Children's Literature - Rebecca Caudill - Schoolroom in the Parlor (1959)

And now for something completely different. :)

After I finished Banewreaker last night, I moved on to the next book immediately. I told you, I was in need of some escapism. So I decided to reread a book I had when I was little.

As you can tell from the picture, this used to be a library book. Now, I didn't take a book out and just never return it. When I was little, my parents would buy books for me from garage sales. This one was probably purchased when we were in Iowa. By the time we had moved back to Vegas, I think I had graduated entirely to longer books in the form of Fear Streets and other young horror. Listen, I don't need your laughter. At least I liked reading as a kid, assholes. :P

There are two ways this review can go: through a child's eyes, and through an adult's eyes.

When I was a kid, I was never really into frontier books. I remember I had to read Little House on the Prairie for school in fourth grade, but I didn't care for it. My mom really likes frontier fiction, but I never really have. It's just not interesting to me. And you can see it in what I choose to read now. But since my mom liked it, I couldn't escape without having at least one.

When I was the age I think I was when I got this book, I had a couple favorite books. O'Diddy by Jocelyn Stevenson was one, about imaginary friends. There was another that I can't remember the name of and can't find on the internet, about a girl whose parents were going to divorce, but she thought she could stop with with straight As in school, and had to do an egg social experiment at school with a kid who was a jackass. I also really liked Goosebumps and Babysitter's Club books.

So, like I said, as a kid, I didn't really care for this book.

As an adult, I read this book last night in a couple hours. I had trouble keeping the two middle children, Emmy and Debby, straight. Also the book goes out of its way to teach the kid reader about life in the wilderness, which is unnecessary. You want kids to want to read. Not to be lectured at.

There was also a section that plugged Louisa May Alcott's Under the Lilacs. But it didn't just plug it. It used text from it. What the fuck? That was somehow okay? There was also some thinly-veiled racism against Native Americans, but that's true of any frontier fiction.

There was also a section that was comedy gold. Keep in mind, this is in response to seeing the Northern Lights for the first time, after reading about it in their lessons.

"Is the world coming to an end?" she whispered.
Bonnie began to cry.
"Is the world coming to an end, Father?"

Oh my god.

4/10