Completely Full Bookshelf

For Poetry Sunday, I am recommending "A Prayer For Old Age" by William Butler Yeats. I hope you enjoy it!

For MMGM, I am recommending The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli. Here's the publisher's description (copied from the back of the book): Robin has grown up the son of a nobleman. He knows he must serve the king by becoming a knight. But Robin's destiny is changed suddenly when he falls ill and loses the use of his legs.      A monk named Brother Luke rescues Robin and takes him to the hospice of St. Mark's. There Robin learns woodcarving and—much harder—strength and patience. When danger threatens the great castle of Lindsay, Robin discovers there are more ways to serve a king than riding into battle. As Brother Luke says, "Thou hast only to follow the wall long enough and there will be a door in it." Originally published in 1949, this book is set even earlier (the 1300s). Unlike some historical fiction, however, this book is short (about 120 pages) and to the point. The majority of the book revolves around Robin as he tries to re...

For Poetry Sunday, I am recommending "The World Is Too Much With Us" by William Wordsworth. I hope you enjoy it!

Update (June 26, 2021): In the time since publishing this post, I have learned about some ableist elements of Rules  that I did not know about when posting this review. I recommend taking the time to learn about these issues from this article at Disability in Kidlit . I apologize for my ignorance regarding these issues. Thank you for understanding. For MMGM, I am recommending Rules by Cynthia Lord. The main character of Rules  (a Newbery Honor book) is Catherine, a 12-year-old girl whose younger brother, David, has autism. Catherine is often conflicted between trying to help her brother in the world and wishing that he could behave around others. In the story, set in summer, Catherine makes two friends, a girl named Kristi who moves in next door, and a wheelchair-ridden boy named Jason who cannot speak and must use cards with words written on them. All of these events culminate in Catherine's struggle between embarrassment and protectiveness, or ...

For MMGM, I am recommending  The War that Saved My Life  by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. One of the most tragic yet overlooked problems in our world is child abuse, and, although The War that Saved My Life is set during World War II, this is simply the front for a saddening yet ultimately hopeful (and amazing) story. The main character, Ada, was born with a clubfoot (which is basically a disfigured foot). However, her mother never had the foot fixed, and she instead treated Ada as disabled, never letting her out of their apartment and often beating her or locking her in the "cabinet." Ada and her little brother, Jamie, end up leaving when their home of London is deemed unsafe and likely to be bombed, and they are given to a woman named Susan Smith, sharing the children's last name. This seems symbolic of the bond that soon forms, as Susan, although never having children or wanting to, grows to love the children, just as they begin to love her. Ada soon discovers what...

For Poetry Sunday, I am recommending "One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop. I hope you enjoy it!

For MMGM, I am recommending Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli, with illustrations by Matt Phelan. Here's the publisher's description: Diana loves where she lives. She loves the astronomy charts on her walls and the fact that she can wave to her best friend, Rose, from her very own window. And best of all, a wren has recently made its home right by her front door! When her family is forced to move, Diana wonders if she'll ever find that same grounded and happy feeling again. This gentle and ultimately redeeming story in poems is about those secure and fulfilling friendships that happen naturally and easily when you live right next door, and the struggles of losing the comfort of a familiar place. Matt Phelan’s warm and expressive illustrations perfectly complement Eileen Spinelli’s tenderhearted and unique tale that reminds us that sometimes a little uprooting and change is necessary for growth. This book is aimed towards the younger end of middle grade, but...

For MMGM, I am recommending The Hundred Dresses  by Eleanor Estes, with illustrations by Louis Slobodkin. Here's the publisher's description: Eleanor Estes’s The Hundred Dresses won a Newbery Honor in 1945 and has never been out of print since. At the heart of the story is Wanda Petronski, a Polish girl in a Connecticut school who is ridiculed by her classmates for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. Wanda claims she has one hundred dresses at home, but everyone knows she doesn’t and bullies her mercilessly. The class feels terrible when Wanda is pulled out of the school, but by that time it’s too late for apologies. Maddie, one of Wanda’s classmates, ultimately decides that she is "never going to stand by and say nothing again." This powerful, timeless story has been reissued with a new letter from the author’s daughter Helena Estes, and with the Caldecott artist Louis Slobodkin’s original artwork in beautifully restored color. This book has been...

For Poetry Sunday, I am recommending "[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]" by E.E. Cummings. I don't usually talk about the poem, but its uniqueness (strange formatting and no capital letters) gives it a perfect flow. Also, the title is in brackets because it is simply the first line of the poem, which has no official title. I hope you enjoy the poem!

For MMGM, I am recommending The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer. Here's the publisher's description: Hailed as “a classic. . . . humorous, full of warmth and real invention” (The New Yorker), this beloved story--first published more than fifty ago--introduces readers to Milo and his adventures in the Lands Beyond.  For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams. . . . This book is one of my favorites of all time! It is a very unique book, set in a wo...