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Angel
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During Advent, I thought we'd focus on the countries and traditions of our family history. I recently discovered that my great-great grandfather was born in Switzerland. (I had always thought my family was German from Germany, but apparently they were German Swiss). My dh is reading Banner in the Sky to the boys at night, and they're very interested in whether or not it's true (it isn't, but it is based on the true story of the conquest of the Matterhorn.)
Anyway, it seems like a good time to read a bit about Switzerland. My library has Christmas in Switzerland, and I ordered a copy of The Christmas Rose and Dear Alexandra: A Story of Switzerland.
I also see A Bell for Ursli.
But what I'd really like is a meatier read aloud about the country, or a decent children's book about the actual climbing of the Matterhorn.
I notice some OOP books that look interesting, but there are no reviews:
We Go to Switzerland
Dynamite Under the Alps: The Challenge of the Mont Blanc Tunnel
Any other suggestions? I think that _We Go to Switzerland_ sounds like the kind of book I'd like; has anyone read it or any of the books in that series?
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Angela
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Three Plus Two
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JennGM
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I have always found Travel For Kids great for jumping off point. But of course, you have mentioned most of these.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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MaryM
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What about good ol' Heidi? And Melinda just mentioned it today in the thread Good books that teach good morals.
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Mary M. in Denver
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lapazfarm
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In chapter 2 of The Royal Road to Romance, Richard Haliburton climbs the Matterhorn. Pretty funny stuff, but maybe for the older kids?
here's a link to the Google books version so you can check it out yourself:The Royal Road to Romance
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Theresa
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pmeilaen
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William Tell
The Life and Work of Paul Klee
Look What Came From Switzerland
Barry, the Story of a Brave St. Bernard
Cornelli
Rollo in Switzerland
Adventures in Switzerland
The Singing Fir Tree
The Alps
William Tell
For the Matterhorn's Face
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MaryM
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Since you mention the Matterhorn, thought I'd throw in the Eiger, too.
Not a book, but will add that the IMAX movie - The Alps about the quest of an American climber to ascend the face of the Eiger, where his father died in 1966 attempting the climb. Very interesting movie - great photography.
And now I'm going to list a bunch of books I've found for you but not read. They all look promising though as I'm familiar with the talented authors and illustrators.
I love Don Freeman books. This is OOP and I've not read it but it looks wonderful. Ski Pup - set in the Swiss Alps, about a young Saint Bernard.
Silent Bells is a book that I saw recently while searching for Ted Lewin books. I love his illustrations. It's one I want to try to find - it looks great, but our library and the interstate lending system don't have it.
Quote:
| A young Swiss girl dreams of the day the cathedral bells, which no one has ever heard, will break their long silence when a special gift is presented at the creche on Christmas Eve. |
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- sounds like a great easy chapter book for Advent/Christmas read aloud!
Any William Tell stories are must - Swiss patriot and great apple-shooter. And I see Eva posted links for a couple picture books. I've read the first - it's good.
Longer William tell books...
The Apple and the Arrow by Conrad & Mary Buff (1952 Newberry Honor)
William Tell Told Again by P.G. Wodehouse & the Project Gutenberg version
And something covering Hannibal's march across the Alps would seem to be a fitting period to cover. Maybe I Marched With Hannibal by Hans Baumann (1962 - oop)
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Mary M. in Denver
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MaryM
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I just remembered that I did a review of this book in the Picture Book Discoveries forum a few years back - The Christmas Rose
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Mary M. in Denver
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Erin
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Angela
A few years ago I received some suggestions. It was rather hard finding books, I'm impressed with your list!.
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Erin
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pmeilaen
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MaryM wrote:
And something covering Hannibal's march across the Alps would seem to be a fitting period to cover. Maybe I Marched With Hannibal by Hans Baumann (1962 - oop) |
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Hans Baumann is one of my favorite childhood/young adult authors!
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JennGM
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MaryM wrote:
Silent Bells is a book that I saw recently while searching for Ted Lewin books. I love his illustrations. It's one I want to try to find - it looks great, but our library and the interstate lending system don't have it.
Quote:
| A young Swiss girl dreams of the day the cathedral bells, which no one has ever heard, will break their long silence when a special gift is presented at the creche on Christmas Eve. |
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- sounds like a great easy chapter book for Advent/Christmas read aloud! |
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I found that one yesterday in my initial searching. Glad you are mentioning it, Mary.
I keep thinking back to the movie Goodbye, Mr. Chips where he climbs the Alps and meets Greer Garson, but I think they were in Austria.
So, Angela, have you figured out where in Switzerland they were from? If you say they are German-speaking does that mean they are Tyrolean? Did they live in the Alps?
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Angel
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It's been one of those weeks, and just getting back to this thread... thank you for all the book ideas! I meant to look for William Tell books at the library this week, but got distracted with little boys and trying to sort out fines I was pretty sure I had already paid. We have The Apple and the Arrow.
JennGM wrote:
So, Angela, have you figured out where in Switzerland they were from? If you say they are German-speaking does that mean they are Tyrolean? Did they live in the Alps? |
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I haven't actually yet. My dd and I were just fooling around with the free searches on ancestry.com and discovered my grandfather's records from the 1920 census. (My grandfather is still alive, btw; he was born in 1915.) We were able to click back from there to discover his father's father's birthplace, listed as "Switzerland", but nothing more. Another interesting thing was that my great-grandfather actually changed the spelling of the last name, and I had thought the spelling change was farther back. (My maiden name is Groff, but originally it was Graff, with an umlaut over the a -- pronounced "Groff") It would seem like with people alive to talk about these things they would, but in my family they don't.
Anyway, my dh suggested that we should subscribe to some of the geneaology services to find out more, because he was interested, too. And apparently my sister has been looking at my grandmother's side, trying to discover the Native American ancestry she always talked about having.
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Angela
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Books about Switzerland?
