153. The Romance of A Christmas Carol

The Romance of a Christmas Card. Kate Douglas Wiggin. 1916. 116 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: It was Christmas Eve and a Saturday night when Mrs. Larrabee, the Beulah minister's wife, opened the door of the study where her husband was deep in the revision of his next day's sermon, and thrust in her comely head framed in a knitted rigolette.

Premise/plot: A minister's wife, Reba Larrabee, pens two Christmas cards; the illustrations she's drawn are inspired by a dear friend--and feature her cottage/home. The verses accompanying the pictures--well, one of them at least--is super sentimental and inspirational. (The other is more commercial and is more being pushed on her than true to her). The theme of this one is prodigal 'sons' returning home. 

My thoughts: I found the story a bit confusing at times. I'm not sure if the fault is in the writing--so many characters being introduced in tricky ways--or my own for possibly being distracted while reading. But the theme is that of 'lost' or 'wayward' souls finding their way back home to friends and family. There are two men--David and Dick--who make their way home to this community of Beulah during the Christmas season as a result of these TWO different cards. Dick is the minister's son; David is the brother of Letty, the woman featured in the card. He's left behind TWO children that have been cared for by their aunt since their birth.

© 2020 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Real Mother Goose (1916)

The Real Mother Goose. Blanche Fisher Wright. 1916. Scholastic. 128 pages.

I enjoyed reading The Real Mother Goose. While I was familiar with some of the Mother Goose rhymes, there were so many that were new to me. The rhymes do vary in quality and relevance. (I'm not sure little ones need to be familiar with each and every poem in this collection in order to "know" their Mother Goose properly). Here are a few of my favorites:

The Tarts
The Queen of Hearts,
She made some tarts,
All on a summer's day;
The Knave of Hearts,
He stole the tarts,
And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts
Called for the tarts,
And beat the Knave full sore;
The Knave of Hearts
Brought back the tarts,
And vowed he'd steal no more. (107)

Sing a Song of Sixpence
Sing a song of sixpence,
a pocket full of rye;
Four-and-twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie!
When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing;
Was not that a dainty dish
To set before the king?
The king was in his counting-house
Counting out his money;
The queen was in the parlor,
Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes;
When down came a blackbird
And snapped off her nose. (62)

The Bunch of Blue Ribbons
Oh, dear what can the matter be?
Oh, dear what can the matter be?
Oh, dear what can the matter be?
Johnny's so long at the fair.
He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
To tie up my bonny brown hair. (127)

Do you have a favorite Mother Goose rhyme?


© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews