named Sally, behind. Hilarity and confusion ensue. The dogs set off for the city on their own; the Puddles try to get back to the country to retrieve the dogs. Chronic disagreements, complications, a messy misunderstanding, and a dog-collecting secret catcher get in the way of the ultimate reunion.

I really think some kids would love this story, and others would just think it was . . . silly. You probably know already which of the two categories fits your reading interests.

Amazon Affiliate. If you click on a book cover from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a very small percentage of the purchase price.

Advanced Reading Survey: Adam Bede by George Eliot

Oct26

I’ve decided that on Mondays I’m going to revisit the books I read for a course in college called Advanced Reading Survey, taught by the eminent scholar and lovable professor, Dr. Huff. I’m not going to re-read all the books and poems I read for that course, probably more than fifty, but I am going to post to Semicolon the entries in the reading journal that I was required to keep for that class because I think that my entries on these works of literature may be of interest to readers here and because I’m afraid that the thirty year old spiral notebook in which I wrote these entries may fall apart ere long. I may offer my more mature perspective on the books, too, if I remember enough about them to do so.

Author Note: George Eliot was the pseudonym used by author Mary Ann Evans, esteemed by some as the most distinguished English woman novelist. She used a male pen name to ensure that her works were taken seriously. Mary Ann was an educated woman, and as a young woman she fell in with a set of free-thinkers and liberal Christians and subsequently “lost her faith.” In 1854, she met George Henry Lewes, her companion for twenty-four years. Lewes was already married and cold not obtain a divorce, so he and Mary Ann lived together and regarded themselves as husband and wife despite the lack of legal sanction and despite adverse public opinion.

Characters:
Adam Bede: a carpenter.
Seth Bede: Adam’s brother.
Dinah Morris: a Methodist preacher.
Hetty Sorrel: a beautiful young woman.
Arthur Donnithorne: a gentleman.
Martin Poyser
Mrs. Poyser
Mr. Irwine: the village vicar.

Summary: Adam Bede, a salt-of-the-earth village carpenter, falls in love with Hetty Sorrel, a flighty young woman whose lack of judgement and whose yielding character bring her to ruin. Adam’s brother, Seth, loves another woman, Dinah, whose sterling character and devotion to God preclude her commitment to any mere man.

Quotations:
Adam: “God helps us with our headpieces and our hands as well as with our souls.”

Although he would probably have declined to give his body to be burned in any public cause, and was far from bestowing all his goods to feed the poor, he had that charity which has sometimes been lacking to very illustrious virtue —he was tender to other men’s feelings and unwilling to impute evil.

Imagination is a licensed trespasser: it has no fear of dogs, but may climb over walls and peep in at windows with impunity.

Dinah: “It seems as if I could be silent all day long with the thought of God overflowing my soul—as the pebbles lie bathed in the Willow Brook.”

People who love downy peaches are apt not to think of the stone, and sometimes jar their teeth terribly against it.

The human soul is a very complex thing.

Sleep comes to the perplexed—if the perplexed are only weary enough.

The beginning of hardship is like the first taste of bitter food—it seems for a moment unbearable; yet, if there is nothing else to satisfy our hunger, we take another bite and find it possible to go on.

God’s love and mercy can overcome all things—our ignorance and weakness and the burden of our past wickedness—all the things but our willful sin, sin that we cling to and will not give up.

Adam Bede is my favorite book by George Eliot. It’s on my list of Semicolon’s Best Fiction of All Time.

Other bloggers on Adam Bede:

Sonderella: “This was Mary Evans’ first published novel under the pseudonym George Eliot. An amazing first novel I might add. She has an uncanny ability to paint beautiful pictures with her words as she brings characters to life on the pages.”

Chris at Bookarama: “I did feel for Adam but I was aggravated with him for not seeing Hetty for what she really was. Most of the female characters were either harpies or whiners. It wasn’t enjoyable to read those parts.”

Incurable Logophilia: “Thankfully, there wasn’t a kitten to be seen in those last 100 pages of Adam Bede – my opinion of George Eliot remains firmly positive.”

Amazon Affiliate. If you click on a book cover here to go to Amazon and buy something, I receive a very small percentage of the purchase price.
These books are also nominated for a Cybil Award, but the views expressed here are strictly my own.

Hymn #1: Be Thou My Vision

Oct25

Lyrics: Attributed to Saint Dallon Fargaill (6th century)
Translated to English by Mary E. Byrne (1905)
Versified by Eleanor Hull (1912)

Music: Irish folk melody, SLANE.

Theme:
After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” Genesis 15:1.

For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:10

And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain. Ezekiel 8:4.

And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Joel 2:28.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Ephesians 1:17.

David Nevue, piano arrangement:

Listen to this hymn in Gaelic:

Eleanor M. Hull, in her 1912 Poem Book of the Gael wrote this poetic translation of the old Irish hymn dating back to the eighth, perhaps the sixth, century:

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Patrick Joyce published the traditional Irish tune Slane, named for a hill near Tara where St. Patrick challenged the druid priests in lighting the paschal fire. Hull’s words and the traditional tune were paired in the Irish Church Hymnal in 1919, and lo, we have Be Thou My Vision, a reminder of the vision of Celtic Christianity and the baptized imagination of medieval Celtic Christians who saw God as the mighty High King of Heaven, ruling over all things and at the same time immanent and intimately present in our lives.

Popular Hymns.com: Desktop Backgrounds for Be Thou My Vision.

Sources;
Christianity Today Library: Be Thou My Vision.

Mr. Lincoln’s Boys Tell His Story

Oct24

Lincoln and His Boys by Rosemary Wells.

Me and Willie and Pa by F.N. Monjo.

Rosemary Wells’ fictionalized memoir of Abraham Lincoln and his sons, Willie and Tad, was nominated for a Cybil Award. So I read it. Of course, it reminded me of F.N. Monjo’s (out of print) classic in the same genre and with the same subject, Me and Willie and Pa, published in 1973. So I got that one down and re-read it.

Monjo’s book includes a lot more information. Neither book is very long. Me and Willie and Pa is 94 (large) pages long. The Wells book is 93 pages, but smaller. However, Monjo’s book has a lot more stories about the war and about Lincoln’s jokes and anecdotes. Although Ms. Wells probably has the right end of the stick, having Willie, then Tad tell only about those incidents and stories that a young boy would be interested in and know about, I must say as an adult I enjoyed reading Me and Willie and Tad more because of the extra information. Perhaps Lincoln and HIs Boys would be more appropriate to recommend to third and fourth graders, while Me and Willie and Pa could be given to fifth and sixth graders, although those age guidelines certainly aren’t hard and fast rules.

IMG_0365Both books present the same picture of Lincoln as a father, indulgent to a fault. He allowed his boys to invade cabinet meetings, play soldier by ordering guards around, and accompany him on visits to the troops. When either the politicians or Mary Lincoln complained that Mr. Lincoln was spoiling the boys, both books agree that Lincoln paid them no mind and continued to allow his sons the freedom to be rowdy, noisy, and spirited. We’ll never know if Lincoln’s indulgent child-rearing practices would have made Tad and Willie into strong, independent men or spoiled rotten brats. Willie died uirng Lincoln’s first term in office, and Tad died in Chicago three months after his eighteenth birthday. Maybe in light of their early deaths, it’s good to know that they had a very happy childhood and a loving father.

Mary Lincoln has always been a problematic character, and both books tell about her overwhelming grief after Willie’s death and about her free-spending ways in dressing and in decorating the White House. However, in Lincoln and His Boys, Mary Lincoln seems like a loving wife and mother and a well-meaning, if sometimes misunderstood, First Lady. Monjo’s portrayal includes a couple of stories that cast Mrs. Lincoln in a harsher light, including a story about her screaming in a jealous rage when Mr. Lincoln went out to review the troops alongside a pretty general’s wife.

Ms. Wells ends her story with President Lincoln and Tad in Richmond, Lincoln ordering the band to play “Dixie” because “it’s Federal property now.” Mr. Monjo ends his narrative with Lincoln’s assassination, and he has Tad ask the poignant question, “How could anyone want to hurt my Pa?”

I’d recommend either or both books for an introduction to Lincoln and the Civil War and for a tender story of a father who loved his sons and gave them the foundation of a father’s attention and joy in being with them. The stories about Lincoln and his relations with his family and with the people around him are always endearing and somewhat sentimental and heart-tugging. He was a complicated man (aren’t we all?), but these books present one aspect of his character quite well: his love for his young sons.

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