Thursday, April 4, 2013

quality literature: pollyanna

i read pollyanna at a fairly young age.  i began reading chapter books in second grade and ripped through my  older sister's collection of classics fairly quickly thereafter.  and then i read them all again several times.  i reread it this week and it was just as charming as i remembered it.  the premise is a little girl who has been taught by her father, a minister, to look for the best in life no matter the circumstances.  and yet it is not at all preachy; it's just a breath of fresh air.  it's fairly girly, so i probably won't  read it to g, but plan on renting him the movie starring hailey mills and kurt russell instead.  i think he would enjoy that and i would enjoy the reinforcement of a valuable life lesson; happiness is a choice.

i think if i'd had a girl i would have a much larger personal reference of book suggestions to pull from.  i'll share them here for all of you who have little girls or who enjoy children's literature.  from my sister's bookshelf i remember heidi, girl of the limberlost, rebecca of sunnybrook farm, little women (and all the sequels), and, of course, the little house series.  in my pre-teen years i collected all the books from the anne of green gables and emily of new moon series.  and then in my twenties, as a middle school teacher, i was very much into newbery award winners.  some favorites of those, perfect for young girls, were the midwife's apprentice, ella enchanted, walk two moons, catherine called birdy, missing may, and sarah plain and tall.  enjoy!

doh!  and i totally forgot to mention, but mentioning now, we have a fun new game over at jbs mercantile!  based on my all time favorite 80s video game, centipede!  you simply have to complete a challenge to be entered to win!  the more challenges you complete, the more your centipede grows, and the more chances you have to win!  and you can even write your own challenges!  come play with us!

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