Book Review: The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byar.Fumbling Through Fantasy: The Thief by Megan Whale.Reading with Little Miss Muffet and Little Bo Peep. Honestly, it is really too bad that aside from Otis Spofford (which I still have to read) there are not with regard to Beverly Cleary’s 1951 novel Ellen Tebbits a whole slew of novels to be encountered which sequentially follow and depict Ellen’s life both at school and at home (like is of course the case with Cleary’s Ramona Quimby and equally with her still to be perused by me Henry.Now that I have been reminded once again of the brilliance of Beverly Cleary, I want to go back and read the other titles of hers that I have missed, including the companion novel to this book, Otis Spofford. I am pleased that a book like Ellen Tebbits remains in print and is still widely available on library shelves. Though her books reference customs, styles, and events of the time in which they were written, her descriptions of the thoughts and feelings of kids transcend time. More than any other author, Beverly Cleary understands childhood.
Above all, kids of every generation understand what it's like to be lonely, to be teased, to find a new friend, to hurt a friend's feelings, and to make amends and start anew. While today's teachers don't ask kids to clap erasers at recess, kids still understand what it's like to want to please a teacher and feel as though they fall short in some way. Though girls are unlikely to wear woolen underwear to school, they can all relate to the way it feels to be embarrassed by a family rule others don't have to follow. Though so much of what happens in this book would not happen today, the characters themselves have many of the same fears, concerns, and feelings as contemporary children. As happens to many best friendships, however, theirs is tested when Ellen hurts Austine's feelings and struggles to find a way to apologize. When she learns that another girl, Austine, must also wear the same kind of underwear, however, the two bond immediately over their secret shame and become the best of friends. p1359785 |o - |p $14.99 |q - |r - |s - |t 36 |u 26 |v 16 |w 0 |x 0 |y .Ellen Tebbits is so utterly embarrassed by the fact that her mother makes her wear woolen underwear that when she changes her clothes before dance class she hides in the closet to avoid being teased. |a Ellen's life is free of problems, except for such things as being teased by Otis Spofford and having to wear woolen underwear. |a Originally published: New York : Morrow, 1951. |a Ellen Tebbits / |c by Beverly Cleary illustrated by Louis Darling.
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