#dorothy canfield fisher

[kxowledge]

The Home-maker, Dorothy Canfield Fisher

The Home-maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher was such a lovely read. I dare say it’s what got me back into sitting down in the evening to enjoy a book. The book is built on the simple but intriguing premise of a story of (traditional) role reversal between husband and wife (housekeeping / earning an income). There’s so much more than this.

The writing is brilliant and it’s all I love about all of the Persephone Books selection. The subject matter might be mundane, yet each character is treated with so much depth. Through her word choices she conveys so much and paints a small window into the inner thoughts of each character, reminding us how lived experiences and thoughts differ (the nuances! the different povs!) and how everyone (even, and especially, the children) has a rich interior life and a lot to be valued for. Each having his own merit and his own intelligence. I found her approach of telling the story through the minds of the different characters very refreshing. Not one single character was one-dimensional. We get to see different facets of Helen, the wife, for example: we see her overlooking and frightening her children (involuntarily) but we also understand why she’s behaving like that and what’s making her miserable [“What she thought was her duty had held her found fast in a death-like silence and passivity” is such a good sentence]. We get to see Lester, the husband, and both how society sees him and how this reflects on how he sees himself. But we also see them evolve throughout the story, both becoming more at ease, changing their views of each other, and also dedicating more time to the children.

The kids are at the centre of the story and you can see between the lines some of the Montessori principles at work – mostly, I think, Canfield is arguing that children needs respect. Next to the recognition of the value of homemaking, this is very much central to the book. The “little human souls” are as worthy as the adult ones. I can say it did make me think about raising children a lot.

I was hooked from the first chapter, where I could relate a lot about the duty and stress of housekeeping – all the little things that need to be done, the thoughtful considerations, the sense of duty and of never-ending work. I found that I could understand a lot of the subtext because I could relate in many ways, either because of my own experience or because of that of people close to me (my grandmother came to mind for example).

The children’s reaction (fawn / flight / fight) for example. The description of anxiety. The psychosomatic connection with stress as a catalyser, which is a prevalent theme throughout the entire book for pretty much all of the Knapp family (Henry and Lester and their stomach issues, Helen and the eczema). Considering when this book was written, I found it eminently brilliant.

Yet, there’s still so much more. She touches on the role of poetry and the arts. She comments on how this arrangement can work only as long as it is socially acceptable (which is when it is forced upon the family, not chosen). She comments intelligently on consumer trends. She hints at conflicting values and different dispositions. Her portrait is a nuanced one, that is not all rosy.

Towards the last few chapters I had a growing anxiety – I was left waiting for a bad turn. Yet, like the other Persephone books I read, it has a happy ending. I wasn’t prepared for that. I somehow can’t have only good things happening, not being thwarted.

Overall, it was a great piece of fiction that’s both insightful and relevant to the day, while being also a comfortable, good read. The introduction and the final essay written for the edition were equally great.

[vqtblog]

The Author Who Brought the Montessori Method to Life in Her Fiction

[healerqueen]

I responded to the booklist question! I'm sure I forgot some but whew it still took forever to write.

What about you? What are some of the books youve read the most?

Good question! I finally started keeping a list, so I have something to work from. That way I won't draw a blank.

My top five or six favorite authors and series are: J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, C. S. Lewis's Narnia books, Rosemary Sutcliff's Dolphin Ring series (beginning with Eagle of the Ninth), Enemy Brothers and The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery the Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner, and The Mysterious Benedict Society (original trilogy and prequel) by Trenton Lee Stewart.

There are many other books and authors I love. I listed several of my childhood influences in this post featuring my 50 favorite children's books (focusing on ones I grew up with as a young person).

Here's my list of favorite books I've read the most or ones I think are worth rereading: The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye (a delightful original fairytale about a princess who refuses to stay in her tower)

The Reluctant Godfather by Allison Tebo (romantic comedy fairytale retelling, with an emphasis on the comedy) Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien (adventure about a mother mouse seeking to save her family) The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall (middle grade fantasy adventure)

Dragon Slippers and Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George (original fantasy in the style of fairytales) Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (fantasy adventure and coming-of-age story about a group of girls who attend school for the first time)

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart (urban light fantasy with dystopian elements) The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (middle-grade, post-apocalyptic dystopian) The Arrival by Shaun Tan (a wordless graphic novel that conveys human experiences through surrealism)

The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (vintage contemporary about a lively family) Derwood, Inc. by Jeri Massi (modern contemporary mystery about another boisterous family) The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (quirky vintage mystery with an interesting cast of characters) Historical Fiction: Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham Caddie Woodlawn, Family Grandstand, and other books by Carol Ryrie Brink Rebecca's War by Ann Finlayson Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher Knight's Fee by Rosemary Sutcliff

The Lost Baron by Allen French The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman A Single Shard and Seesaw Girl by Linda Sue Park The Bronze Bow and The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell A few books I discovered more recently that are now all-time favorites: Seventh City by Emily Hayse, The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt, Valiant by Sarah McGuire, Out of the Tomb by Ashley Stangl, the Mistmantle Chronicles by M. I. McAllister, Escape to Vindor by Emily Golus, Chase the Legend by Hannah Kaye, The Key to the Chains by Allison Tebo (sci-fi), Rebel Wave by Tor Thibeaux (undersea dystopian) Historical fiction: Listening for Lions and Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan, Courage in Her Hands by Iris Noble, Victory at Valmy and Word to Caesar by Geoffrey Trease, historical fiction Westerns and mysteries by author Elisabeth Grace Foley

Mystery/suspense: The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman, The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart

[greater-than-the-sword]

do you have any fiction recs that aren't necessarily fantasy? i'm in a bit of a reading slump.

Yeah! Do you like sci-fi?

Some of these are teen fiction or homeschool assigned books, I hope that's ok. I don't know what you've already read, so.

Sci-Fi:

The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury

The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury

Among the Hidden (Shadow Children Series) - Margaret Peterson Haddix

I, Robot (the story collection) - Isaac Asimov

Starship Troopers - Robert A Heinlein

The Last Thing I Remember (Homelanders series) - Andrew Klavan

The City of Ember - Jeanne DuPrau

Historical Fiction

The Sherwood Ring - Elizabeth Marie Pope

Mara, Daughter of the Nile - Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Shadow Spinner - Susan Fletcher

The Bronze Bow - Elizabeth George Speare

Understood Betsy - Dorothy Canfield Fisher

The Great Brain - John D. Fitzgerald

Classic:

A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett

Lord of the Flies - William Golding

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway

???:

The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin

Homer Price - Robert McKloskey

[isfjmel-phleg]

March 2023 Books

(@lady-merian I do talk about reading the first L&C book, please feel free to ignore)

The In-Between by Rebecca Ansari

A fascinating fantastical premise to account for a real-world case of missing children. A bit dark but I did enjoy reading this.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (reread)

Annual reread! You all know how I feel about this book.

The Secret Garden: The Cinematic Novel by Linda Chapman (reread)

Reread after watching the movie again, because I was curious how they compare. I originally read this before the movie came out. There were definitely parts of the novelization that are absent in the film, and the book does a more thorough job of explaining this. But on the whole they are pretty similar.

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (reread)

I remember reading an excerpt from this book in one of our elementary school readers. It's been a while since I read the whole book, but I enjoyed it more than I expected. I wish I had read it as a child.

The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn by Amber A. Logan

The Japanese setting was this book's strength. As a retelling, however, I didn't love it. It transformed the story into a generic tale of a rather bland woman processing her grief and working through baggage from her past while on a mysterious photography job in Japan. It retained the basic beats of TSG but not so much the spirit of the story (which is not about healing from grief, why is that so hard to understand) or characters.

Messenger and Son by Lois Lowry

I don't know what the heck is going on in these stories' universe, and Messenger was rather bizarre and depressing, but Son had some interesting themes and proved a satisfying ending to the series.

The Humming Room by Ellen Potter (reread)

Reread for TSG season.

I love this retelling, but this time it struck me that I'm not especially crazy about Potter's choices in depicting her Dickon analogue. He's clearly designed to be a heartthrob (brooding nature boy! mysterious past! possibly one of the fae! ponytail!), maybe more that than a parallel to Dickon's actual role in the original. It doesn't ruin the book for me at all, but this time...I was kind of mentally rolling my eyes.

The Making of May by Gwyneth Rees

I wouldn't call this a retelling of TSG, because it isn't, but it interacts with that text and draws inspiration from it. The young heroine is particularly attached to a film version of TSG (clearly the 1975 miniseries) that she has on VHS, she identifies a lot with Mary, and like Mary she has a lot of growing to do in a mysterious old house with walled gardens. A more enjoyable book than I expected.

A Bit of Earth by Karuna Riazi

A retelling of TSG in a modern setting with a Pakistani heroine coming to live in Long Island. The cultural setting and many of the plot points are significantly different from the original, but very much in the same spirit. Riazi clearly loves and respects the original text while breathing her own fresh life into it. The blend of poetry interspersed with the prose that forms the majority of the narrative is a bold but effective choice. It enhances the emotion and gives insight into the heroine that we wouldn't have otherwise. I enjoyed this one more than I expected. Thank you for the recommendation, @allieinarden!

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers (reread)

Reread in a rush for a reading group.

The Chestry Oak by Kate Seredy

Seredy's books take me off guard with how powerful they can be. This one was no exception.

A Secret Princess by Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz

This was not good. I knew it was not going to be good. I read it anyway. I regret that.

A retelling should honor the spirit of the original while bringing something fresh and original to the story. This book did not do that. This Sara, Mary, and Cedric bore almost no resemblance to their original counterparts, and themes from Burnett's stories are discarded, even disdained. For some reason, the story is set in the 1860s, decades before Burnett's books were published/set, but little or no historical research seems to have been done, and the result was not very believable in its portrayal of nineteenth-century England. The plot is all over the place, and the romances are painfully forced. I was not impressed.

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

I really liked it! (...maybe not for the same reasons as everybody else, sorry, I am not swooning over anyone.) Stroud's prose is fantastic, and he turns the most effortlessly inventive similes. The characters are well-developed, and the story, even though it's not the type of plot I would normally seek out, is quite readable. I plan to finish the series.

The Secret Garden on 81st Street by Ivy Noelle Weir (reread)

Reread for TSG season.

A Treason of Thorns by Laura E. Weymouth

A friend has been on my case about forming a book club between the two of us, and she wanted me to pick the first book, something I hadn't read before. I arbitrarily selected this one, which was on my shelves. I regretted it. I wanted to love it, it has such a pretty cover, but I couldn't connect with the heroine and her motivations, and the pseudo-historical setting was distractingly implausible for me.

Mystery of the Black Diamonds and Mystery of the Green Cat by Phyllis A. Whitney

Black Diamonds hasn't aged well and has a bit of a far-fetched plot, but Green Cat was quite enjoyable. I appreciate how Whitney weaves her mystery plots with more interpersonally-focused plots that bring additional investment in the characters.

[tellurian-in-aristasia]

Aristasian Book Club

The old Aristasian forums had a lot of chatter, at different times, about starting a Book Club, and few suggestions for rancinated reading were tossed out, but none of them really ever seemed to take off. Maybe some Aristasians were voracious readers, but most of the chatter in elektraspace seems to be about movies and clothes. I started keeping a list when titled books were mentioned:

Princess Anne - Katharine L. Oldmeadow The Constant Nymph - Margaret Kennedy The Abbey Girls at Home - Miss Oxenham Carmilla - J. Sheridan LeFanu Olivia - Dorothy Bussy Herland - Charlotte Perkins Gilman Moving the Mountain - Charlotte Perkins Gilman With Her In Ourland - Charlotte Perkins Gilman Mizora: A Prophecy - Mary E. Bradley Understood Betsy - Dorothy Canfield Fisher

[conspiracyofcrazy]

Save the Books!

I teach at a small university and this summer we will be merging with a few other small schools to become the Vermont State University. This was to be done to save money. Apparently, part of that plan includes getting rid of our circulation libraries. All of the book, journals, periodicals, audio books, picture books, collections, DVDs and CDs are going to go into the recycling bins on July 1, 2023. They say that they will disperse the contents to the community at large, but that does not include faculty or students and the local libraries are not in a position to take on my little school’s enormous academic research catalogue. 

Do you think you could be a Sweetie and click the link below and tell the people in charge of this misguided delusion what bell-ends you think they are? Or you could cite that only 10% of the students responded to the survey about this that they sent out. Because they sent it during finals. And that of that 10% (526 students), over 100 of them were not seeking degrees and had no reason to ever set foot on campus. Or that of the 50% who responded to what the library should do in the future was either Nothing, Expand resources and books, or Expand hours.

The link to have a say is right here:

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/we-3-our-state-college-libraries-and-athletics?source=direct_link&

A few pictures of what they want to get rid of:

The students bought it for the school. I wonder where it will go...

The entire collection of Life Magazines are going to wind up in the recycling bins.

There are two other banks of microfiche that are also going to get tossed. I wonder how much of them have been transferred to digital images...

No more free movie nights in the dorms. 

The life-sized Human Anatomy book that has served so many nursing, physical training, and sports health students is going in the bin too.

Who needs free audio books? Can we say ADA violation? I knew we could!

Pretty sure this hasn’t been digitized.

And then there are the books you don’t want on your search history, but exist in the stacks. Or the ones you don’t know to look for until you walk past it. 

I have more pictures, but they are too big. Like the ones of the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Collection of children’s books that get used regularly by the education and literature departments.  My heart is breaking. Please help me and my students save their books.

[grandhotelabyss]

About interim American lit- I know the feeling, I'm of two minds about it as well. On one hand there's a part of me that thinks we should be more cognizant of our pre-imperial* literary heritage, on the other as you've said a lot of it was trailing behind Europe in the period. Even Dos Passos could be read as a footnote to Joyce for the most part, although I'm sure Pynchon and DeLillo must have read him: there's something of the flow of Manhattan Transfer and U.S.A. in Underworld, and that sense of ordinary people trapped in history that those books convey so well, (and that you mostly don't get in Joyce and Döblin) is all over early Pynchon. I haven't read a ton of it either-when I read Alfred Kazin's magisterial survey of the period On Native Grounds** last year I was shocked at how many of the big names of the period I'd flat-out never heard of. I must read something by Thomas (with an H!) Wolfe one of these days though.

*here meaning before the second world war, although I understand the argument that there's really never been a moment when we weren't if only in an ethnological sense an "empire"

** If memory serves he also barely considers the late James, which I find odd, even if the argument surely stands that by that point he was as much an English novelist as anything else

It's a minor period in Brit Lit, too, where it probably counts as "late imperial." This minority could be understood as a virtue in some kind of Deleuzean "minor literature" sense. Introducing Stephen Crane's Maggie, I once wrote this about it:

The short-lived and hard-living American writer Stephen Crane exemplifies the aesthetic ambiguity of the 1890s. On both sides of the Atlantic and even both sides of the English Channel, it is an in-between period, fecund with avant-garde literary schools and movements (naturalism, impressionism, Symbolism, Decadence, Aestheticism, regionalism) and incubating the popular genres in their modern forms (science fiction, detective and mystery fiction, horror fiction). It is a literary epoch harder to define than the seemingly more settled moments of high realism and high modernism that precede and succeed it, and its own experimental variations on realism and modernism are intriguingly “low,” in the dual senses of provisional rather than monumental and de-idealizing rather than championing the human spirit.

But yes, there was a whole panoply of writers once enormous, Pulitzer winners, cited admiringly by the big figures of subsequent generations, published in early Modern Library Editions even, and now forgotten. James Branch Cabell, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Helen Hunt Jackson, Ellen Glasgow, George Sterling, George Washington Cable, Joaquin Miller...who are these people? I picked up their names along the way, but nothing else. Wolfe was huge, mentioned in the same breath as Joyce; Faulkner judged him superior to Hemingway; he's the fount of modern southern literature; but who reads him? Edward Arlington Robinson, possibly better than Frost! I should check out the Kazin—I read his American Procession in high school, focused almost exclusively on the big figures, when I was first reading Poe-Hawthorne-Melville-Twain-Hemingway-Faulkner-Eliot, but then never revisited.

[qwanderer]

The water was red with them.

My mom made this collage with Cricut leaf shapes! It's inspired by a quote from The Bent Twig by Dorothy Canfield Fisher.

[sunsetsongwind]

ok so look. look. names are important, right. so one of my favorite narrative things, not sure if it's a trope or a mechanic or whatever, is when the name changes. gonna use an example that just came up because I can't think of any others. in the book Understood Betsy, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher, which is very sweet and I highly recommend it by the way, there's a point in the book where the third person narration switches from calling the POV character Elizabeth Ann to calling her Betsy. That point is when something in Betsy shifts, and she realizes that she's her own person instead the extension of her aunt she's sort of thought herself to be all the 9 years of her life. that is one of my favorite narrative things, because it's subtle - you only really notice it at the moment it happens if you're looking for it - but it shows off her development in such a beautiful way, with her now referring to herself with the name that is given her by the people teaching her to be a person and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

look names are important and the names you choose are important and I love love love when stories do that and show that by changing the way the very universe refers to the character

[schoolsformedicalbilling]

Winner of the 2018 Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award * Two starred reviews * A New York Public Library Best Kids Book of 2017 * A Bank Street Best Children's Book of 2017 * Wisconsin Library Association CBA Outstanding Books of the Year selection * 2018-2019 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award list selection * 2018-2019

[daimonclub]

Aphorisms and quotes about the mother

Quotes and aphorisms on mom Quotes and aphorisms about the mother, ideas and thoughts by different and famous authors on the mom and the great importance of her presence in everyone's life. Mother's Day in most European states, the United States, Japan, Australia and numerous other countries is celebrated on the second Sunday of May; in Spain, Portugal and Hungary on the first Sunday of May; in the Balkan countries on March 8; in many Arab countries the holiday instead falls on the day of the spring equinox. Sigmund Freud said many profound, revealing and often frightening thing about God, and also about Mothers; yet he failed to see the connection between the two. The first God in every baby's life is its mother. She is the Universal Explanation, the Great Protector, the Stern Disciplinarian, the Source of all Wisdom and the Supreme Guide. God was not born of a virgin, but all virgins, male and female, are born of a God. When the growing human child realises, to his sorrow and bewilderment, that his mother is not God, he starts searching for a substitute God: a plain-clothes God or a God in disguise. George Mikes After the end of time, mother, we will find ourselves in the reality that does not exist, in a fictional and mythical world; we will be happy, serene, at peace, and finally we will be able to enjoy what we are not. Carl William Brown Where there is a mother in the home, matters go well. Amos Bronson Alcott On the verge of death he remembered his mother who was waiting for him in the reality that does not exist and almost pleased he consoled himself. Carl William Brown What do girls do who haven't any mothers to help them through their troubles? Louisa May Alcott Children and mothers never truly part; bound in the beating of each other’s heart. Charlotte Gray I am sure that if the mothers of various nations could meet, there would be no more wars. E. M. Forster A mother who is really a mother is never free. Honore De Balzac My wife is the kind of girl who will not go anywhere without her mother, and her mother will go anywhere. John Barrymore The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom. Henry Ward Beecher Be kind to your mother-in-law, but pay for her board at some good hotel. Josh Billings From now on I want to imagine death as a tender and affectionate mother who with extreme love, smiling and holding me at her breast for all eternity, instead of giving me life will take it away forever. Carl William Brown The best thing that could happen to motherhood already has. Fewer women are going into it. Victoria Billings The Holy Virgin is the universal essence of woman, she is the divine symbol of the mother par excellence, she is the spirit of life and love who endures and resists pain, suffering and death, to make the memory of her children immortal. Carl William Brown You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother. Albert Einstein There are so many times you will feel you have failed, but in the eyes, heart and mind of your child, you are supermom. Stephanie Precourt A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary. Dorothy Canfield Fisher When a woman is twenty, a child deforms her; when she is thirty, he preserves her; and when forty, he makes her young again. Leon Blum Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons. Napoleon Bonaparte

My Mom Innocenza Literature and art, as well as memory and memories, are the only places where we can revive our dear and beloved deceased. They are sad palliatives that unfortunately will never give me back the emotions and comfort of my mother's smile. Carl William Brown Women know the way to rear up children (to be just). They know a simple, merry, tender knack of tying sashes, fitting baby-shoes, and stringing pretty words that make no sense. And kissing full sense into empty words. Elizabeth Barrett Browning Some are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same - and most mothers kiss and scold together. Pearl S. Buck The kind of power mothers have is enormous. Angela Carter There are lots of things that you can brush under the carpet about yourself until you're faced with somebody whose needs won't be put off. Angela Carter For Eliot, April is the cruelest month, and I agreed, in fact my father died in April, but then my mother passed away in October, so now the cruelest months are certainly two. Carl William Brown The chain of wedlock is so heavy that it takes two to carry it - and sometimes three. Alexandre (the Younger) Dumas For that's what a woman, a mother wants - to teach her children to take an interest in life. She knows it's safer for them to be interested in other people's happiness than to believe in their own. Marguerite Duras As my mom always said, ‘You’d rather have smile lines than frown lines.’ Cindy Crawford Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together. Pearl S. Buck No culture on earth outside of mid-century suburban America has ever deployed one woman per child without simultaneously assigning her such major productive activities as weaving, farming, gathering, temple maintenance, and tent-building. The reason is that full-time, one-on-one child-raising is not good for women or children. Barbara Ehrenreich Take motherhood: nobody ever thought of putting it on a moral pedestal until some brash feminists pointed out, about a century ago, that the pay is lousy and the career ladder nonexistent. Barbara Ehrenreich A mother's yearning feels the presence of the cherished child even in the degraded man. George Eliot But the mother's yearning, that completest type of the life in another life which is the essence of real human love, feels the presence of the cherished child even in the debased, degraded man. George Eliot The lullaby is the spell whereby the mother attempts to transform herself back from an ogre to a saint. James Fenton See also It's not over when you lose, but when you end it. Unknown The mother as a social servant instead of a home servant will not lack in true mother duty. From her work, loved and honored though it is, she will return to her home life, the child life, with an eager, ceaseless pleasure, cleansed of all the fret and fraction and weariness that so mar it now. Charlotte P. Gillman

Quotes on mom Moms should never die, they should disappear and then appear when you need to see them again, even just for a moment. Valeria Fabrizi Mother is a verb. It’s something you do. Not just who you are. Cheryl Lacey Donovan A mother’s arms are more comforting than anyone else’s. Princess Diana Morality and its victim, the mother - what a terrible picture! Is there indeed anything more terrible, more criminal, than our glorified sacred function of motherhood? Emma Goldman The patience of a mother might be likened to a tube of toothpaste – it’s never quite all gone. Author Unknown Death freed my father and mother from their evils and imprisoned me even more in mine. Carl William Brown When I was a child, my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk you’ll end up as the pope.’ Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso. Pablo Picasso Only after losing your mother forever can you understand the essence of true love and the excruciating pain of life passing away. Carl William Brown A mother is the one who is still there when everyone else has deserted you. Author Unknown You realize that you habitually thought of Mom when something in your life was not going well, because when you thought of her it was as though something got back on track, and you felt re-energized. Shin Kyung Sook No influence is so powerful as that of the mother. Sarah Josepha Hale A man’s work is from sun to sun, but a mother’s work is never done. Author Unknown Every man must define his identity against his mother. If he does not, he just falls back into her and is swallowed up. Camille Paglia He that would the daughter win must with the mother first begin. English Proverb A mother understands what a child does not say. Jewish Proverb God couldn't be everywhere, so he created mothers Jewish Proverb Men are what their mothers made them. Ralph Waldo Emerson

My mom when she was 20 All that remains to the mother in modern consumer society is the role of scapegoat; psychoanalysis uses huge amounts of money and time to persuade analysis and to foist their problems on to the absent mother, who has no opportunity to utter a word in her own defense. Hostility to the mother in our societies is an index of mental health. Germaine Greer The moments of happiness... We have had the experience of them, but the meaning has escaped us, as Eliot said. Or rather, we didn't realize it, so life passed by and in the end all I was left with was the pain of losing my dearest person, my mother. Carl William Brown Woman is the salvation or the destruction of the family. She carries its destiny in the folds of her mantle. Henri Frederic Amiel A mother’s arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them. Victor Hugo If at first you don’t succeed, do it the way your mother told you to. Author Unknown One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters. George Herbert The tie which links mother and child is of such pure and immaculate strength as to be never violated. Washington Irving A mother’s love is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking, it never fails or falters, even though the heart is breaking. Helen Rice A man never sees all that his mother has been to him until it's too late to let her know he sees it. William Dean Howells Life began with waking up and loving my mother’s face. George Eliot Being a mom has made me so tired. And so happy. Tina Fey Behind every successful man is a proud wife and a surprised mother-in-law. Hubert H. Humphrey Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother's love is not. James Joyce The watchful mother tarries nigh, though sleep has closed her infants eyes. John Keble Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother. Yutang, Lin All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother. Abraham Lincoln

Quotes and aphorisms on mothers My father and my mother are no longer with us, but their spirit lives in me, and therefore is still alive, except that I am already dead. Carl William Brown It seems to me that the nursing mother of most false opinions - both public and private - is the excessively high opinion one places on oneself. Michel Eyquem De Montaigne Anyone who doesn't miss the past never had a mother. Gregory Nunn Maternity is on the face of it an unsociable experience. The selfishness that a woman has learned to stifle or to dissemble where she alone is concerned, blooms freely and unashamed on behalf of her offspring. Emily James Putnam There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one. Jill Churchill Whenever I’m with my mother, I feel as though I have to spend the whole time avoiding land mines. Amy Tan, The Kitchen God’s Wife Few misfortunes can befall a boy which bring worse consequences than to have a really affectionate mother. W. Somerset Maugham The Enemy, who wears her mother's usual face and confidential tone, has access; doubtless stares into her writing case and listens on the phone. Phyllis McGinley It seems to me that the nursing mother of most false opinions - both public and private - is the excessively high opinion one places on oneself. Michel Eyquem De Montaigne When I stopped seeing my mother with the eyes of a child, I saw the woman who helped me give birth to myself. Nancy Friday Women’s natural role is to be a pillar of the family. Grace Kelly I know how to do anything – I’m a mom. Rosanne Barr A busy mother makes slothful daughters. Portuguese Proverb An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy. Spanish Proverb If Freud had had my mother's dreams at his disposal, he would have become even greater than he was. Carl William Brown Think of your mother and smile for all of the good precious moments.” Ana Monnar

Aphorisms and quotes on the mother A mother understands what a child does not say. Jewish proverb Mother is a verb. It’s something you do. Not just who you are. Cheryl Lacey Donovan A mother loves her children even when they least deserve to be loved. Kate Samperi As her sons have seen her: the mother in patriarchy: controlling, erotic, castrating, heart-suffering, guilt-ridden, and guilt-provoking; a marble brow, a huge breast, an avid cave; between her legs snakes, swamp-grass, or teeth; on her lap a helpless infant or a martyred son. She exists for one purpose: to bear and nourish the son. Adrienne Rich The worker can unionize, go out on strike; mothers are divided from each other in homes, tied to their children by compassionate bonds; our wildcat strikes have most often taken the form of physical or mental breakdown. Adrienne Rich Mother – that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries. T. DeWitt Talmage A little girl, asked where her home was, replied, “where mother is.” Keith L. Brooks I never knew how much love my heart could hold until someone called me “mommy.” Author Unknown Mother’s love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved. Erich Fromm Mothers are all slightly insane. J.D. Salinger That best academy, a mother’s knee. James Russell Lowell Setting a good example for your children takes all the fun out of middle age. William Feather Education commences at the mother’s knee, and every word spoken within hearsay of little children tends toward the formation of character. Hosea Ballou In a child’s eyes, a mother is a goddess. She can be glorious or terrible, benevolent or filled with wrath, but she commands love either way. I am convinced that this is the greatest power in the universe. N. K. Jemisin I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine — she helps me grow, prosper and reach great heights. Terri Guillemets A mother’s love liberates. Maya Angelou Biological possibility and desire are not the same as biological need. Women have childbearing equipment. For them to choose not to use the equipment is no more blocking what is instinctive than it is for a man who, muscles or no, chooses not to be a weightlifter. Betty Rollin Only in America do these peasants, our mothers, get their hair dyed platinum at the age of sixty, and walk up and down Collins Avenue in Florida in pedal pushers and mink stoles - and with opinions on every subject under the sun. It isn't their fault they were given a gift like speech - look, if cows could talk, they would say things just as idiotic. Philip Roth Apart from my mother, women have always encouraged me to deepen my knowledge of the profound illogicality of existence. Carl William Brown A mother holds her children’s hands for a while…their hearts forever. Author Unknown

Quotes and ideas on mothers There was never a great man who had not a great mother. Olive Schreiner Mothers are the most instinctive philosophers. Harriet Beecher Stowe Mother is the name for God on the lips and in the hearts of little children. William M. Thackeray My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it. Mark Twain A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. Author Unknown There’s no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one. Jill Churchill Acceptance, tolerance, bravery, compassion. These are the things my mom taught me. Lady Gaga Most mothers are instinctive philosophers. Harriet Beecher Stowe My mother’s menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it. Buddy Hackett My mother always said I was beautiful and I finally believed her at some point. Lupita Nyong’o A mother's heart is always with her children. Author Unknown Mother weaves her loving art and leaves her magic in our hearts. Author Unknown Mother-in-law: A woman who destroys her son-in-law's peace of mind by giving him a piece of hers. Author Unknown Men never think, at least seldom think, what a hard task it is for us women to go through this very often. God's will be done, and if He decrees that we are to have a great number of children why we must try to bring them up as useful and exemplary members of society. Queen Victoria How simple a thing it seems to me that to know ourselves as we are, we must know our mother's names. Alice Walker My mother is my root, my foundation. She planted the seed that I base my life on, and that is the belief that the ability to achieve starts in your mind. Michael Jordan Mothers work, not upon canvas that shall perish, nor marble that crumbles into dust, but upon mind, upon spirit, which is to last forever, and which is to bear, for good or evil, throughout its duration, the impress of a mother's plastic hand. George Washington The best place to cry is on a mother’s arms. Jodi Picoult It is not until you become a mother that your judgment slowly turns to compassion and understanding. Erma Bombeck Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. Marion C. Read the full article

[homestylealchemy]

10 Recipes to Make for Mother's Day

SearchSearch There are endless quotes for honoring mothers. “A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.” — Dorothy Canfield Fisher “I realized when you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know.” — Mitch Albom “Everybody wants to save the Earth; nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes.” — P.J. O’Rourke I had to laugh at that…

[healerqueen]

50 Favorite Children’s Books

Inspired by Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki’s list of his earliest literary influences. This list is limited to books I read in childhood or youth. 50 Childhood Favorites

Caddie Woodlawn and sequel by Carol Ryrie Brink

Winter Cottage by Carol Ryrie Brink

The Saturdays, The Four-Story Mistake, and sequels by Elizabeth Enright

Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery

The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham

Derwood, Inc. by Jeri Massi

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Heidi by Joanna Spyri

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

The Wheel on the School by Meindert De Jong

All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

Family Grandstand by Carol Ryrie Brink

Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink

Cheaper By the Dozen and sequel by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

Rebecca’s War by Ann Finlayson

The Lost Baron by Allen French

Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

The Winged Watchman by Hilda Van Stockum

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman

Captive Treasure by Milly Howard

Toliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady

Silver for General Washington by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft

Emil’s Pranks by Astrid Lindgren

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien

Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field

Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois

Freddy the Detective and Freddy the Pig series by Walter R. Brooks

The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Robert Lawson

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

The Wombles by Elisabeth Beresford

Homer Price by Robert McCloskey

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi by Cindy Neuschwander and Wayne Geehan

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

The Bridge and Crown and Jewel by Jeri Massi

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Young Adult:

The Eagle of the Ninth and other books by Rosemary Sutcliff

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

Buffalo Brenda by Jill Pinkwater

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret (a nonfiction memoir)

Picture Books:

Make Way for Ducklings and other books by Robert McCloskey

Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman

Sam and the Firefly by P.D. Eastman

Robert the Rose Horse by Joan Heilbroner

Ice-Cream Larry by Daniel Pinkwater

Mr. Putter and Tabby by Cynthia Rylant

Discovered as an Adult: Seesaw Girl by Linda Sue Park

The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye

The Armourer’s House by Rosemary Sutcliff

Urchin of the Riding Stars and the Mistmantle Chronicles by M.I. McAllister

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

Escape to West Berlin by Maurine F. Dahlberg

Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan

The Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan

Courage in Her Hands by Iris Noble

Knight’s Fee by Rosemary Sutcliff

Victory at Valmy (Thunder of Valmy) by Geoffrey Trease

Word to Caesar (Message to Hadrian) by Geoffrey Trease

The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

The Reluctant Godfather by Allison Tebo

Seventh City by Emily Hayse

Escape to Vindor by Emily Golus

Valiant by Sarah McGuire

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart

[5brightplanets]

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Of course, it’s only a general store approach to the big-city rigmarole of inquiry.

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It As In The Mix Series. Dolly played it close to the chest as a daughter, sister and mother in relating to James. 100% made from Part Two, Chapter 8 of The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield (AKA Dorothea Frances Canfield and Dorothy Canfield Fisher), who also authored: Why Stop Learning?; Raw Material; and Made-to-Order Stories. Found in a 1924 first edition published by Harcourt, Brace And Company, Inc., printed in the U. S. A. by the Quinn & Boden Company, Rahway, N. J. The viewable and listenable link is posted by (assuredly on behalf of a post passed) Sam Cooke; https://youtu.be/VzlLi5jX_C4?si=um_BY-oDtV9ihJmI is a seemingly one-time-use, hypochangeable link to [What A] Wonderful World. YouTube featured artist Sam Cooke. Grateful awareness of the many artists, musicians, and technicians who present these sights and sounds. Words and Music composed by Lou Adler, Herb Alpert and Sam Cooke. -Jivananda (Jim)

[alrederedmixedmedia]

Alredered Remembers U.S. novelist and Montessori school proponent Dorothy Canfield Fisher, on her birthday.

A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.

Dorothy Canfield Fisher