Checkout This Children’s Book! (Your Whole Family Will Learn Something...)
Friends! The past two weeks we’ve discussed some really challenging books about challenging subjects, so I thought I’d give our brains a break and share a fun discovery with you, slowing us down a tad...
Recently I happened upon a children’s book on a shelf that needed some resurrecting. An atrocious pile of books was somehow stuffed in a spare bedroom, long forgotten.
Much to my delight, this particular pile of books contained children’s books that will be perfect for our three year-old granddaughter a/k/a “Claire Bear.” Our other three grand angels who were born last year (!!!) will enjoy them eventually.
The book’s title is: That Book Woman by Heather Henson with pictures by David Small. (Don’t miss the creative illustrations! They’re such an excellent accompaniment to the story.)
What’s extra cool about this book is it’s based on a precious bit of history in my home state of Kentucky. We learn our book, That Book Woman, “is inspired by the true and courageous work of the Pack Horse Librarians who were known as ‘Book Women’ in the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky.”
President Roosevelt founded the project “in order to bring books to remote regions where there were few schools and no libraries.” These book women were brave, courageous ladies, also adept at saddling up a horse, riding thru’ creeks, up steep hills, even mountains, regularly, rain or shine, delivering books to families.
My favorite discovery in researching the Book Women was learning that the Bible was the most requested book during the Pack Horse Library Project from 1935-1943. Many children who weren’t in school learned to read because of the Book Women.
The Pack Horse Librarian Project wound down once roads were built in the Appalachian mountains and bookmobiles were born. I remember my Mother taking me to a bookmobile (remember those?), not far from our home. Those were some favorite memories, usually weekly.
I jumped out of the car as fast as I could, all but racing up the steps, grabbing as many books as I could pile up in my arms. “Those were the days,” as we like to say...
So, let’s dive into our book: That Book Woman introduces us to a family that lives way up high, on a mountaintop. We meet Cal, the oldest boy, who helps his father care for their land. We learn money is scarce.
Cal often scowls at his sister, Lark, who’s regularly found with her nose in a book. Lark seizes opportunities to read to her younger brothers. Cal will have none of it. (If you scroll back up to look at the book cover, you’ll notice Cal is sitting on the steps with a big ole’ hound dog napping on his knee while Lark is perched on her knees, facing backwards in a chair, book in hand, watching as the Book Woman approaches their house.)
The Book Woman comes to their home, hauling a big bag of books for the children to fish thru’, letting them choose what they like. We see Cal’s mother, holding a baby, who’s also with baby, while hens are pecking scraps off the floor.
Cal rolls his eyes at the “passel of books”, pegging them as plain silly. He becomes dumbfounded when his father offers the Book Woman the “poke of berries” Cal had just picked. She refuses, much to his relief, restating the books are free, promising to return with more books in two weeks.
We see her traveling thru’ rain, snow, wind, even handing books thru’ a window on a snowy afternoon. While we readers become more in awe of the Book Woman, a bit of the iceberg in Cal begins to melt.
Will he tuck his tail of pride in and ask his sister to teach him to read? How might the Book Woman react to such a transformation? Ah, my friend, you must read the book to find out!
Reading this book with your children or grandchildren could easily cause them to want to make a trip to the library. (A few of our branches are slowly opening back up, some still available on-line. Check with your local library.)
It’s also fun for us Kentuckians to read writing by a Kentucky author. Heather Henson hails from Danville. Her father founded the Pioneer Playhouse in 1950. I know some of you, myself included, have seen some of Angela Correll’s plays based on her books performed there—a most delightful experience!
And here’s the playhouse’s website, FYI: www.pioneerplayhouse.com
Heather also includes additional resources about the Pack Horse Librarians:
She also gives us a few websites to research:
Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives: http://www.kdla.ky.gov
New Deal Network: http://newdeal.feri.org
Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum: http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.gov
Last year, two novels came out about the Book Women. I’ve read one of them. (It is not a Christian novel, so please don’t shoot the messenger!)
(This is the one I’ve read pictured above.)
Kim’s book released in May of 2019, while Jo Jo’s came out in October, same year. There’s been a bit of controversy over the similarities of the two novels, however not having read Kim’s I can’t comment, plus we can’t always believe what we read... Who said that?
Being a bibliophile, and forever trying to encourage our grandchildren to be like-wise, I found I simply adored That Book Woman. I’m sure all bibliophiles will too.
My friend, Pat, a former children’s librarian, gifted me with this book. In Pat’s treatise she wrote in my book, Pat says she was (and is) always taken aback with the lovely smell of a library. What a fun memory. (Don’t miss her Taco Soup recipe in my book and on my website.)
‘Til next time!
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are “affiliate links.”