Read Aloud Thursday–Caddie Woodlawn’s Family by Carol Ryrie Brink

I am writing today about an overlooked gem of children’s literature: Magical Melons: More Stories About Caddie Woodlawn, which is now published as Caddie Woodlawn’s Family. This is a collection of short stories that were related to Carol Ryrie Brink by her grandmother but didn’t find a place in Caddie Woodlawn, the beloved and Newbery Award winning novel published in 1935. Brink says this in the author’s note:

My grandmother, who was the original Caddie Woodlawn, died in January, 1940. In a few more weeks she would have been eighty-six years of age. On the day she died she had made dougnuts in the morning, and repaired a lock on one of the house doors which nobody else in the house knew how to mend. This was typical of her full and useful life.

How could such a person fit in one book, anyway?

My girls came to love Caddie and all the Woodlawns via audiobook, and they’ve listened to it so many times that they really know the family. I love this, but aside from that, it’s helpful when there are many characters to remember, as there are in these books. Magical Melons gets its original title from the first story in the book in which Caddie and the boys find watermelons hidden in the haymow and believe they’ve been put there by fairies or some such magic. As is typical at the Woodlawn home, there’s a price to pay and a lesson to be learned, but not before the children have quite a bit of fun. Every one of the stories in this book is enjoyable, if one or two of them are dated in a non-PC way (which bothers me not in the least, but I offer as a caveat). My favorite story is the one about Hetty, the next-to-youngest Woodlawn sister, who is sent to spend the night with a rather mysterious and childless neighbor, Mrs. Nightingale, and her elderly father while her doctor husband is away from home. Instead of being bored, or worse, frightened, Hetty discovers a lovely friend who makes her feel grown-up and special, an important thing for a girl with so many older siblings. Mrs. Nightingale and her senile-but-loving father let Hetty take their treasures out of their “wonderful glass mahogany cabinet” and even hold them, and she is enthralled. While the stories might be considered by some to be overly sentimental, I think they stop short of being saccharine. I consider them wholesome and inspiring–just what I like for my girls to read and listen to. Our library copy of Magical Melons is illustrated by Margeurite Davis, and I think her illustrations capture the essence of the stories very well.

I’ve never seen a copy of the new edition of this book, so I can’t speak for the illustrations; in fact, the only new copy I could find at Amazon is a Kindle edition. If I ever run across a copy of this short story collection, I am definitely snatching it up! (Maybe it is time to buy a Kindle, afterall! ) We all loved it, so it gets a Highly Recommended from me and my girls. (MacMillan, original copyright 1939)

What are you reading with your families these days? Link up your RAT posts in the comments!

It has been brought to my attention that the html scrollbox for the RAT button over in my sidebar doesn’t work; you can copy the html for the button on this post. How I wish I were more technologically savvy!

20 thoughts on “Read Aloud Thursday–Caddie Woodlawn’s Family by Carol Ryrie Brink”

This Week we looked at The Diary of a Wombat! I love books from around the world.. and this one is hilarious!
http://www.redtedart.com/2011/06/08/kids-crafts-photography-for-kids/

Maggy

This is my first week to join in on the fun. My little boy and I read Come Down Now, Flying Cow and Brown Bear, Brown Bear…

http://bluerosesheart.blogspot.com/2011/06/read-aloud-thursday.html

I couldn’t get the new button code to work, either. It kept saying something wasn’t closed.

I just got my first copy of Caddie and look forward to it! I was thrilled to see your love of audio…and even found your list of audio books!

Today I just highlighted a picture book that is quite funny called Big Chickens Fly the Coop. The kids love it! http://livelearnlove226.blogspot.com/2011/06/read-alouds.html

I’ve been looking forward to your thoughts on this supplement to Caddie. I’ll have to see if our library has it — thanks for sharing your find!

I’m in with an eclectic post: http://www.acrossthepage.net/2011/06/winged-steeds-mockingbirds-and-british-chieftains-read-aloud-thursday/

Bluerose, I’m so glad you’ve joined in this week! We’re off for a day of fun today and I won’t be around the computer, but I’ll work on that code ASAP. (It’s tough bring a perpetual novice!)

I wrote about picture books about storms. http://supratentorial.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/read-aloud-thursday-storms/

Books4Learning would like to share two favorite series for younger children Little Quack ( http://bit.ly/kPBRET )and Stella ( http://bit.ly/koA6ji ) as well as a sport’s themed one for older children Michael’s Golden Rules ( http://bit.ly/lhirJN ) . Thank you

I loved Caddie Woodlawn and Magic Melons growing up! I saved my copies, thank goodness, so that I can share them with my own kids. (I saved most of my books but there are a few I got rid of or gave away that now I wish I would have kept!)

Great stories!

Oh I remember Caddie Woodlawn! I’m not familiar with the short stories though. I can’t wait until my little ones are older and we can do chapter books! This week we read books by Liza Baker (as well as books about flowers and fish). I’ll just share the one link though

http://nurseryrhymesandfuntimes.blogspot.com/2011/06/reading-our-library-liza-baker.html

I’ve read and loved Caddie Woodlawn, but haven’t read Magic Melons. I’ll look for it at the library online.

We’re joining in today with my girls’ latest book craze: Ivy +Bean.
http://thickandthinthings.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-girls-new-favorite-book-ivy-bean.html

I’ve never read any Caddie Woodlawn stories or books.

We read the books that Robbie picked out (and continued reading about Alice).

http://thelintonacademy.blogspot.com/2011/06/current-read-alouds_09.html

We are going to be reading Caddie Woodlawn next year. I am going to add this to our TBR list, also. It looks like a true gem!

Our read aloud is about Pagoo, a hermit crab and the ocean he lives in.
http://starrweavings.blogspot.com/2011/06/book-review-pagoo-by-holling-c-holling.html

This book looks lovely! I’m pretty sure my mom read me Caddie Woodlawn when I was little, but I haven’t picked up a copy since. I look forward to exploring these short stories soon, and reading them to me daughter when she’s a bit older. A great find!

I’ve been a day off all week, and posted Read Aloud Thursday yesterday (thinking it was Thursday). I think I’m ready for summer vacation, considering I’m a little out of it. Sorry that the hasty comment about posting I sent yesterday!

I’m reading Feast for 10 by Cathryn Falwell this week with my toddler. . And the link: http://thejoyofliteracy.blogspot.com/2011/06/read-aloud-thursday-time-for-feast.html

We’re starting out the summer with a book about a sea star: http://www.brimfulcuriosities.com/2011/06/star-of-sea-by-janet-halfmann-book.html

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I enjoy your “Read Aloud” post, because although my own kids are grown up now, I love to read to my grandchildren whenever I can (they live far away.) I’ve actually made mp3s of myself reading to them, which their dad has put on CDs.

My own children have memories of me reading to them from early on. I also used to read aloud on long car trips. I think it’s invaluable!

Hope you’ll stop by and visit my SRofB post!

Cindy at Cindy’s Book Club

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