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mom3aut1not
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| Posted: May 23 2005 at 7:03pm | IP Logged
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Has anyone read Among the Forest People or one of the other books by Clara Dillingham Pierson or Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley? What is your opinion of any of them? Is the geology information in Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley too outdated to be useful? If you do like any of them, for what age do you think they are most appropriate?
Thanks!
In Christ,
Deborah
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alicegunther
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I ordered Madame How and Lady Why about a year ago on the recommendation of the good folks at Ambleside Online. Although I hadn't enjoyed The Water Babies, I kept an open mind, hoping Charles Kingsley's book on the natural world might be a good read. When it finally arrived, I winced to see the plain white cover, fearing it might be a harbinger of blandness to come. (Yes, I know, you can't judge a book by its cover, but don't forget, I'd also read The Water Babies.)
Here is the opening paragraph:
"You find it dull walking up here upon Hartford Bridge Flat this sad November day? Well, I do not deny that the moor looks somewhat dreary, though dull it need never be. Though the fog is clinging to the fir-trees, and creeping among the heather, till you cannot see as far as Minley Corner, hardly as far as Bramshill woods--and all the Berkshire hills are as invisible as if it was a dark midnight--yet there is plenty to be seen here at our very feet. Though there is nothing left for you to pick, and all the flowers are dead and brown, except here and there a poor half- withered scrap of bottle-heath, and nothing left for you to catch either, for the butterflies and insects are all dead too, except one poor old Daddy-long-legs, who sits upon that piece of turf, boring a hole with her tail to lay her eggs in, before the frost catches her and ends her like the rest: though all things, I say, seem dead, yet there is plenty of life around you, at your feet, I may almost say in the very stones on which you tread. And though the place itself be dreary enough, a sheet of flat heather and a little glen in it, with banks of dead fern, and a brown bog between them, and a few fir-trees struggling up--yet, if you only have eyes to see it, that little bit of glen is beautiful and wonderful,--so beautiful and so wonderful and so cunningly devised, that it took thousands of years to make it; and it is not, I believe, half finished yet."
So far, so good, right? I was intrigued at the notion of a world right underneath my feet, a world "so wonderful and so cunningly devised, that it took thousands of years to make." Come on, Charles Kingsley, talk to me about insects and eggs, fossils and fungi, bark and bacteria!
But then, he continues:
"How do I know all that? Because a fairy told it me; a fairy who lives up here upon the moor, and indeed in most places else, if people have but eyes to see her. What is her name? I cannot tell. The best name that I can give her and I think it must be something like her real name, because she will always answer if you call her by it patiently and reverently is Madam How. . . . ."
Now I love a good fairy story, really I do. The Lilac Fairy Book is in my diaper bag at this very moment. Ask any of my friends if I don't love fairy stories. But Kingsley drones on and on and on about Madame How and Lady Why (as in How long can this possibly go on? and Why did I buy this book?) instead of telling me about that "wonderful world" he had gotten me so fired up about. It was maddening, not to mention painful to read aloud. (Do not drive or operate heavy machinery while reading this book.)
I admit that I could not get interested enough to continue beyond the first chapter. It may well be that it gets fascinating at some point--maybe even edifying and charming--but I was asleep at the wheel long before then. A link to the full online text of Madame How and Lady Why is included at the beginning of this message so you can read it for yourself. As for me, Charles Kingsley himself said it best in his first four words.
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Love, Alice
mother of seven!
      
Cottage Blessings
Brew yourself a cup of tea, and come for a visit!
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mom3aut1not
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| Posted: May 23 2005 at 9:34pm | IP Logged
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Alice,
Thank you! You've kept me from making a mistake! Thank you! Thank you!
I also really dislike the idea that a fairy imparted scientific information.....
In Christ,
Deborah
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alicegunther
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| Posted: May 23 2005 at 10:34pm | IP Logged
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My pleasure, Deborah--and welcome to the 4Real board!
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Love, Alice
mother of seven!
Cottage Blessings
Brew yourself a cup of tea, and come for a visit!
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Kelly
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| Posted: May 23 2005 at 11:09pm | IP Logged
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alicegunther wrote:
"How do I know all that? Because a fairy told it me;" |
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Oh Alice, that is TOO funny! Thank you for my laugh of the day (as I wipe the tears of laughter off of my face...) And to think I thought "Lady How" was a book about CHINA!
Kelly in FL
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MacBeth
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| Posted: May 24 2005 at 9:12am | IP Logged
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alicegunther wrote:
"How do I know all that? Because a fairy told it me;"
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And yet, Arabella Buckley's _Fairyland of Science_ is quite good for middle-schoolers (except for the second chapter describing space as filled with ether--good for historical info only ).
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God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
MacBeth's Blog
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alicegunther
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| Posted: May 24 2005 at 11:33am | IP Logged
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Yes, MacBeth, in spite of the title, Fairyland of Science is quite different from Madam How and Lady Why. Anyone interested in reading this little jewel can do so online. The difference, I believe, is that, in Arabella Buckley's Fairyland, nature is the star--the doings of nature make up the "Fairyland" itself. Her stories show how interesting and "magical" nature can be instead of trying to "hook" the kids with the addition of fairies.
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Love, Alice
mother of seven!
Cottage Blessings
Brew yourself a cup of tea, and come for a visit!
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: May 24 2005 at 11:48am | IP Logged
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alicegunther wrote:
Now I love a good fairy story, really I do. The Lilac Fairy Book is in my diaper bag at this very moment. Ask any of my friends if I don't love fairy stories. But Kingsley drones on and on and on about Madame How and Lady Why (as in How long can this possibly go on? and Why did I buy this book?) instead of telling me about that "wonderful world" he had gotten me so fired up about. It was maddening, not to mention painful to read aloud. (Do not drive or operate heavy machinery while reading this book.)
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: nature study reprints
