Other Favorites

There’s a page on this blog called “Farm Girl Rosie’s Favorite Books” and it lists my top ten favorite novels ever. They are Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, The Family at Caldicott Place by Noel Streatfeild, Friendly Gables by Hilda van Stockum, From Anna by Jean Little, Gemma and Sisters by Noel Streatfeild, Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field, Jill’s Story by Jean Fielder, Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary, and What Katy Did at School by Susan Coolidge.

But there are several other books that were right out of my top ten, and I decided to list them here. Enjoy!

1. Patty Fairfield by Carolyn Wells

Patty Fairfield, age fourteen, visits her four aunts in turn to see how she wants to run her own home someday---with some funny results.

2. Katie John by Mary Calhoun

At first, Katie John Tucker doesn’t want to live in a boring little town in Missouri, but she changes her mind by the end of the summer because of some highly interesting adventures that she gets into!

3. Rebecca and Ana by Jacqueline Dembar Greene

Rebecca Rubin’s cousin, Ana, has just arrived from Russia to live in New York City! Rebecca is excited to begin with, but soon she begins to wonder how to cope with the change.

4. Dancing Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

Rachel and her sister Hilary are sent to their Aunt Cora, who is a renowned dancing teacher. Immediately, problems arise when the girls can’t get along with spoiled cousin Dulcie.

5. The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

Through a series of wild circumstances, a cricket named Chester ends up in a bustling New York subway station. He’s not sure how to ever get back to Connecticut, until new friends help him out.

6. Theater Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

Sorrel, Mark, and Holly Forbes are siblings who are uprooted to a new home with their actress grandmother. After the eccentric lady decides the children must learn to act as well, they find it difficult to adjust to their amazing new lifestyle.

The Painted Garden

TITLE: The Painted Garden

(published in the United States as Movie Shoes)

AUTHOR: Noel Streatfeild

COPYRIGHT: 1949

ORIGINAL PUBLISHER: William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.

NUMBER OF PAGES: 320

PLOTLINE: Ten-year-old Jane Winter is upset when her parents inform her that their family is temporarily moving. They’re going to live for six months in California with Aunt Cora, whom Jane and her siblings don’t even remember.

Jane has always lived in the shadow of her sister, Rachel, and her brother, Tim. Everyone thinks Rachel’s got a successful dancing career ahead of her, and everyone thinks Tim plays the piano extremely well. Jane knows that she’s considered by people to be the untalented one in her family, and also knows that the trip to California won’t change anything about it.

Then something does change. Jane and her family are very surprised when she’s offered the leading role in a movie version of The Secret Garden. This is a big opportunity for Jane: she’ll finally get to be important. Now the tables are turned, and it’s Rachel who’s jealous of Jane.

But Jane isn’t sure she can handle such a large responsibility, and Rachel’s upset because nothing nice is happening to her. Will they ever be happy in California?

I just finished reading this book last night and it’s wonderful. It has many interesting characters, and is very well written.

*****

“ ‘Has this aunt you’re staying with got a piano?’

Tim thought that a stupid question.

‘A piano! Every house has a piano.’

‘On the contrary, very few houses have pianos.’ ” - The Painted Garden

What I'm Going to do this Weekend

Here's what I'm going to do this weekend:

• Read The Painted Garden (this is a looong book!)

• Watch a movie and lots of TV

• Write on my most recent writing projects and create a few poems

• Play Yahtzee (and roll one!)

• Knit a stuffed animal-sized blanket

• Dust the family room (I love to dust!)

• Watch old home videos

• Hug my pony, Ruby : - )

My Weekend

I can't believe I didn't write a single post all weekend . . . oops. I was doing lots of other things, like reading more of The Painted Garden, watching a movie, addressing invitations to a wedding, and playing Rummikub and Yahtzee.

Here's some news for book lovers: Three brand-new American Girl mysteries are now available for pre-order on http://www.amazon.com/. They are called The Clue in the Castle Tower, A Bundle of Trouble, and The Silver Guitar. I'm looking forward to reading them!

The picture above is one I took last spring . . . hopefully we'll be seeing more of this soon!

214 pages to go . . . !

Only 214 more pages to read in The Painted Garden . . . it’s 320 pages long, with super small text!

So far, it’s a very funny book, with numerous parts that have made me laugh out loud. When I finish it, I’ll write a book review about it.