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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
funny
I loved this series of books as a girl, and I’ve been wanting to reread them. What a delightful walk down memory lane. This is a sweet little book with short chapters, vignettes that tell about life at another time.
When I was little I discovered these books somewhere. I have no idea where I encountered them but I tended to read everything in sight back then so my guess is that somebody gave us the books. I remember thinking that they had amusing stories but I could not remember any of them clearly.
When my son told me he was tired of reading such long stories like The Hobbit I thought these would be perfect for him. It turns out they pretty much were. Each story is short enough that it finished just when he was starting to lose interest.
The stories are amusing in the way that many stories told by people who are reminiscing are. People rarely reminisce about the bad times or the scary things that happened. Because of that the stories are all succinct and leave off with a happy ending.
There is a bit of a frame story, but it’s only cursory. There is a little girl — presumably the author — who either lives with her grandma or spends a great deal of time there. She constantly digs for stories and her grandma constantly obliges. Most of these stories would be just as good without the frame and many of them would be better since the frame parts are frequently the clunkiest.
The beginning of the book seems to feel like each story needs a moral, explicitly stated. Something along the lines of “that is why you should never…” Once the stories get beyond that they are better.
If you are easily offended by early American Christian beliefs then this probably isn’t a book for you. The author wrote about her grandma who grew up in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s and her belief system was pretty typical of that time.
That said, the writing is kind of weak. The voice of grandma and the voice of the author are almost indistinguishable. I had a hard time throughout telling when it was the frame story and when it was another of grandma’s tales. There is no physical delimiter in the text and there is always a short moment of confusion who is speaking at the beginning of each chapter.
It seems to be aiming at the fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder but will probably leave most of them disappointed as it carries little of the power that those books have.
When my son told me he was tired of reading such long stories like The Hobbit I thought these would be perfect for him. It turns out they pretty much were. Each story is short enough that it finished just when he was starting to lose interest.
The stories are amusing in the way that many stories told by people who are reminiscing are. People rarely reminisce about the bad times or the scary things that happened. Because of that the stories are all succinct and leave off with a happy ending.
There is a bit of a frame story, but it’s only cursory. There is a little girl — presumably the author — who either lives with her grandma or spends a great deal of time there. She constantly digs for stories and her grandma constantly obliges. Most of these stories would be just as good without the frame and many of them would be better since the frame parts are frequently the clunkiest.
The beginning of the book seems to feel like each story needs a moral, explicitly stated. Something along the lines of “that is why you should never…” Once the stories get beyond that they are better.
If you are easily offended by early American Christian beliefs then this probably isn’t a book for you. The author wrote about her grandma who grew up in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s and her belief system was pretty typical of that time.
That said, the writing is kind of weak. The voice of grandma and the voice of the author are almost indistinguishable. I had a hard time throughout telling when it was the frame story and when it was another of grandma’s tales. There is no physical delimiter in the text and there is always a short moment of confusion who is speaking at the beginning of each chapter.
It seems to be aiming at the fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder but will probably leave most of them disappointed as it carries little of the power that those books have.
Boring and unimaginative collection of disjointed "stories"... most of the remembrances were so trifle, common, and monotonous they felt forced just so that a book could be written. I hate to write such a nasty review of a book that outwardly looks and sounds charming and like something I would love. I read comparisons of this to Little House on the Prairie and Charlotte's Web. I have to heartily disagree as I found this nowhere near their level of heartwarming and timeless children's literature. This was an unfortunate miss for me.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
Oh my word, I loved these books as a child. As I grew older I loved reading the ones where she grows from a teenager to an adult. Very moral, Christian books. But also funny, sweet, and very entertaining as a child!
This book is about Grandma Mabel recounting stories from her childhood to her granddaughter (author Arleta Richardson). Each chapter is a separate episode that starts out with grandma and Arleta talking or doing some task together, which leads to grandma telling an applicable story from her childhood, often a story of childhood foolishness. Each story grandma tells ends with a Biblical/moral lesson learned, which works well here.
It took a few chapters to get into it as some of the stories are dry, but then others are quite funny. My favorite stories were the history of the button basket, when Nellie the horse went missing in town, and the half door.
It's somewhat reminiscent of the 'Little House' books, but not as good. There is sometimes not enough detail provided and the characters are lacking in depth. Grandma Mabel grew up in Michigan but the location(s) are not specified. Being Michigan is my home state I am curious about this. Also, why is Arleta always with grandma Mabel? Does she live with her or just visit a lot?
Our family listened to the audiobook narrated by Susan Hanfield.
It took a few chapters to get into it as some of the stories are dry, but then others are quite funny. My favorite stories were the history of the button basket, when Nellie the horse went missing in town, and the half door.
It's somewhat reminiscent of the 'Little House' books, but not as good. There is sometimes not enough detail provided and the characters are lacking in depth. Grandma Mabel grew up in Michigan but the location(s) are not specified. Being Michigan is my home state I am curious about this. Also, why is Arleta always with grandma Mabel? Does she live with her or just visit a lot?
Our family listened to the audiobook narrated by Susan Hanfield.
Adorable collection of stories from days gone by. A sweet and enjoyable listen.
Just as adorable as it was when I read it 20 years ago!
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No