We Are Deep In the Heart of Texas

Nomadic seasons of farming adventures with nature thrown in to include; a pinch of family, snippets of friends, counting our blessings, paying IT forward, home school, and the spicy things I decide to rant about.















Friday, November 5, 2010

My Side of the Mountain (Trilogy)

I am so excited; I finally remembered the book I read as child and found the set on eBay.  I can't not wait for it to arrive.  If you have children (grandchildren) -- especially adventure loving ones as I do; then find this set.  I rank it up there with Phantom Tollbooth.  Awesome!


Here is a sneak peak of the description.


"By Jean Craighead George - Dutton Children's Books (2000) - Hardback - 640 pages - ISBN 0525462694



The trilogy about Sam Gribley's adventures begins with My Side of the Mountain when Sam, a nature-loving boy runs away from the city to live off the land. His home is a tree; his hunting partner, a young perefrine falcon named Frightful. In the second book in the trilogy On the Far Side of the Mountain, Sam's younger sister, Alice comes to share his retreat and his adventures. In the concluding third book Frightful's Mountain, Frightful makes his journey towards independence."
 
I don't know about other folks but, I have this desire to share with my boys the love of books I read as a child - teenager.  We did not have all the electronics as children do now so, books were my escape.  I would check out books from the school library every Monday and just devour them.  Some of my favorites I have been able to find:
 
Phantom Tollbooth
Mark Twain
Tom Sawyer
Black Beauty
Ramona the Brave
Stuart Little
The Borrowers
My Side of the Mountain
Escape to Witch Mountain
Little House on the Prairie
How to Eat Fried Worms
Ramona (the series)
Are You There God, It's Me Margaret (kinda girlie)
A Christmas Story
The Gift of the Magi
The Jungle
Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Clan of the Cavebear (there are now six books)
Flowers in the Attic (I stopped reading when the original author died because the voice changed.)
 
 
About puberty I discovered poets:  Emily Dickerson, Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass (my all time fav), Grimm's Fairy Stories, Edgar Allen Poe, and Robert Frost.
 
Without my mother knowing it; I would even read the more adult popular novels she was reading at the time.  I guess, I am just a literature junkie and would read the phone book; if it was my only choice. 
 
Tomorrow, I will read to the boys a short story by Mark Twain called, 'On the Decay of the Art of Lying.'  It's really funny.
 
What were your favorite books while growing up?

5 comments:

Sharon said...

How strange, one would think that your books would rattle some memory, I was a bookworm too, but to be honest, I think that I just read my Dad's books until I was a teen. I remember the Wreck of the Hesperus (Of course that was poetry) and some mythology, that was cool, with Medusa and Jason and the Golden Fleece etc. I know, I should have been reading Peter Pan or Nancy Drew or something. I read what we had at home. I guess that was just more grown-up fairy tales, LOL!

Judy's Corner said...

We had no TV growing up... the whole family read. I loved everything Steinbeck, and most everything on your list. When I reached Jr. High, I was into all those books that are true stories about success against incredible odd... No Language But a Cry is one that still sticks in my memory.... there were others that the subject matter was really awful, but because they were true stories, I read them... one such I recall was For One Sweet Grape, which was written by a convicted rapist. Yes, I read and read and read! I read the whole VC Andrews books until they got stupider with the new authors... Anyway, can't go wrong with books... (much)

Nekkid Chicken said...

Oh my gosh, Sharon. Did you realize you just made me think of my school years; I was called Medusa by schoolmates long long ago. :O) I loved those old b & w films about Jason and the Argonauts. Reminds me of spending time with my grandfather as well. Thanks,
Mal

Nekkid Chicken said...

Gosh Judy, I loved Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, The Pearl, The Winter of Discontent. I will go look up No Language But a Cry and the other from Betterworldbooks. Love that site for used books.

Nekkid Chicken said...

Dang, How about Maya Angelou's

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Now she is an excellent writer.