Tag Archives: children’s literature

Cover of Noel Streatfeild's Theater Shoes, cameos of three children against blue background.

Rereading Theater Shoes, with Jean Freedman

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(You can listen to this episode here.)

Writer and scholar Jean Freedman joins us to talk about Noel Streatfeild’s 1944 book Theater Shoes (originally published in the UK as Curtain Up), the story of three children who attend a theatrical school. We discuss London during World War II and welcome the (offstage) reappearance of the three sisters in Streatfeild’s beloved Ballet Shoes (1936), who are now young women pursuing their careers.

Mentioned on this episode:

Books by Jean Freedman: Whistling in the Dark: Memory and Culture in Wartime London and Peggy Seeger: A Life of Music, Love, and Politics

Other books by Noel Streatfeild: Circus Shoes, Dancing Shoes, Tennis Shoes, Skating Shoes

Mrs. Miniver (1942), trailer here

A website on Streatfeild that includes a detailed discussion on Theater Shoes/Curtain Up

Books and other works of literature mentioned in Theater Shoes: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest by William Shakespeare, The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christen Andersen

Recommended by Jean: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett; Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, and Dress Rehearsal by Monica Stirling; books by Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume; fairy tales by Oscar Wilde

Recommended by Debby: The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright; Half Magic by Edward Eager

Recommended by Mary Grace: The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Other episodes: Rereading Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild; Rereading Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren; Rereading Little Women, with Jamie Stiehm; Rereading The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.

You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com, Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago, and Jean at jeanfreedman.com.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Cover of Encyclopedia Brown Gets the Clues by Donald Sobol, Encyclopedia and Bugs Meany

Rereading Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues by Donald J. Sobol

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(You can listen to this episode here.)

For our third annual Encyclopedia Brown episode, we matched wits with each other and with Encyclopedia in trying to crack the cases in Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues, which was published in 1966. The relevant clues are included in our discussion, so you can solve along with us. We discussed the origins of Bugs Meany’s hat and solved the mystery of what state Idaville is in. Also, Mary Grace mispronounced “divining rod” about 15 times.

Mentioned on this episode:

Other Encyclopedia Brown books:

Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective

Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch

Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes:

Rereading Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

Rereading Henry Reed, Inc. by Keith Robertson

Also mentioned:

Goodreads review of Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues by Chance Hansen

Reddit thread on what state Encyclopedia lives in

“Donald Sobol and the Case of the Elusive Mystery Writer,” interview with Donald Sobol by Elizabeth Weinstein, Oberlin Alumni Magazine, Fall 2011

Clip from a 2024 episode of Futurama featuring Wikipedia Brown

The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.

You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s at My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Cover of The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy and Beth Ellen on the beach

Rereading The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh

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(You can listen to this episode here.)

For this episode, we reread Louise Fitzhugh’s 1965 novel The Long Secret, the sequel to Harriet the Spy. We discussed Harriet’s summer friendship with her classmate Beth Ellen, a minor character in Harriet the Spy, the mystery of who is leaving notes for residents of the Long Island town of Water Mill, and Fitzhugh’s fascinating but tragic life.

Mentioned on this episode:

Other books by Fitzhugh:

Suzuki Bean, written by Sandra Scoppettone, illustrated by Louise Fitzhugh (1961)

Harriet the Spy (1964)

Nobody’s Family is Going to Change (1974)

Sport (1980)

Also mentioned:

Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy, by Leslie Brody

Deborah’s interview with Leslie Brodie on her blog Book Q&A’s with Deborah Kalb

The Tap Dance Kid, the Broadway musical based on Nobody’s Family is Going to Change (highlights from the 2022 Encores! performance here)

Gloria Vanderbilt’s New York Times review of Harriet the Spy, November 22, 1964

Goodreads reviews of The Long Secret by Robyn and Jamie

Recommended by Deborah: Freaky Friday (1972) and A Billion for Boris (1974) by Mary Rodgers; Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (1970) by Judy Blume

Recommended by Mary Grace: Magic by the Lake by Edward Eager (1957); The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars (1970); All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor (1951)

Previous episodes of Rereading Our Childhood:

Rereading Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

Rereading Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Rereading Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers

Rereading Magic by the Lake by Edward Eager

Rereading The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars

Rereading All-of-A-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.

You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s at My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Cover of Little Women, illustrated by Jesse Willcox Smith

Rereading Little Women, with Jamie Stiehm

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(You can listen to this episode here.)

For this episode, we reread Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women, which was published in two parts in 1868 and 1869. (In the UK, it’s still published as two separate novels, the second one titled Good Wives.) We’re joined by Jamie Stiehm, a syndicated columnist at Creators Syndicate. We talk about our love for the book as girls, how it held up as a reread (still wonderful if a little preachy at times), and Alcott’s (and Jo’s) gender identity.

Mentioned on this episode:

Other books by Alcott:

Little Men (1871)

Eight Cousins (1874)

Rose in Bloom (1876)

Jo’s Boys (1886)

Also mentioned:

Peyton Thomas’s tweet saying Alcott was trans, which Mary Grace (and Martina Navratilova) replied to

Peyton Thomas’s New York Times guest column saying that Alcott was trans

Jo’s Boys, Peyton Thomas’s podcast on Little Women (on Apple and Spotify). (Update: It’s great!)

Film adaptations:

Little Women (1933), with Katharine Hepburn as Jo (trailer here)

Little Women (1949), with June Allyson as Jo and Elizabeth Taylor as Amy (trailer here)

Little Women (1994), with Wynona Ryder as Jo (trailer here)

Little Women (2019), directed by Greta Gerwig (trailer here)

Recommended for fans of Little Women:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Jamie); My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, Men in Trouble by Sarah Payne Stuart, and Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason (Mary Grace); Little House on the Prairie (Deborah)

Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why it Still Matters, by Anne Boyd Rioux

March, Geraldine Brooks’s 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about Alcott’s father

Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes mentioned:

Rereading Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink

Rereading Little Town on the Prairie, with Judith Kalb

The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.

You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago. You can find Jamie at jamiestiehm.com.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Original cover of Magic by the Lake by Edward Eager, turtle in lake with children's faces superimposed.

Rereading Magic by the Lake by Edward Eager

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(You can listen to this episode here.)

On this episode, we reread Edward Eager’s 1957 book Magic by the Lake. It’s the sequel to Half Magic, which we discussed during our first season. We talk about our love for Eager’s magical adventures and our discomfort with some scenes that wouldn’t pass muster today.

Mentioned on this episode:

The Time Garden, the fourth book in the Half Magic series, featuring Katharine and Martha’s children

Seven-Day Magic, Eager’s last book

Also mentioned:

Edward Eager’s New York Times obituary

By Pike and Dyke: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic by G.A. Henty (read by Mark)

Deborah’s time travel novels, George Washington and the Magic Hat, John Adams and the Magic Bobblehead, and Thomas Jefferson and the Return of the Magic Hat

The books of E. Nesbit, Eager’s favorite children’s writer

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

The Magic Tree House books

“Goodbye, John,” Edward Eager’s biggest hit song

Songs the children hear, sing, or request: “Paddling Madeleine Home,” “Do Do Do What You Done Done Done Before,” “Yes! We Have No Bananas,”

Recommended for fans of Magic by the Lake: The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (Deborah); The Four-Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright and The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh (Mary Grace)

Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes:

Rereading Half Magic by Edward Eager

Rereading Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

Rereading Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

Rereading The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright

The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.

You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers, cover, Mary Poppins flying with umbrella

Rereading Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

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(You can listen to this episode here.)

On this episode, we reread Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers’s beloved 1934 classic. We discuss the difference between the book and the movie version of the magical nanny, changes in the book to remove racist portrayals, and Travers’s strange and interesting life.

Mentioned on the episode:

Other books in the series:

Mary Poppins Comes Back (1935)

Mary Poppins Opens the Door (1943)

Mary Poppins in the Park (1952)

Also mentioned:

“A Spoonful of Bile,” Kathryn Hughes’ 2005 Guardian review of Mary Poppins She Wrote: A Biography of P.L. Travers.

A Goodreads review of Mary Poppins by Julie G that discusses racism in Mary Poppins.

A post on the website “American Indians in Children’s Literature” that discusses racist language in the book (with side-by-side examples of original and revised passages from the “Bad Tuesday” chapter) and Travers’s experiences with American Indian communities during World War II.

Travers’s 1996 New York Times obituary that repeats her untrue claim that her father was a sugar planter (gift link)

The trailer for Mary Poppins Returns, the 2018 movie sequel

Alli Hoff Kosik’s childhood rereading podcast, SSR, which recently signed off after seven years and over 300 episodes.

Recommended for fans of Mary Poppins:

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Pippi Longstocking (Deborah)

The Edward Eager magic books, Ballet Shoes, and Harriet the Spy (Mary Grace)

Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes mentioned:

Rereading Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

Rereading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.

You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Rereading All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

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Cover of All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor, five girls in identical dresses on front steps of building.

(You can listen to this episode here.)

On this episode, we discuss All-of-a-Kind Family, Sydney Taylor’s 1951 classic about five sisters growing up on New York’s Lower East Side. Over the course of a year, the girls experience joys (like celebrating Jewish holidays and the Fourth of July) and sorrows (like getting scarlet fever and even worse losing a library book), and spend a lot of time thinking about how to spend their allowance (one penny).

Mentioned on this episode:

Other books in the series:

More All-of-a-Kind Family

All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown

All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown

Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family

Also mentioned:

Peter and Polly in Winter by Rose Lucia (1914), Sarah’s lost library book.

From Sarah to Sydney by June Cummins (a biography of Sydney Taylor)

Jennifer Weiner’s New York Times review of From Sarah to Sydney

One of a Kind: The Life of Sydney Taylor, a children’s picture book biography by by Richard Michelson (read Deborah’s interview with Michelson here)

Recommended for fans of All-of-a-Kind Family:

Deborah: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Mary Grace: The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright, Meet Me in St. Louis by Sally Benson, Seven-Day Magic by Edward Eager

Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes mentioned:

Rereading The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright

Rereading Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Rereading Half Magic by Edward Eager

The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.

You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Cover, Nancy Drew: The Secret of the Old Clock, Nancy sitting on the ground with a clock.

Rereading Nancy Drew: The Secret of the Old Clock, with Sara Fitzgerald

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(You can find this episode here.)

On the first episode of our third season, we discuss The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene, the first installment in the Nancy Drew series, with writer and editor Sara Fitzgerald. The Secret of the Old Clock was published in 1930 and significantly revised in 1959. As we discuss, Carolyn Keene didn’t really exist; the series was the brainchild of Edward Stratemeyer, who farmed the writing out to freelancers—in this case, Mildred Wirt Benson.

Mentioned on this episode:

Other Nancy Drew books:

The Secret of Red Gate Farm

The Hidden Staircase

The Nancy Drew Files series

Other Stratemeyers Syndicate series:

The Bobbsey Twins

The Hardy Boys

The Rover Boys

Also mentioned:

The Silenced Muse: Emily Hale, T. S. Eliot, and the Role of a Lifetime by Sara Fitzgerald

The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling

We’re not told which aria from Tosca is playing in the famous singing teacher’s house, but here’s Maria Callas singing “Vissi d’Arte,” the best-known aria from the Puccini opera.

Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly

Teen romances by Betty Cavanna

James Patterson and his collaborators

The CW Nancy Drew series (trailer here)

The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House on the Prairie, the TV show (trailer here)

A 2-star Goodreads review by a reader named Michelle, whose favorite quote from the book is “Oh, why can’t all people be nice like this scenery and not make trouble?”

Agatha Christie’s mysteries

Ada Twist, Scientist, Rosie Revere, Engineer, and Sofia Valdez, Future Prez, by Andrea Beaty

The Ada Twist, Scientist TV series (trailer here)

The Trixie Belden series

Recommended by Sara:

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Cherry Ames, Camp Nurse by Helen Wells, and other Cherry Ames books

Recommended by Deborah:

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

Recommended by Mary Grace:

The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh

The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.

You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s at My Life 100 Years Ago. You can find out more about Sara’s books at sarafitzgerald.com

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Cover of Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, Johnny in front of a view of Boston.

Rereading Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

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(You can listen to this episode here.)

On this episode, we discuss Esther Forbes’ Newbery Medal-winning 1943 novel Johnny Tremain, the story of an apprentice silversmith in Boston who gets caught up in the events leading up to the American Revolution.

Mentioned on this episode:

Other books by Esther Forbes:

Paul Revere and the World He Lived In (1942), winner of the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for History.

The General’s Lady (1938)

Miss Marvel (1935)

Also mentioned:

The 1957 Disney movie adaptation of Johnny Tremain (trailer here)

Gadsby’s Tavern, in Alexandria, Virginia, which was built in 1770 and is now a museum and restaurant. Mary Grace went there with her sixth-grade class.

The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward, illustrator of Johnny Tremain, which won the Caldecott Medal in 1953.

The American Antiquarian Society, of which Esther Forbes was the first woman member

Redcoat in Boston by Ann Finlayson

Recommended for fans of Johnny Tremain:

Mary Grace: Answering the Cry for Freedom: Stories of African Americans and the American Revolution by Gretchen Wolfe. (Deborah interviewed the author on her blog, Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb.) Mary Grace also mentions that there are several picture books about Revolutionary-Era African American scientist Benjamin Banneker. These include Dear Benjamin Banneker by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney.

Deborah: The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (1958)

Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes mentioned:

Rereading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Rereading The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.

You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Cover of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, 1970s paperback, Mary enterin garden

Rereading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

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(You can listen to this episode here.)

On this episode, we reread Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved 1911 classic The Secret Garden, about Mary, a neglected girl who discovers a garden on her uncle’s Yorkshire estate that has been locked up for ten years. We discuss the magic of secret places and Hodgson’s surprising ties to the United States, including periods living in a Tennessee log cabin and in Washington, D.C.

Mentioned on this episode:

Other books by Burnett:

A Little Princess (originally published as Sara Crewe) (1905)

Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886)

Through One Administration (1881), an adult novel about politics and society in Washington, D.C.

Also mentioned:

The serialization of The Secret Garden in American Magazine beginning in November 1910

The 2020 film adaptation, with Colin Firth as Mary’s uncle (trailer here)

The 1987 Hallmark Hall of Fame adaptation, also featuring Colin Firth, this time as grown-up Colin (trailer here)

The 1949 film adaptation, starring Margaret O’Brien (trailer here)

Deborah’s recommendations for fans of The Secret Garden: A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett; Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë; Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier; The Secret Garden retellings on Goodreads, including The Painted Garden by Noel Streatfeild

Mary Grace’s recommendations for fans of The Secret Garden: Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. (There is a brief review of the book on the 1919 book list on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.)

The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.

You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.