tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post4821912477510104765..comments2024-03-27T10:21:58.236-07:00Comments on FURROWED MIDDLEBROW: List highlights: Kids' stuffFurrowed Middlebrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12065110409019861653noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-17637045286206378892017-09-25T21:06:28.236-07:002017-09-25T21:06:28.236-07:00This is a remarkable blog-entry, with many fascina...This is a remarkable blog-entry, with many fascinating book-covers.<br />Pauline Clarke, who also writes as Helen Clare, and, for adults, using her married name, Pauline Hunter-Blair, is a remarkable writer.<br />Her illustrator, Cecil Mary Leslie, who was also a close friend of Clarke, deserves attention, as well! (Apart from illustrating ALL of Clarke's and Clare's children's novels, Leslie also illustrated an edition of Nesbit's "The Would-be Goods" and "The Treasure Seekers", and an outstanding Puffin edition of "Heidi"!)<br />Yes, Clarke's "Twelve and the Genii" is based on the set of toy soldiers that Bramwell Bronte and his sisters played with as children, and on the stories the children wrote about the soldiers and their adventures.<br />You might like to see my Amazon reviews of Clarke's books, and Hunter-Blair's.<br />Clarke's first book, "The Pekinese Princess" is an Oriental epic romance about valiant Pekineses, and wicked cats and monkeys -- inspired by Leslie's own Pekinese dogs!<br />"Torolv the Fatherless" is a stunning historical novel. Torolv, a cognate version of the Scandinavian boys' name, "Trolf", is an illegitimate son of a Danish fisherwoman. He is lost at sea, and rescued by Anglo-Saxon fishermen. Later he is an adopted servant of an Anglo-Saxon king, and the story reaches a tragic climax with the 991 A.D. Battle of Maldon in which Viking invaders defeated the chivalrous Anglo-Saxons. Clarke's own translation of the Anglo-Saxon poem that commemorates the battle is masterly!John Gough in Australiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06655376716121838956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-23715774704788584712014-08-23T10:58:18.582-07:002014-08-23T10:58:18.582-07:00Oh, thanks, Jerri, I think I may have to check out...Oh, thanks, Jerri, I think I may have to check out both of these. If only there were more hours in the week!Furrowed Middlebrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12065110409019861653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-63418464477388702432014-08-22T13:05:17.741-07:002014-08-22T13:05:17.741-07:00Forgot to add, Tom's Midnight Garden is also a...Forgot to add, Tom's Midnight Garden is also a very good memory to me. I need to see if I have a copy and read it again.<br /><br />JerriAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-81974116602587967732014-08-22T13:04:20.683-07:002014-08-22T13:04:20.683-07:00Alternative US title of The Twelve and the Genii i...Alternative US title of The Twelve and the Genii is The Return of the Twelves. I have read this several times and love it.<br /><br />JerriAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-8044979628590972342014-08-06T16:05:45.980-07:002014-08-06T16:05:45.980-07:00Of course it was you, Tom. I think you're jus...Of course it was you, Tom. I think you're just being coy because you don't want folks to know about your own portal to Victorian England.<br /><br />I think I already tried to identify the book you're thinking of and failed, didn't I? But maybe one of the other brilliant readers will have some ideas.Furrowed Middlebrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12065110409019861653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-51225826749861314092014-08-06T16:04:11.498-07:002014-08-06T16:04:11.498-07:00I've been trying to brainstorm and research it...I've been trying to brainstorm and research it and will post it when I have a chance. Let me know if you have suggestions, Vicki!Furrowed Middlebrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12065110409019861653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-87016595746174107482014-08-06T04:23:59.487-07:002014-08-06T04:23:59.487-07:00Novels for adults set in girls' schools: that ...Novels for adults set in girls' schools: that sounds like a wonderful list. So many of the covers above are just glorious -- real treats to the eye. skiourophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08200877834536477400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-4794454888274505352014-08-05T11:37:30.273-07:002014-08-05T11:37:30.273-07:00I may or may not have been the Tom who suggested &...I may or may not have been the Tom who suggested "Tom's Midnight Garden," but I will officially do so now. I am fascinated with children's time travel novels, and would also like to recommend "Time at the Top" by Edward Ormondroyd (sorry it's a man, but OTHERS may wish to read it!) and if anyone can ever find the title of a novel for me, where two children time travel and at the end, actually MEET the little girl - now an old woman - I'd be grateful! Thanks, Scott, for this great posting. As a former children's librarian, I am thrilled to see so many old and now soon-to-be new favorites herein! Tom JohnsonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com