Maurice Duggan was an important figure in New Zealand’s mid-century literary scene, known mostly for short stories. Falter Tom and the Water Boy was his one children’s novel. Falter Tom is an old sailor, nick-named for his game leg (Duggan himself lost a leg in early adulthood), who lives in a cabin in a small… Read more Falter Tom and the Water Boy (1959)
T.H. White is best known for his retelling of the King Arthur legend in The Once and Future King, a compilation of three novels including The Sword in the Stone. Mistress Masham’s Repose concerns the orphaned heiress to a crumbling estate, being raised by a horrible governess with the collusion of her equally horrible sidekick… Read more Mistress Masham’s Repose (1946)
Though I be beaten to death by enraged fifth-grade teachers, I have to say it: Stuart Little is a terrible book. First off, the premise — that Mrs. Little gave birth to a mouse — just doesn’t bear thinking about. But we’ll let that pass; we’ll pretend that White’s target audience in the 1940’s knew… Read more Stuart Little (1945)
There is something amounting to a trend of adult literary authors who put out a single book for children. It’s a bit like a ballet dancer getting on a unicycle; the results can be hard to watch. Let’s start with The Little Prince. * * * * * * * Saint-Exupery was a French aristocrat… Read more The Little Prince (1943)
– Part I – Charlotte’s Web (1952, E. B. White) Fern, daughter of Maine farmers, won’t let her father kill the smallest piglet. Instead she adopts it, names it Wilbur, and feeds it from a baby bottle. But Fern doesn’t get to keep Wilbur; instead he goes to her uncle’s farm to be raised for… Read more The Dog Dies, Part II: Charlotte’s Web