Rereading Our Childhood

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     

Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren's 1945 classic (published in English in 1950) about an anarchic Swedish girl. They discuss their love for the book as children, their mixed feelings on rereading it, and Pippi as a feminist icon. Mary Grace, who spent a month in Sweden earlier this year, talks about Lindgren's legendary status in Sweden, where she's literally on the money. 

Discussed on this episode:

The BBC News survey on the 100 greatest children's books of all time, with Pippi Longstocking at #3 

Pippi in the South Seas by Astrid Lindgren

The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren

The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren

Beverly Cleary's Ramona books

Joan Aiken's Wolves Chronicles series

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsen

The virtual tour of Astrid Lindgren's apartment on astridlindgren.com

 Mary Grace couldn't find the interview with Lindgren's daughter Karin, who one night when she was ill with pneumonia asked her mother to tell her a story about Pippi Longstocking, but Karin discussed it in this 2016 Guardian article. 

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     

Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Edward Eager's Half Magic, the first of Eager's seven books of magical adventures. Four bored siblings living in a Midwestern city in the 1920s find a magic amulet...except it only grants half of what you wish for. We talk about what has and hasn't held up in the six decades since Half Magic was published, about Eager's life, and about the real (and extremely inappropriate) silent movie they go to.

Mentioned on this episode:

Barbara, the inappropriate movie, reviewed in Motion Picture World . (The critic didn't like it any more than the children did.)

Edward Eager's biggest hit song, "Good-bye, John."

Deborah's magical time travel books:
George Washington and the Magic Hat
John Adams and the Magic Bobblehead
Thomas Jefferson and the Return of the Magic Hat

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 produced by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting. 

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com     

Deborah and Mary Grace read Carol Ryrie Brink's 1935 Newbery Medal winner Caddie Woodlawn, which is based on Brink's grandmother's childhood adventures on the Wisconsin frontier. 

Mentioned on this episode:

Caddie Woodlawn's Family by Carol Ryrie Brink (previously titled Magical Melons) (1939)

Two Are Better Than One by Carol Ryrie Brink (1968)

Louly by Carol Ryrie Brink (1974)

Mary Grace mentioned what she thought were two different blog posts on a website about portrayals of American Indians in children's books. Actually, it was just one post: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2007/03/reflections-on-caddie-woodlawn-teaching.html.

The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich (1999) 

The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder

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 reread one of their childhood favorites, Mary Rodgers' 1972 mother-daughter body-switching story Freaky Friday. They also discuss Rodger's posthumous 2022 memoir Shy, which was a New York Times Notable Book.

Mentioned on this episode:The intro to the PBS show Mystery!, with animation based on illustrations by Edward Gorey.

A Billion for Boris, the sequel to Freaky Friday, which Mary Grace and Deborah both enjoyed as children.

Summer Switch by Mary Rodgers, in which Ape Face and his dad switch bodies, with less-than-hilarious results.

Freaky Monday, a supposedly co-authored by actually more like licensed 2009 addition to the franchise.

The 1976 movie starring Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster.

The 2003 movie starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan.

Vice Versa, F. Anstey's 1882 novel about a British man who switches bodies with his son.

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     

Deborah and Mary Grace celebrate Halloween by reading two books about witches, Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett, published in 1953, and The Little Leftover Witch by Florence Laughlin, published in 1960. Both books are about lonely little witches who find homes with non-magical families.

Other witch-related books mentioned on the episode:

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (1958)

The Active Enzyme Lemon-Freshened, Junior High School Witch by E. W. Hildick (1973)

The Wizard of Oz books by L. Frank Baum

The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling

Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth by E. L. Konigsburg, which was featured on our second episode.

The podcast 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 reread Madeleine L'Engle's 1962 classic A Wrinkle in TIme, about...well, it's hard to describe what it's about. A troubled girl. A missing father. A genius brother. Three mysterious women. Interplanetary adventure. An evil, throbbing brain. None of this does justice to a book that two science fiction-hating girls ended up loving, and that their grown-up selves had a wonderful time returning to. 

Discussed on this episode:

Listening for Madeleine, Leonard Marcus's book of interviews with people in L'Engle's life. 

Cynthia Zarin's controversial 2004 New Yorker profile of L'Engle.

The ALA website listing the 100 most challenged books of the 1990s, with A Wrinkle in Time at #23. 

The recent PEN America report on book banning in the United States. 

A 2001 New York Times interview with L'Engle.

The trailer to the 2018 movie version of A Wrinkle in Time.

The Paris Review blog post where Mary Grace read that Madeleine L'Engle rewrote her novel A House Like a Lotus to give it a new protagonist. 

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