"Never before within our memory has it seemed so important to keep the Long Christmas; to begin early enough and hold the festival long enough to feel the deep, moving significance of it. For Christmas is a state of mind quite as much as a festival; and who can establish and maintain a state of mind in the rush and turmoil of a single day, or two days? Around no other time of year has been built so much of faith, of beauty…It is a time when man walks abroad in the full stature of his humanity and in the true image of God. He walks with grace, with laughter, and a great awareness of brotherhood." ~~ Ruth Sawyer, The Long Christmas (1941)
Showing posts with label Ruth Sawyer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ruth Sawyer. Show all posts
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Quote for the day: Begin it early enough, hold it long enough
Monday, December 23, 2013
Maggie Rose, Her Birthday Christmas (Book Review)
.jpg)
Ruth Sawyer in 1958. Photo found here.
Maggie Rose, Her Birthday Christmas, by Ruth Sawyer, 1952. Pictures by Maurice Sendak. Our copy is ex-library, found at the big annual booksale four years ago (I know because the blog says so). Spoilers Included.
Most reviews will say this is a story about people, and it is. But it's also a story about place: life in a somewhat isolated part of Maine, as it was sixty years ago. There are coves and boats, clams and wild berries, summer cottagers...and tramps. More on the tramps in a minute.
The lifestyle of Maggie Rose's large family is summed up like this: "Every autumn, when cottages were being closed, the occupants had a way of saying: 'Better give this stuff to those Bunkers.'" The parents and older children whistle-while-they-don't-work, almost to the point of stretching credulity. (Maggie Rose bought diapers herself for the baby?) But this is not a Cinderella, make-Maggie-Rose-slave scenario; the rest of the family are irritated by her initiative, and suggest that her constant begging to improve things is a slap in their family face.
Maggie Rose is not discouraged by the lack of parental support; she has other adults around her, including a storekeeper and a teacher friend, who try to help her out without overstepping. With their encouragement, she finds ways to make some money over the summer, with the grand idea of hosting a neighbourhood party on Christmas Eve. (Christmas Eve is her birthday too.) But because she has to hide her hard-earned loot in a tree (her family are well-meaning but can't be entirely trusted), it gets stolen by a tramp.
No, life isn't fair. Yes, there is a lot of evil in the world. However, the robbery is the needed kick in the pants for Maggie Rose's family to get busy and make up for her loss. And they had better hurry, because Christmas is coming.
"Tim said: 'Never seen anything like it before. I'd call it plain handsome.'
'It was Maggie Rose who spoke last: 'It's a place fitten to celebrate a birthday Christmas. And I'm thinking of His.'"
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
The Answers
Here are the answers to I Made You a Game. If you haven't played yet, avert your eyes. I've filled the names back into the quotes.
Here we go...
1. “Some Christmas,” remarked Rush in a satisfied tone at the end of the day. He was playing Randy’s Funeral March for her, very quietly in the dusk. “I bet we’re just about the only kids in the county, maybe even the whole state, that got such a big live alligator for a Christmas present.”
The Four-Story Mistake, by Elizabeth Enright
2. “Breakfast seems so commonplace at such an exciting moment. I’d rather feast my eyes on that dress….I feel that I ought to be a very good girl indeed. It’s at times like this I’m sorry I’m not a model little girl; and I always resolve that I will be in future. But somehow it’s hard to carry out your resolutions when irresistible temptations come. Still, I really will make an extra effort after this.”
Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery
3. “That was a wonderful day. It was a treasure, and no mistake! I never saw such heaps and heaps of presents, like things out of a fairy-tale—and even Eliza had a shawl. Perhaps she deserved it, for she did cook the rabbit and the pudding; and Oswald says it is not her fault if her nose turns up and she does not brush her hair. I do not think Eliza likes brushing things. It is the same with the carpets. But Oswald tries to make allowances even for people who do not wash their ears.”
The Story of the Treasure Seekers, by E. Nesbit (the first Bastable book)
4. “For ere one half of the night was gone,
Sudden a star has led us on,
Raining bliss and benison—
Bliss tomorrow and more anon,
Joy for every morning!”
The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
5. “And next day they rounded up the mice with the loudest voices. They spent the whole morning practicing their scales and the whole afternoon sorting out the pronunciation of Wenceslas, and by the time it was dark, they were ready.”
The Church Mice at Christmas, by Graham Oakley (one of the funniest Christmas picture books around)
6. (a Christmas list): “Tony—a jack-knife (his has only one blade.) Mr. Gilligan—a clay pipe and tobacco. Mrs. Gilligan—a tomato pin-cushion. Mr. Night-Owl—a cake of soap.”
Roller Skates, by Ruth Sawyer
7. “Don’t you have any tree?” Joey asked.
“Oh, it isn’t worth while just for me,” Mrs. Verduz said. “I don’t usually make any fuss over Christmas. But when I heard you singing I thought it was really awfully dull staying down there in my room all by myself. And you see, I’ve brought a few things with me.”
The Ark, by Margot Benary-Isbert
8. “'A hand-knit muffler! How warm it looks. I must try it on right now,' said Mr. Bear. He wrapped it around his neck…There was rather a lot left over.”
A Gift from the Lonely Doll, by Dare Wright
9. “There had never been such a Christmas as this. It was such a large, rich Christmas, the whole church full of Christmas. There were so many lamps, so many people, so much noise and laughter, and so many happinesses in it. Laura felt full and bursting, as if that whole big rich Christmas were inside her, and her mittens and her beautiful jewel-box with the wee gold cup-and-saucer and teapot, and her candy and her popcorn ball.”
On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
10. “She did not even hug to her heart that moment when, finally, she had become Mama’s ‘dearest, dearest child'. In her heart it was Christmas, and she was busy singing.”
From Anna, by Jean Little
Bonus Quote:
"All the ponies are at the war."
The Middle Moffat, by Eleanor Estes
Here we go...
1. “Some Christmas,” remarked Rush in a satisfied tone at the end of the day. He was playing Randy’s Funeral March for her, very quietly in the dusk. “I bet we’re just about the only kids in the county, maybe even the whole state, that got such a big live alligator for a Christmas present.”
The Four-Story Mistake, by Elizabeth Enright
2. “Breakfast seems so commonplace at such an exciting moment. I’d rather feast my eyes on that dress….I feel that I ought to be a very good girl indeed. It’s at times like this I’m sorry I’m not a model little girl; and I always resolve that I will be in future. But somehow it’s hard to carry out your resolutions when irresistible temptations come. Still, I really will make an extra effort after this.”
Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery
3. “That was a wonderful day. It was a treasure, and no mistake! I never saw such heaps and heaps of presents, like things out of a fairy-tale—and even Eliza had a shawl. Perhaps she deserved it, for she did cook the rabbit and the pudding; and Oswald says it is not her fault if her nose turns up and she does not brush her hair. I do not think Eliza likes brushing things. It is the same with the carpets. But Oswald tries to make allowances even for people who do not wash their ears.”
The Story of the Treasure Seekers, by E. Nesbit (the first Bastable book)
4. “For ere one half of the night was gone,
Sudden a star has led us on,
Raining bliss and benison—
Bliss tomorrow and more anon,
Joy for every morning!”
The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
5. “And next day they rounded up the mice with the loudest voices. They spent the whole morning practicing their scales and the whole afternoon sorting out the pronunciation of Wenceslas, and by the time it was dark, they were ready.”
The Church Mice at Christmas, by Graham Oakley (one of the funniest Christmas picture books around)
6. (a Christmas list): “Tony—a jack-knife (his has only one blade.) Mr. Gilligan—a clay pipe and tobacco. Mrs. Gilligan—a tomato pin-cushion. Mr. Night-Owl—a cake of soap.”
Roller Skates, by Ruth Sawyer
7. “Don’t you have any tree?” Joey asked.
“Oh, it isn’t worth while just for me,” Mrs. Verduz said. “I don’t usually make any fuss over Christmas. But when I heard you singing I thought it was really awfully dull staying down there in my room all by myself. And you see, I’ve brought a few things with me.”
The Ark, by Margot Benary-Isbert
8. “'A hand-knit muffler! How warm it looks. I must try it on right now,' said Mr. Bear. He wrapped it around his neck…There was rather a lot left over.”
A Gift from the Lonely Doll, by Dare Wright
9. “There had never been such a Christmas as this. It was such a large, rich Christmas, the whole church full of Christmas. There were so many lamps, so many people, so much noise and laughter, and so many happinesses in it. Laura felt full and bursting, as if that whole big rich Christmas were inside her, and her mittens and her beautiful jewel-box with the wee gold cup-and-saucer and teapot, and her candy and her popcorn ball.”
On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
10. “She did not even hug to her heart that moment when, finally, she had become Mama’s ‘dearest, dearest child'. In her heart it was Christmas, and she was busy singing.”
From Anna, by Jean Little
Bonus Quote:
"All the ponies are at the war."
The Middle Moffat, by Eleanor Estes
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)