Rereading Our Childhood

We celebrated the 100th anniversary of the publication of A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh by revisiting Pooh, Christopher, Robin, and their friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. We talked about how Winnie-the-Pooh permeated our childhoods, about Milne's career beyond his most famous creation, and about the real Christopher Robin Milne's complicated relationship with his fictional alter ego. Mentioned on this episode:Books featuring Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin:Winnie-the-Pooh (stories, 1926, Simon and Schuster 100th anniversary edition)When We Were Very Young (poems, 1924)Now We are Six (poems, 1927)The House at Pooh Corner (stories, 1928) Short movies and records: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) Somewhere, a Boy and a Bear: The Remarkable Life of A.A. Milne and the Legacy of Winnie-the-Pooh, by Gyles Brandreth (2025) BBC article with a pictures of Christopher Robin next to Winnipeg, aka Winnie, the real-life bear at the London Zoo that Winnie-the-Pooh was named afterStory in The Times about the first appearance of Winnie-the-Pooh in the Evening News on December 24, 1925, with an illustration of the front page featuring the storyArticle in The Guardian about the 100th anniversary of Winnie-the-Pooh, discussing Winnie-the-Pooh and Paddington the Bear Recommended by Deborah: A Bear Called Paddington by Michael BondRecommended by Mary Grace: The Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes mentioned:Rereading A Bear Called Paddington by Michael BondYou can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago.This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com     

Writer Ginny Kubitz Moyer joined us to discuss Maud Hart Lovelace's Betsy-Tacy, the story of two five-year-old friends living in the small Minnesota town of Deep Valley in the late 19th century. Published in 1940, it's the first in a series that ends with Betsy's marriage.Discussed in this episode:Ginny's books: The Seeing Garden, A Golden Life, and The World at Home. (You can find Ginny at ginnymoyer.org.)Deborah's interviews with Ginny on The Seeing Garden and A Golden LifeOther Betsy-Tacy and Deep Valley books: Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill , Emily of Deep Valley, and Carney's House Party and Winona's Pony Cart (combined in one volume)Also discussed: William Wordsworth's poem "Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood"The Betsy-Tacy SocietyNew York Times article by Perri Klass about the Betsy-Tacy Society (2012)New Yorker article by Jia Tolentino about Emily of Deep Valley (2017) Emily of New Moonby L.M. MontgomeryRecommended for Betsy-Tacy fans: Ginny: The All-of-a-Kind Familyseries by Sydney Taylor; The Lemon Jelly Cakeby Madeline Babcock Smith; Maud Hart Lovelace's Deep Valleyby Julie A. SchraderMary Grace: Ramona the Pestby Beverley Cleary; The Moffatsby Eleanor EstesDebby: "B" is for Betsy by Carolyn HaywoodOther Rereading Our Childhood episodes:Rereading "B" is for Betsy by Caroline HaywoodReading Ramona the Pest by Beverly ClearyRereading The Moffats by Eleanor EstesYou can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago. This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com     

Keiana Mayfield, an assistant professor of social work at George Mason University and the Diversity in KidLit Advocate for East City Book Shop in Washington, D.C., joined us to discuss Gone Wolf by Amber McBride, which was published in 2023. Gone Wolf is the story of two girls named Imogen, one in a future racist dystopia and one in current-day Charlottesville, Virginia. We also talked about reading diversely: what it means, why it matters, what the publishing industry is doing well, and what it could be doing better.Discussed in this episode:Other books by Amber McBride:The Leaving Room (Deborah’s interview with McBride about this book is here)Onyx and BeyondAlso mentioned.East City Book Shop in Washington, D.C., where Keiana hosts the W(h)ine and Angst book club for adults and several book clubs for childrenThe Xenogenesis series by Octavia Butler, including Book 3, ImagoBeauty Queens by Libba BrayInterviews with Amber McBride in Publisher’s Weekly and Virginia LivingThe Bluest Eye by Toni MorrisonWe Need Diverse Books, an organization promoting diversity in children’s literatureAbout the B’Nai Bagels by E.L. KonigsbergRecommended for fans of Gone Wolf:Keiana: The Last Cuentista by Donna Barbra Higuera, winner of the 2022 Newbery Medal; Candace, The Universe, and Everything by Sherri L. Smith; Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga; The Extraordinary Orbit of Alex Ramirez by Jasminne PaolinoDeborah: Candace, The Universe, and Everything by Sherri L. Smith (seconding Keiana’s recommendation; Deborah’s interview with Smith about this book is here); other books by Amber McBrideOther recommendations from Keiana: Rainbow Shopping by Qing Zhuang; The Village Beyond the Mist by Sachiko Kashiwaba; How to Walk a Dog by Joanne LevyOther Rereading Our Childhood episodes mentioned:Rereading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’EngleRereading From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. KonigsbergOur Favorite Picture BooksYou can find Keiana at keianamayfield.com, Deborah at deborahkalb.com Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago. Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com     

For this episode, we revisited The Borrowers, Mary Norton's 1952 novel about a family of tiny people who live under the kitchen of a house in the British countryside. We were as charmed as ever by the ingenuity of the Borrowers, who have a dresser made of matchboxes and a teapot made of an acorn shell, but there was a layer of darkness in the story that we hadn't remembered. Mentioned on this episode:Other books in the series:The Borrowers AfieldThe Borrowers AfloatThe Borrowers AloftThe Borrowers AvengedAlso by Mary Norton:Bedknob and BroomstickFilm adaptations:Bedknobs and Broomsticks, 1971 movie (trailer here)The Borrowers, 1973 Hallmark Hall of Fame TV special (IMDB entry here)The Borrowers, 1997 live-action adaptation (trailer here)Arietty, 2010 Japanese anime adaptation (trailer here)Also mentioned:Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright, illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush, who illustrated the American edition of The BorrowersAll-of-a-Kind Family Downtown by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Beth and Joe KrushThe English Bookshop, in Uppsala, Sweden and other locationsIndependent obituary of Mary NortonIndependent obituary of Mark Norton, Mary Norton's sonRecommended by Mary Grace: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson BurnettRecommended by Deborah: Stuart Little by E.B. WhiteOther Rereading Our Childhood episodes:Rereading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson BurnettRereading Stuart Little by E.B. WhiteYou can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago.This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com     

Nancy Hudgins joins us to talk about I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip, John Donavan's groundbreaking 1969 novel about a romance between two thirteen-year-old boys. Nancy is the author of Books Good Enough for You, a children's biography of legendary children's book editor Ursula Nordstrom, who edited I'll Get There.Mentioned on this episode: Nancy's childhood favorites:Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (an Ursula Nordstrom book)The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie BrinkThe House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert De Jong, illustrated by Maurice Sendak (an Ursula Nordstrom book)More Ursula Nordstrom books:Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise BrownHarold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett JohnsonWhere the Wild Things Are by Maurice SendakIt's Like This, Cat by Emily NevilleHarriet the Spy by Louise FitzhughWilliam's Doll by Charlotte ZolatowStevie by John SteptoeThe Secret Language by Ursula NordstromLittle Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik, illustrated by Maurice SendakFreaky Friday and A Billion for Boris by Mary RodgersIn the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak. (You can read an excerpt from Books Good Enough for You about In the Night Kitchen, published in Publisher's Weekly, here.) Also mentioned:Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom, edited by Leonard MarcusTime magazine's 2021 list of the top 100 young adult books of all time, which includes I'll Get There2009 Publisher's Weekly article about the 40th anniversary reissue of I'll Get There2014 Los Angeles Review of Books article by Rumaan Alam about I'll Get ThereBorn Free (movie trailer here)The audiobook of Books Good Enough for You, narrated by Barbara RosenblattRecommended for fans of I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip:Nancy: Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden; A High Five for Glenn Burke by Phil BildnerDeborah: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger; Harriet the Spy by Louise FitzhughMary Grace: Bertram Cope's Year by Henry Blake FullerRecommended Ursula Nordstrom books:Nancy: All sixteen books discussed in Books Good Enough for You, especially A Hole is to Dig by Ruth KraussDeborah: Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh; Charlotte's Web by E.B. WhiteMary Grace: Freaky Friday by Mary RodgersOther Rereading Our Childhood episodes: Rereading Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink; Rereading Charlotte's Web by E.B. White; Rereading Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh; Rereading Freaky Friday by Mary RodgersThe podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.You can find Nancy at nancyhudgins.com, Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago.This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com     

Writer Alex Poppe joins us to talk about Deenie, Judy Blume’s 1973 novel about a girl, pigeonholed as the pretty one in her family, whose life is thrown off track when she’s diagnosed with scoliosis. Alex is the author most recently of the memoir Breakfast Wine.Other books by Judy Blume:Are You There God? It’s Me, MargaretThe One in the Middle is the Green KangarooOtherwise Known as Sheila the GreatForeverTales of a Fourth-Grade NothingThen Again, Maybe I Won’tIt’s Not the End of the WorldBlubber (this is the book Alex couldn’t remember the name of)In the Unlikely Event (this is the adult novel we couldn’t remember the name of)Also mentioned:Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, the 2023 movie (trailer here)Judy Blume: A Life by Mark OppenheimerNew Yorker review of Judy Blume: A Life by Katy WaldmanOtherwise Known as Judy the Great by Selina Alko, children’s biography of Judy BlumeMichigan Daily article about Deenie by Rebecca Smith, a student with scoliosisTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeRecommended for fans of Deenie:Alex: Fight Night by Miriam Toews; “The River Nemanus,” a short story by Anthony Doerr from the collection Memory WallMary Grace: Karen and With Love from Karen by Marie Killilea (MG)Deborah: Braced by Alison GerberPrevious podcast episode:Rereading Are You There God? It’s Me, MargaretYou can find Alex at alexpoppeauthor.com, Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago.This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com     

We had completely forgotten about Eleanor Estes's The Moffats until a friend suggested that we reread it. Published in 1941, it's the first in a series about four children growing up in small-town Connecticut in the 1910s. Mentioned on this episode:Other books in the series:The Middle Moffat (1942), a Newbery Honor BookRufus M. (1943), a Newbery Honor BookThe Moffat Museum (1983) Other books by Estes:The Hundred Dresses (1944), a Newbery Honor BookGinger Pye (1951), winner of the 1952 Newbery MedalPinky Pye (1958)Also mentioned:Many Moons (1943) by James Thurber, with illustrations by Louis Slobodkin"Eleanor Estes: Chronicler of the Family Story," by Claudia Mills, on the UConn Archives and Special Collections Blog. "Celebrating Children's Books Week--and a pioneering children's librarian," on Mary Grace's blog, My Life 100 Years AgoRecommended by Deborah: The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright; Beverly Cleary's booksRecommended by Mary Grace: The All-of-a-Kind Family series by Sydney TaylorOther episodes:Rereading The Young Unicorns by Madeleine L'EngleRereading Ramona the Pest by Beverly ClearyRereading Stuart Little by E.B. WhiteRereading Charlotte's Web by E.B. WhiteYou can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago.This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com     

For the first episode of our fourth (!) season, we reread E.L. Konigsburg's Newbery Medal winner From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, which was published in 1967. This book, one of our all-time favorites, has one of the best plot premises of all time: a suburban brother and sister run away from home and camp out at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.Mentioned on this episode:Other books by Konigsburg:Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, ElizabethA Proud Taste for Scarlet and MiniverAbout the B'nai BagelsAlso mentioned:Ban this Book by Alan Gratz1965 New York Times article about the Metropolitan Museum's purchase for $225 of a statue that may be a Leonardo da Vinci1996 New York Times article about a cupid statue at the French cultural center in New York that may be by MichaelangeloPost on the Metropolitan Museum website about celebrating the 50th anniversary of From the Mixed-Up Files2017 Smithsonian magazine article in which Johnny Doran reminisces about playing Jamie in a film version of From the Mixed-Up FilesRecommended by Mary Grace: Freaky Friday by Mary RodgersOther Rereading Our Childhood episodes mentioned:Rereading Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth by E.L. KonigsburgRereading Freaky Friday by Mary RodgersRereading Harriet the Spy by Louise FitzhughYou can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago.This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com     

For this episode, we reread Madeleine L’Engle’s 1968 novel The Young Unicorns, the third book in the Austin family series. We discussed 1960s New York, racial representation, family musical evenings, and how absolutely bonkers this book is.Mentioned on this episode:Other books by L’Engle:A Wrinkle in Time (1962)Meet the Austins (1960)The Moon by Night (1963)A Ring of Endless Light (1980)Troubling a Star (1994)A Severed Wasp (1983)New York Times review of The Young Unicorns by Maia WojciechowkaBlog posts on The Young Unicorns on Pickle Me This (this is the one where the writer thinks L’Engle wrote Dave as a Black character) and Lady FancifullArticle on The Young Unicorns by Mari Ness on Reactor2004 New Yorker article about Madeleine L’EngleNew York Times article on race in the Wuthering Heights movie (gift link)Other episodes:Rereading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’EngleYou can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago.This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com     

On this episode, Deborah introduces Mary Grace to A Bear Called Paddington, the first book in the beloved series about a bear from Peru who ends up living with a London family. We discuss Paddington’s timeless appeal to children, his status as a British icon, and how the book can be read as a refugee’s story.Mentioned on this episode:Paddington, the 2014 movie (trailer here)“Paddington Bear, Refugee,” by Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, June 28, 2017Olga da Polga series by Michael BondMonsieur Pamplemousse series by Michael Bond“Ma’amalade Sandwich, Your Majesty?” (video of Queen Elizabeth with Paddington on the British royal family’s website)Article about the Paddington movie in the New York Times, January 9, 2015Recommended for Paddington fans:Mary Grace: Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers, Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. MilneDeborah: Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, Stuart Little by A.A. MilneOther episodes mentioned:Rereading Pippi Longstocking by Astrid LindgrenRereading Mary Poppins by P.L. TraversRereading Stuart Little by E.B. WhiteYou 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.Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com