Plumfield Moms

Book Review: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Despite being an English major at Hillsdale College, I had never read Frankenstein. Truthfully, I had always avoided it. I thought it was just a gothic novel, like Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, and I hated that book. I also hated Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. I just do not care for ghost stories or creepy stories of any kind. I can read Flannery O’Connor and beg for more, but not creepy stories about ghosts or monsters. 
This is not a story about a monster. Or at least not the kind of monster I was anticipating. There is no brainless creature terrorizing the countryside. The “Monster” was a created being with human thought and reasoning, emotion, and the capacity for ethics. But, the real monster in this novel is Dr. Frankenstein himself who created this being and then cruelly abandoned him. It is a riveting tale of the human condition. 
https://plumfieldandpaideia.com/frankenstein/

Reflection: Come and See

"Once they had seen that what the angel said was true, they were to go quickly and tell his disciples that Jesus was alive. They joyfully ran to do just that. I imagine their faces looked like my little sister’s when she saw the piles of gifts. How long was it before they could stop grinning?
"These women obediently told Jesus’s disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead. His disciples told others, and those others told more, and on and on until someone told ME! What about you? Will you come and see?"

Book Club: Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis

Books and Links:
Plumfield Reads Page
Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis 
Perelandra by C. S. Lewis 
That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis 
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis 
Screwtape Letters C. S. Lewis 
Mere Christianity C. S. Lewis 
The Great Divorce C. S. Lewis 
The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton 
The Dark Tower by C. S. Lewis (Lewis is the generally accepted author, but not always)
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Father Brown Mysteries by G. K. Chesterton 
Lark Rise to Candelford by Flora Thompson 
The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis 
The Keeper of the Bees by Gene Stratton-Porter
The Keeper of the Bees Book Club
Enchantress from the Stars Book Club 
Enchantress from the Stars by Silvia Engdahl 
Ashtown Burials by N. D. Wilson 
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle 
The Great Courses 
The Great Books of the Western World 
The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis by Jason M. Baxter
Pretty Copies of Out of the Silent Planet 
C. S. Lewis at War C. S. Lewis and Paul McCusker
Learn More About the ladies of Biblioguides
Where You Can Find Us:
Plumfield and Paideia Facebook Page
Plumfield Reads Book Club Discussion Space at the FREE Biblioguides Online Community
Plumfield Moms Podcast Page
Plumfield Moms Instagram

Book Review: The Stout Hearted Seven

Wow! What a story! I would have been impressed if The Stout-Hearted Seven had been fiction. To know that it is non-fiction is exhilarating and tragic all at the same time. Reading true stories like this makes things like Marvel movies seem ridiculous. True courage and fortitude are not found in superheroes with capes but in stout-hearted people with a will to follow God’s leading and their own conviction. 
I read the Sterling Point reprint of the original text written by Neta Lohnes Frazier. Frazier opens this memoir by explaining her personal relationship with two of the Sager sisters and pointing to her sources which were mostly primary source material. She explains that she has added dialogue but that even that is based on research and reasonable deduction. After she sets the stage, she begins at the beginning and tells the entire ordeal in the voice of an omniscient narrator. This book reads like an excellent Landmark Book or Messner Biography. It is easy to see why Sterling Books reprinted this one alongside the many Landmark reprints that they did. This is absolutely worth reading. And the audiobook is excellent. https://plumfieldmoms.com/plumfield-moms-book-reviews/the-stout-hearted-seven-orphaned-on-the-oregon-trail

Reflection: This Changes Everything

At the moment Jesus yielded up his spirit, onlookers were mocking him. The land had been in darkness for three hours in the middle of the day. At the moment of Jesus' death, the veil in the temple was torn in two and there was a rock-splitting earthquake. Tombs were opened and dead saints came out of them after Jesus’ resurrection. Events were so startling that even the pagan Roman soldiers on guard said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” 
When Jesus’ disciples realized he had really died, they must have believed they had come to the end of the path to glory they had thought they were following with him. Though they didn’t understand what was coming, they had to have been thinking, “Well, this changes everything.” Not for good but for evil.

Book Review: From the Good Mountain: How Gutenberg Changed the World

This book is an exquisite introduction to the world-changing advent of machine-printed books. It would also be an excellent starting point for a discussion with older children. Every invention that has been hailed as progress by many has also been met with dire warnings by some. Ancient philosophers cautioned that writing would be the ruin of man’s memory, and in some ways, that has proven true. 
 
https://plumfieldmoms.com/plumfield-moms-picture-book-reviews/from-the-good-mountain-how-gutenberg-changed-the-world

Small Publisher Roundtable: Living Book Press, Purple House Press, Smidgen Press

Living Book Press 
Charlotte Mason
Charlotte Mason AudioBooks  
Howard Pyle Collection 
Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif 
Railway Children by Edith Nesbit
America’s Children Books by James Otis 
Hannah of Kentucky by James Otis 
How the Heather Looks Audiobook   
Let’s Explore the British Isles  
First Books 
Purple House Press 
Little Britches Series by Ralph Moody
The Mistmantle Chronicles by M. I. McAllister
David Weitzman 
Stephen Meader
Glen Blough 
Wyatt Blassingame
Combat Nurses of World War II by Wyatt Blassingame
The U.S. Frogmen of World War II by Wyatt Blassingame
Medical Corps Heroes of World War II by Wyatt Blassingame  
Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif 
Evelyn Sibly Lampman
Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek by Evelyn Sibly Lampman
Shy Stegosaurus of Indian Springs by Evelyn Sibly Lampman
Elizabeth Ripley Artist Biographies
Purple House Press Nature Study Library 
Jeanne Bendick 
Smidgen Press  
Charlotte Mason Centenary Edition  
Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott
L. M. Montgomery Christmas Collection by L. M. Montgomery 
The Daisy Chain by Charlotte Mary Yonge 
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly 
General
Plumfield Reads Guides
I am David (North to Freedom) by Ann Holm 

Reflection: Be Ready

Peter says said our inheritance is being kept in heaven for us. Our salvation is ready to be revealed in the last time. When is that last time? No one knows. It will come like a thief in the night. Be ready.

Our Librarian Life: March 2024 with Kristi Stansfield and Sherry Early

Join us for the March episode of Our Librarian Life. In addition to Kristi and Sherry,  this month we are joined by Sarah Kim and Tanya Arnold to talk about what Biblioguides is and how we use it as librarians. 
Biblioguides.com
LibraryThing 
TinyCat – librarycat.org
Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt
Jan Bloom’s Who Should We Then Read Volumes I and II
I am David (North to Freedom) by Ann Holm
Biblioguides Partner Guides
Picture Book Preschool
The Little Girl with Seven Names by Mabel Leigh Hunt
Ted and Nina books by Marguerite de Angeli
Biblioguides Online Community
Private Lending Library Directory
Find us at The Card Catalog: https://thecardcataloglibrarians.com/ 

Book Review: Seth of Colorado by James Otis

Written in 1912 by James Otis, this compelling story about the settling of the West was written for children aged approximately 8-12 years old. The reading level is comparable to something like a “Childhood of Famous Americans” book whereas the point of view is something like the “We Were There” books. While Seth is fictional, Otis tells us, through the character of Seth, about the creation of Denver, Colorado as if he were giving us a real first-person account.
https://plumfieldmoms.com/plumfield-moms-book-reviews/seth-of-colorado