Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Ellen Raskin’s 1971 mystery romp, The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel), about a woman’s decades-long search for her husband, whom she married as a child. (It’s a long story.) The book is full of word games, puzzles, and creative illustrations by Raskin, who was also a graphic artist.

Other books by Ellen Raskin:

Nothing Ever Happens on My Block (1967). This picture book, a childhood favorite of Mary Grace’s, was the first book Raskin wrote after illustrating many children’s books written by others.

Figgs and Phantoms (1974), a 1975 Newbery Honor Book.

The Westing Game (1978), winner of the 1979 Newbery Medal.

Also mentioned:

Raskin’s obituary in the New York Times (August 10, 1984).

A 2023 article in Allure about whether eating chocolate is bad for your skin.

The 2012 School Library Journal poll about the best children’s novels of all time, with The Westing Game at #9.

The Goodreads reviews of The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) (highlight: Jeremy’s.)

Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes mentioned on this episode:

Rereading February’s Road by John Verney

Rereading Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

Rereading Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers

Rereading Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry

Rereading A Wrinkle in TIme by Madeleine L’Engle

Rereading Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald Sobol

You can find Deborah’s author interviews on her blog, Books Q&A by Deborah Kalb, and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

 Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Misty of Chincoteague, Marguerite Henry's classic 1947 novel about Misty and her mother Phantom, wild ponies from the island of Assateague, and Paul and Maureen, a brother and sister from the neighboring island of Chincoteague who long to own them. 

Other books by Henry:

Stormy, Misty’s Foal (1963)

Justin Morgan Had a Horse (1945), a Newbery Honor Book

King of the Wind (1948), winner of the 1949 Newbery Medal

Sea Star, Orphan of Chincoteague (1949)

Misty’s Twilight (1992)

Also mentioned on the podcast:

The life of Thomas Downing, the proprietor of the famous 19th-century New York restaurant Downing’s Oyster House, is discussed in “Going Deep into Oyster Country,” New York Times, December 3, 2021. Downing, who was African American, grew up in the Chincoteague community.

Recommended for fans of Misty of Chincoteague:

Mary Grace: Homecoming (1981) and Dicey’s Song (1982) by Cynthia Voight. 

Deborah: Stormy, Misty’s Foal (1963) and Sea Star, Orphan of Chincoteague (1949) by Marguerite Henry (1963).

An obituary of Maureen Beebe, the real-life model for Maureen in the story, appeared in delmarvanow.com in May 2019.

You can learn more about the real-life Misty in “The True Story of Misty of Chincoteague, the Pony Who Stared Down a Devastating Nor’Easter,” Smithsonian Magazine, October 16, 2018. 

You can find Deborah’s author interviews on her blog, Books Q&A by Deborah Kalb, and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

Mary Grace and Deborah discuss The Book of Three (1964) by Lloyd Alexander.

Other books in the series:
The Black Cauldron (1965)
The Castle of Llyr (1966)
Taran Wanderer (1967)
The High King (1968)

Other books by Alexander:

Time Cat (1963), discussed by Deborah on a blog post
And Let the Credit Go (1955)
Janine is French (1960)
The Wizard in the Tree (1974)
Park Avenue Vet (1960)
Fifty Years in the Doghouse (1964)
The King's Fountain (1971)

Also mentioned:

A 2012 School Library Journal poll

Sam, Banks, and Moonshine by Evaline Ness

Trailer of the Disney movie The Black Cauldron

2010 Slate article on the movie The Black Cauldron

Also recommended:

Deborah: A Wrinkle in Time, The Phantom Tollbooth

Mary Grace: The Owl Service, The Dark is Rising series

The English Bookshop, a wonderful bookstore in Uppsala, Sweden. 

You can find Deborah’s author interviews on her blog, Books Q&A by Deborah Kalb, and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

Deborah and Mary Grace discuss Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery's beloved 1908 tale of a strong-willed and imaginative orphan.

Other books in the series:
Anne of Avonlea
Anne of the Island
Anne of Windy Poplars
Anne's House of Dreams
Anne of Ingleside
The Blythes are Quoted  (short stories)

Also mentioned:

Some books and poems that Anne reads:
"Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight" by Rose Hartwick Thorpe
"The Lady of Shallot" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Ben Hur by Lew Wallace
"Marmion" by Sir Walter Scott

The Word Cloud Classics edition of Anne of Green Gables that Mary Grace read in 2018

You can see the illustrations by William and Mary Claus in this copy. 

"Suicide Secret of Anne of Green Gables Author," The Guardian, September 23, 2008

Trailer for Netflix series Anne With an E

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Recommended  for fans of Anne of Green Gables: Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (Mary Grace), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin, Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink (Deborah)

"Bosom Friends: Lesbian Desire in L. M. Montgomery’s Anne Books," Laura Robinson, Canadian Literature, Spring 2004

"A Visual History of Romantic Friendship," The Marginalian

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting. 

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

Mary Grace introduces Deborah to John Verney’s 1961 novel February’s Road. 

Other books by Verney:

Friday’s Tunnel (1959)
Ismo (1964)
Seven Sunflower Seeds (1968)
Samson’s Hoard (1973)
Going to the Wars (1955)
A Dinner of Herbs (1966)

Also mentioned:

The Arm of the Starfish (1965) by Madeleine L’Engle,

Verney’s illustrations.

A post on the blog Clothes in Books.

The illustrations of Edward Ardizzone.

An obituary of Verney in The Independent.

A post on the Farnham Trust’s website about Verney. 

Jojo Moyes on Verney in a Daily Mail interview.

Margaret Drabble’s The Millstone (1965).

Edits to the American editions of the Harry Potter books.

Deborah recommends the Madeleine L’Engle. She and Mary Grace discussed L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time on a previous episode.

Mary Grace recommends Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Climate.

You can find Deborah’s author interviews on Books Q&A by Deborah Kalb, and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

Deborah and Mary Grace reread Stuart Little, E.B. White's 1945 classic about the adventures of a New York boy who looks exactly like a mouse. They discuss their early memories of reading  Stuart Little (or, in Mary Grace's case, having her mom read it to her), Garth Williams' wonderful illustrations, and pioneering children's librarian Annie Carroll Moore's vehement opposition to the book. 

Mentioned on this episode:

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

Essays of E.B. White

Letters of E.B. White

"Death of a Pig," essay by E.B. White, The Atlantic (paywall). (Mary Grace recalled erroneously that this essay was about the birth of a big.) 

"Celebrating Children's Book Week--and a pioneering librarian," Mary Grace's post on her blog, mylife100yearsago.com, about Annie Carroll Moore

The Rabbits' Wedding, the children's book by Stuart Little editor Garth Williams that was banned from Alabama libraries because a black and a white rabbit get married

"The Lion and the Mouse: The Battle that Shaped Children's Literature" by Jill Lapore, The New Yorker, July 14, 2008

Stuart Little, 1999 movie (trailer)

The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast platforms.

You can find Deborah’s author interviews on her blog, Books Q&A by Deborah Kalb, and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

#children's books

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

On this episode, Mary Grace and Deborah discuss The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster's 1961 classic about Milo, a boy who's bored with life until a mysterious tollbooth takes him and his electric car to The Lands Beyond, where he meets the warring kings of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis and many other memorable characters. Jules Feiffer's numerous illustrations are as important a part of the story as the text.

This is the last episode of our first season. We'll be back in May. 

Mentioned on this episode:

The Dot and the Line (1963), written and illustrated by Norton Juster

The Odious Ogre (2010) by Norton Juster, illustrated by Jules Feiffer
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

The New York Times Book Review podcast's 2020 interview with Jules Feiffer, where he talks about his friendship and collaboration with Juster

Juster's 2021 New York Times obituary
A 2015 Smithsonian Magazine  profile on Juster where he discusses his synesthesia

Recommended for fans of The Phantom Tollbooth:

Half Magic by Edward Eager 

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and the other Oz books
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast platforms.

You can find Debby’s author interviews on her blog, Books Q&A by Deborah Kalb, and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

#children's books

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

Mary Grace and Deborah discuss The Egypt Game, Zilpha Keatley Snyder's 1967 Newbery Honor Book about a group of children who create an elaborate game based on ancient Egypt.  
Mentioned on this episode:

The Egypt Game: A Second Look, The Horn Book

The Kirkus Review review of The Egypt Game

A 2011 post on the website Banned Reads Project featuring three teenagers' perspectives on The Egypt Game

The ACLU’s list of The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000

The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot

Other books by Zilpha Keatley Snyder:

The Gypsy Game, the 1997 sequel to The Egypt Game

The Headless Cupid (1971), a Newbery Honor Book

The Witches of Worm (1972), a Newbery Honor Book

The Changeling (1970)

Eyes in the Fishbowl (1968)

Black and Blue Magic (1966)
Season of Ponies (1964)

Recommended for fans of The Egypt Game:

Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, by E.L. Konigsberg (1967 Newbery Honor Book)

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg (1967 Newbery Medal winner)

Magic or Not? by Edward Eager

The Well-Wishers by Edward Eager

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

#children's books

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

On this episode, Deborah and Mary Grace discuss Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint, published in 1956. In the first book of the popular series, Danny discovers a secret rocket project and, oops, accidentally launches the rocket into space.

Discussed in this episode:

A 2023 New Yorker article about Danny Dunn

Other books in the series:

Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine 

Danny Dunn and the Fossil Cave

As Deborah mentions, Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint was illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats, who wrote and illustrated the Caldecott Award-winning picture book The Snowy Day.

For fans of Danny Dunn, Mary Grace recommends the Henry Reed series. We discussed Henry Reed, Inc., the first book in the series, on our third episode. Deborah recommends the Encyclopedia Brown books. The first book in the series, Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective, was discussed on our eighth episode. 

The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast platforms.

You can find Debby’s author interviews on her blog, Books Q&A by Deborah Kalb, and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

Mary Grace and Deborah ring in 2024 with a special episode where they count down their five favorite books from 50 years ago, defined as published between 1972 and 1974. They (mostly) didn't reread these books for the episode, so their choices are based on their childhood memories.

As Mary Grace mentions, the format was inspired by the Book Riot podcast, which has done a number of similar countdowns, including a fun episode on the top bookish phenomena of the past 25 years.

Here are Deborah's and Mary Grace's favorites--but we suggest that you listen to the episode before looking at the list!

Deborah's Favorites

5. Nobody's Family is Going to Change by Louise Fitzhugh
4. A Billion for Boris by Mary Rodgers
3. Victoria by Barbara Brooks Wallace
2. The Genie of Sutton Place by George Selden
1. A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver by E.L. Konigsburg

Mary Grace's Favorites

5. A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle
4. Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack! by M.E. Kerr
3. Glory in the Flower by Norma Johnston
2. A Billion for Boris by Mary Rodgers
1. The Dark is Rising  by Susan Cooper

You can find Deborah’s author interviews on her blog Books Q&A by Deborah Kalb and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

#children's books

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com