Ah, the good old days back when children played outside, used their imagination, and were rarely bored! No TV, iPads or tablets, video games, or compuAh, the good old days back when children played outside, used their imagination, and were rarely bored! No TV, iPads or tablets, video games, or computers. What bliss!
If I had children, I'd want them to have a childhood just like this - only I'd rather they not attempt to learn to fly from the rooftop, or give each other haircuts, or mix everything in my kitchen to make an "Everything Pudding". But I do hope they have just as much fun as Betsy and Tacy and Tib, and prove to be just as adorable.
Betsy with her overflowing imagination, her ability to create entrancing stories effortlessly, and her "ideas" to divert herself and her friends. Tacy with her sweet temper and easy compliance and lovely red ringlets. Tib with her doll-like appearance and her good-sense and practicality. Julia and Katie the big bossy older sisters, who can be nice on occasions. Margaret and Hobbie the adorable babies who are too young to understand, and all the mothers and fathers who are too old to understand. This book is priceless.
It's cute and lovely and peaceful and summery; guaranteed to amuse you if you're grownup, and delight you if you're young. I hope my children will grow up reading good books like this.
Classical children's books are absolutely wonderful, and even though I didn't really grow up reading them, it's never too late and I take endless pleasure in discovering them now.
Betsy-Tacy and Tib is a short, sweet little chapter book set at the turn of the 20th century in Minnesota, and features the three title characters and their fun antics as they meet up to play and follow where their eight-year-old minds take them. It's soothingly lovely and wonderfully diverting. Wholeheartedly recommended. ...more
Les Petites Filles Modèles. Another of my childhood favourites that I revisited by way of reading aloud to my nine year old brother, who surprisingly Les Petites Filles Modèles. Another of my childhood favourites that I revisited by way of reading aloud to my nine year old brother, who surprisingly loved it. I say "surprisingly" because it's a) not as fun as Les Malheurs de Sophie, the first book of the trilogy that featured hilarious antics of disobedience as opposed to goodness and sweetness, and b) a girly-girl book. Like, really girly, with tea parties and dolls and effusions of emotion every two pages. Really girly as in all the characters are female, which struck me as quite odd for the time period upon this re-read. But not to worry, because if a nine year old boy who is all about manly things and disliking all the girls at school found something to like here, I think it's safe to say that this book isn't just for girls.
Once again I noticed a bunch of things that had escaped me as a young girl, the importance accorded to women ^^ being the biggest one. The titles characters, Camille and Madeleine de Fleurville, are naturally our protagonists; two sweet, very gentle, very kind, very obedient sisters, who are the delight of their mother and all their friends. They are well-known for their perfect manners and endless virtues, and everybody loves them. Admittedly, they are loveable, if slightly too implausible. My soft spot was always for their feistier friend Marguerite, who stays on at Fleurville with her mother after being rescued from a carriage accident. Marguerite is also a very good little girl, but she's spunky and not afraid to speak her mind, which sometimes gets her into trouble. She's not as perfect as Camille or Madeleine, but she's more fun, and impossibly cute. And with the reappearance on the scene of Sophie (now Sophie Fichini and not Sophie de Réan, as will be explained in more details in the third book, Les vacances) who naturally stirs things up when she comes for a visit, sparks fly between her and Marguerite and arguments and quarrels (and hilarity, let's be honest) ensue.
Then, we have two other very strong female characters who, without cross-dressing, fighting for women's rights or anything else extreme, still come across as very independent, authoritative and even pretty kick-ass, which is all very unusual for women of their time and position. The book isn't trying to be feminist or anything, but still manages to present very forceful characters in a completely realistic way. The first is the widowed Mme de Fleurville, mother of Camille and Madeleine, who has decided to live a more retired life in the country since the death of her husband. Throughout the book she remains the primary figure of authority, and represents the "good" way to educate children. Firm, but always just and kind, Mme de Fleurville knows that harsh corporal punishments are less likely to help a child learn than prayer and time to reflect. We especially see the effects of this with Sophie, whose mistreatments inflicted her by her stepmother only render less virtuous, but who greatly benefits from a little Mme de Fleurville discipline when she has done something reproachable.
The second is Mme de Rosbourg, Marguerite's mother, who comes to live early on with Mme de Fleurville after she and Marguerite are found in a carriage accident. Both women were loath to part after the former's recovery, and since they are both without husbands or other influential male relatives, they decide to keep house together at Fleurville. Mme de Rosbourg's husband, a sea captain, has been absent for five years and presumed dead after a shipwreck. The anxiety and anguish caused from this circumstance have been hard on Mme de Rosbourg, yet she bears it with the patience of a saint (as mostly seen in the next book), and like Mme de Fleurville she is very gentle, kind, and upright in her Christian principles. Throughout the story she mostly plays the role of guardian angel, her generous soul leading her to help the poor left and right, surprise the girls with unexpected gifts, and come to aid of a poor young girl and her mother who were half-dying in a poor little cottage. She finds them a new house, furnishes it, clothe them, give them food and visits often with the children and Mme de Fleurville. Together, they all live a very simple yet happy life at Fleurville, and although nothing overly exciting happens in this one, it is a very good book, full of little girls' antics, little adventures with animals, and getting lost in the woods.
My brother said he'd give it a 4.5 and not a full five, only because "it was a little too emotional", which I completely agree with (it's a book full of females, after all!). The Comtesse loves to have her characters express their deep gratitude and such in overly dramatic sentences, and although I have never really noticed in all my years of quietly reading this book by myself, it quite struck me when reading it aloud!
Never failing to make me smile, Les Petites Filles Modèles still holds a very special place in my heart, and will always be one of my top favourite books. I'm so glad my parents got me hooked on reading with the Comtesse's books! :)
Book 2 of the Fleurville trilogy, but not necessary to have read the first installment. A few things/circumstances don't make perfect sense anyways, as Sophie's and the Rosbourg's situations are all explained in the last book, Les Vacances. ...more
I loved reading this book while camping. I wasn't exactly in a prairie, but it was great to read this outside lost in the nature. This book was so sweI loved reading this book while camping. I wasn't exactly in a prairie, but it was great to read this outside lost in the nature. This book was so sweet and charming, and its simplicity was refreshing after some other heavier books I was reading. I loved following Laura and Mary around their underground house, picking up plums and playing in the creek. I loved feeling happy for them when they made a button garland for Carrie's Christmas, or when they got a new cow. And I could sympathize and feel bad for them when their crop was destroyed by grasshopers, and Pa had to leave for many months to find work. It was such an easy, lovely book to follow and I put it down with a happy sigh of contentment when I finished. Classics like that are not to be missed; there is a special feel to the Little House books that is unique to them, and everyone should experience it. ...more
Hahaha!! Je me souviens de ce livre-là! L'auteure était venue à mon école et on avait lu le livre et j'avais trouvé ça vraiment drôle.Hahaha!! Je me souviens de ce livre-là! L'auteure était venue à mon école et on avait lu le livre et j'avais trouvé ça vraiment drôle....more
The heroine was so endearing and funny, she is sure to lift your spirits up from her very first letter! For an orphan whoWhat a lovely gem of a book!
The heroine was so endearing and funny, she is sure to lift your spirits up from her very first letter! For an orphan who had never seen much of the world, she was very brave and happy and I loved how she always tried to make the best out of everything. It shows that those who don't have much truly know how to appreciate what they do have.
This cute little story all unfolds through Jerusha's letters to the mysterious benefactor who is paying for her college education, whom she calls "Daddy-Long-Legs". He never writes back, and we only get Jerusha's point of view. Her character growth was a lovely journey to witness, and I enjoyed every minute I spent reading it (and it's a rather short book, can be read in a day or two)! I also loved all the references to classics (it made me realize that they are so many i have yet to read! I need to be more "educated" too!) The ending was all I had hoped for and it is with happy sigh of contentment that I put it down and added it to my mental list of books I must re-read for sure!
I owe many thanks to my good friend Maria for recommending it to me, otherwise I would probably never have thought of picking it up!! Thanks so much, it was beautiful! :)...more
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