March and April 2017 Book Reports

It's been a busy spring with a concerted effort to decrease my computer time. Hence a post on the books I read in March and April at the end of May.

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery - link to my post (my daughter's copy, purchased used at a library book sale)

The Dragon's Child: A Story of Angel Island by Laurence Yep with Dr. Kathleen S. Yep was one of First Son's books for his American history, recommended by RC History, the tale of a young Chinese boy's journey from his village to San Francisco through Angel Island. It's a nice complement to all the immigrant stories centered on Ellis Island and focusing on Chinese immigrants rather than those of Europe. First Son was in seventh grade when he read it, but it would be appropriate for younger children, too. (library copy)

The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White is a children's classic I had never read. Knowing my daughter's great love for all things avian, I decided we had to read it. She was delighted by this story of a swan without a voice who learns to play the trumpet. Great for all ages and the audiobook contained some actual trumpeting (of the horn, not the birds) which added to the story. (Audible audiobook)

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen centers on Fanny Price, raised by her uncle and surrounded by wealth but yet apart from it. I love reading Austen and yet am always amazed at how insightful her books are as young people discern who to marry. Fanny's strength of character withstand the arguments of those who should have had her best interests at heart but let wealth and charm delude them. It is perhaps at our peril that we disregard such concerns in our modern world. (Audible audiobook)

Good-bye Mr. Chips by James Hilton - link to my post (library copy)

Cosmas or the Love of God by Pierre de Calan, translated by Peter Hebblethwaite - link to post (interlibrary loan copy)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - link to my post (library copy, but I requested one from PaperBackSwap.com)

The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz - link to my post (library copy, but I requested one from PaperBackSwap.com)


Ember Falls by S.D. Smith is the second in the series (after The Green Ember). In it, Heather and Picket face more danger and doubt. This is a darker book than the first and leaves the fate of the rabbits much in question, but there is still hope and a third book to follow. (Audible audiobook, though my daughter received a copy for Christmas)

Books in Progress (and date started)

• Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol. 2 (sixth edition) (August 2014)
• Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol (January 2017)
• Prayer and the Will of God by Dom Hubert van Zeller (March 2017)
• Joan of Arc by Mark Twain (April 2017, with my book club)

The italic print: Links to Amazon are affiliate links. As an affiliate with Amazon, I receive a small commission if you follow one of my links, add something to your cart, and complete the purchase (in that order).

Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks - another affiliate link. Links to RC History and PaperBackSwap.com are affiliate links. Other links (like those to Bethlehem Books) are not affiliate links.

These reports are my honest opinions.

A Missionary Love in California: Father Junipero Serra

Father Junipero Serra by Ivy Bolton 

I found this book in a lovely old hardcover edition at a used book booth last summer. I wanted to read it to the children as Father Serra was to be canonized in the fall (2015), we were learning about the time period in American history, and we were hoping to plan a camping trip to California for the following year. It just seemed right. I skimmed the text a little, but did not read the whole thing before reading it aloud to the children.

After great trials and patience, St. Junipero Serra was finally allowed to journey to California and serve the Native Americans (called "Indians" in the book, of course) there.

Monterey would be his home. He would have many weary journeys up and down the coast and one exhausting one to Mexico, but always home would be here in the place he loved best on earth.

As he gazed over the land, he probably imagined the mission, buildings, and gardens that were to come.

Just now there was a beach of dazzling whiteness, a shaded river--and the blue Pacific as far as the eye could reach. This was the scene of his lifework, and here were his spiritual children whom he loved so well. Junipero Serra asked for nothing more.

The book, written in 1965, described the Native Americans in less than ideal terms, though their actions are likely taken directly from actual accounts of the soldiers and missionaries in the area. They stole items, attacked the missions (to steal), and murdered at least one of the friars.

St. Junipero Serra begged for leniency for the attackers. When the local military leaders remained firm, he appealed to the Viceroy in Mexico, and was received it.

Father Serra yielded in lesser things, but in the affairs and the care of the Indians he was adamant. They were to be free. They were to be properly paid and properly housed. Any effort to enslave or ill-treat them roused his indignation and he would carry the matter to the viceroy as soon as possible.

Despite Father Serra's love for the Native Americans and his insistence that they be treated well, it's clear from the text that the Spanairds did not understand or respect them as we would now (hopefully). The author also isn't quite as respectful as we would expect of a more recent book, but I was able to talk a bit with the children as we read and we have lots of other books that address issues of respect and acceptance.

I'm not sure what was going on with the children, though.

The children were Father Serra's closest friends. They were forlorn little things, very much neglected till they were old enough to be of some use. Father Serra had been horrified when he found that the chiefs were willing to give the children away, not only the girls but boys, too, in exchange for pieces of cloth and old iron hoops. A battered hat was worth a lad of eleven.

The book seems to be often based on letters Father Serra wrote and his diary, so I suppose something like this must have happened but I have to believe the priest misunderstood something here.

An attack by Native Americans on a settlement is described as well, one precipitated by the poor decisions and governance by the military and political authorities despite the warnings and pleading of the missionaries, at least as described in the book.

He [the chief] had expected gifts and large gifts and they were not forthcoming. The settlers themselves had been chosen with no care. Many of them were not white men but mulattoes and Mexican Indians. They scorned the tribesmen among whom they had settled and, worst of all, destroyed the corn crops, the Indians' most precious possession. Starvation threatened the Yumas, who had been one of the wealthiest of the western tribes.

The ensuing attack was terrible: all the men were slain, the women and children taken into captivity (though all were later ransomed or rescued). I was careful while reading this part to the children but it wasn't too explicit and they seemed to accept it.

In the last chapter, after St. Junipero Serra had died, the author places him within the history of California.

Father Serra had made the trail to California. He had laid the foundation of a Golden State. He had built not only for his own nation but also for another, a great free country which would stretch from ocean to ocean, whose life lines would cross the continent and bind it into one United States. He had brought fruits, cattle, grain and civilization to a desert land and a forgotten race. He had made the wilderness blossom as the rose.

She continued:

Father Serra was ahead of his time. His ideal was always freedom built on the love of God and man. He had no race prejudice and he fought that evil valiantly when governors and captains would have enslaved the Indians or complained because they were treated the same as the white settlers. There was to be no difference between Indians and colonists, Father Serra maintained, and he saw to it that in the missions there was none.

The children and I enjoyed this book and were exposed to many of the hardships and conflicts of the early Spanish missions. There remains to this day controversy over St. Junipero Serra's role and that of the missions in conquering the Native Americans of California, so it's appropriate for some of that tension to appear within the book. It seems to me that St. Junipero Serra went farther than others in his time to love and serve the Native Americans, even if he fell short compared to what we know now.

October 2015 Book Reports

Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition by Karen Glass - Read my review. (library copy)

Little Men: Life At Plumfield with Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott was a pre-read for First Son, who will read this book independently this year (sixth grade). It's a sweet little book, but I was disapointed to find it more didactic (and therefore less enjoyable) than I remembered from my youth. Now I'm a little leary of reading Little Women again lest it fail to live up to its memory. (A Little Princess and The Secret Garden both seemed even better than I remembered, so at least I have them.) (library copy)

The Little World of Don Camillo by Giovanni Guareschi, translated by Una Vincenzo Troubridge - Read my review. (library copy)

The Story of the Amulet by E. Nesbit is the third and last book in the trilogy begun by Five Children and It. We found it a satisfying end to the tale. (listened to this recording on Librivox)

Turkey for Christmas by Marguerite De Angeli is a quiet sweet story of the little sacrifices we make for those we love, especially at Christmas. I've added it to our rotation of family read alouds for Advent and think my girls will enjoy it. (library copy)

The Wild Muir: Twenty-Two of John Muir's Greatest Adventures selected by Lee Stetson - Read my review. (library copy)

Books in Progress (and date started)

• The Education Of Catholic Girls by Janet Erskine Stuart (February 2014)
• Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol 2 (sixth edition) (August 2014)
• Good Poems ed by Garrison Keillor (October 2014) 
• For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay (January 2015, with my Start Here book club)
• Humility of Heart by Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (February 2015)
• Towards A Philosophy Of Education (Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series) by Charlotte Mason (May 2015)
• Laudato Si -- On Care for Our Common Home by Pope Francis (September 2015, with our parish's adult education class)
• The Diary of John Wesley Powell, Conquering the Grand Canyon edited by Connie and Peter Roop (October 2015)

Links to Amazon are affiliate links. As an affiliate with Amazon, I receive a small commission if you follow one of my links, add something to your cart, and complete the purchase (in that order). My homeschooling budget is always grateful for any purchases. 

Links to RC History are affiliate links.

Links to Sacred Heart Books and Gifts are not affiliate links.

These reports are my honest opinions. 

Beauty and Adventure: The Wild Muir

The Wild Muir: Twenty-Two of John Muir's Greatest Adventures
selected by Lee Stetson

Kansas Dad and I have been entertaining the idea of a camping trip in the western United States. Though I told myself I was not going to change our planned history, geography, or science studies for the year just because we might take a vacation in the spring....well, I couldn't help myself. I started looking through our library catalog for books I could read aloud to all four children (11, 9, 7, and 5) that would spark their interest in the natural world, especially the nature of the western United States, and would give them some small glimpse into the greater experience, something to anticipate. I remembered Brandy's post about a book on John Muir and finally requested our library purchase a copy because it seemed better than anything they had.

Oh, and it is! Lee Stetson, who immerses himself in the character of John Muir for performances at Yosemite National Park and elsewhere, has selected twenty-two adventures from John Muir's life as written by John Muir, and presented them in chronological order. In the introduction, Mr. Stetson claims the tales "reflect some of his [Muir's] best and most engaging writing."

Muir's writing is indeed exquisite. I wanted to copy entire pages of it into my commonplace book.

Most delightful it is to stand in the middle of Yosemite on still clear mornings after snow-storms and watch the throng of avalanches as they come down, rejoicing, to their places, whispering, thrilling like birds, or booming and roaring like thunder. The noble yellow pines stand hushed and motionless as if under a spell until the morning sunshine begins to sift through their laden spires; then the dense masses on the ends of the leafy branches begin to shift and fall, those from the upper branches striking the lower ones in succession, enveloping each tree in a hollow conical avalanche of fairy fineness; while the relieved branches spring up and wave with startling effect in the general stillness, as if each tree was moving of its own volition.

My favorite chapter tells of Muir's heroic actions to save a stranded fellow mountain climber. I especially loved the excerpt from the injured climber's own book, Alaska Days with John Muir.

I intend to read this book aloud to the children, even if we never make it to California or Muir's beloved Yosemite. Combining the dangerous with the beautiful creates a book that would appeal to a wide variety of ages and propensities, though I do wonder whether my own adventurous children might attempt some of Muir's feats.

No. I must wait until next summer. I would only approach the mountain now, and inspect it, creep about its flanks, learn what I could of its history, holding myself ready to flee on the approach of the first storm-cloud. But we little know until tried how much of the uncontrollable there is in us, urging across glaciers and torrents, and up dangerous heights, let the judgment forbid as it may.

We'll hope they are inspired more by the descriptions of the natural world than the exploits.