Clyde Robert Bulla (BULL uh)(1914 - ) is an outstanding children's book author, with more than sixty books and many awards to his credit. He was born and raised on a farm in Missouri, attended a one-room schoolhouse, and was only allowed to read and write after he finished his chores! Mr. Bulla wanted to write even when he was very young. In first grade the teacher asked each pupil what they would do with a thousand dollars and his response was "buy a table" so he could write! His first piece of writing was called "How Planets Were Born." He wrote many other stories, poems, and plays while in school.
After school, his first novel was published and very soon afterward the publisher went bankrupt. For several years he worked as a columnist and typesetter for a newspaper. His columns were noticed by a well-known children's book writer who encouraged him to try again. Within several weeks his first book, The Donkey Cart, was accepted by the publisher.
His writing has been described as "filled with great warmth and sensitivity." Most of these books are great for early elementary readers. I have several of his books (Chalk Box Kid and White Bird are two) that have recently been reprinted in the "A Stepping Stone Book" series for young readers. Chalk Box Kid is suggested for 3rd grade and White Bird has a more specific RL: 1.9 listed.
"Clyde Bulla has never written a poor story nor written a good story poorly...His books refuse to be classified, so varied is his offering. But whether he is writing about historical America or a modern boy and his horse, authentic Indian lore or perfidy and courage in the days of King Arthur, each story is told with beautiful clarity and a special flavor of its own time or place."
--May Hill Arbuthonot, Elementary English
As to how to pronounce his name, Mr. Bulla says, "Over the years I've learned to answer to Beulah, Buller, and even Bullie, without much carring."
List of titles by Clyde Robert Bulla:
Almost a Hero
Beast of Lor, The -- TruthQuest Ancient Rome
Benito
Cardboard Crown, The
Chalk Box Kid, The -- Sonlight 2 (old TMs)
Charlie's House - TruthQuest 2
Conquista! - TruthQuest Ren & Ref
Dandelion Hill
Daniel's Duck - I Can Read, Sonlight 2, FIAR, TruthQuest 3
Dexter
Dog Named Penny, A
Donkey Cart, The
Down the Mississippi
Eagle Feather
Flowerpot Gardens
Ghost of Windy Hill, The
Ghost Town Treasure
Grain of Wheat, A
Indian Hill
John Billington, Friend of Squanto - TruthQuest 1
Johnny Hong of Chinatown
Jonah and the Great Fish
Joseph the Dreamer
Keep Running, Allen!
Last Look
Lincoln's Birthday - TruthQuest 3
Lion to Guard Us, A - Sonlight 3, TruthQuest 2
Marco Moonlight
Mika's Apple Tree: A Story of Finland
Moon Singer, The
More Stories of Favorite Operas
My Friend, The Monster
New Boy in Dublin: A Story of Ireland
Old Charlie
Open the Door and See all the People
Pirate's Promise - TruthQuest 1
Pocahontas and the Strangers - Sonlight 3
Poor Boy, Rich Boy
Poppy Seeds, The
Ranch for Danny, A
Riding the Pony Express - Sonlight 2, TruthQuest 3
Ring and the Fire, The
Secret Valley, The - Sonlight 2 (old TMs), TruthQuest 3
Shoeshine Girl, The - Sonlight 2 (old TMs)
Singing Sam
Song of St. Francis
Squanto, Friend of Pilgrims - Sonlight 3, TruthQuest 1, Beautiful Feet
St. Valentine's Day
Star of Wild Horse Canyon
Stories from Wagner's Viebelung Operas
Stories of Favorite Operas
Stories of Gilbert and Sullivan Operas
Stubborn Old Woman, The
Sugar Pear Tree, The
Surprise for a Cowboy
Sword in the Tree, The - Sonlight 2, TruthQuest Dark Ages
Three Dollar Mule - Sonlight 2 (old TMs)
Tree is a Plant, A
Valentine Cat, The
Viking Adventure - Sonlight 2, TruthQuest Dark Ages
Washington's Birthday - TruthQuest 2
What Makes a Shadow?
White Bird
White Sails to China - TruthQuest 3
Wish at the Top, The
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Author Review: Walter Franklin Buehr
Walter Buehr (May 14, 1897 - January 2, 1971) was born in Chicago on May 14, 1897. After high school he attended several different art schools including the Art Students League of New York (where he later taught), the Detroit School of Design, the Philadelphia School of Industrial Arts, the Art Students League, and he also studied art in Europe.
He began a first sergeant in the first camouflage section of the U.S. Army Engineers during WWI and was awarded the active service medal.
He married Camilla Goodwyn, a portrait artist and fashion illustrator, in 1938. The two had three daughters, and at least five grandchildren. Two of his grandchildren lived in France & couldn’t speak English, which made it very hard on a grandfather who spoke very little French!
Buehr had varied talents and interests. He designed furniture, was interested in ceramics, like to tinker with high fidelity systems, and loved sailing. He even lived on his boat during the summers and cruised both the Atlantic coast and the Mediterranean. This hobby led to the writing of his first book - Ships and Life Afloat. He wanted children in the Midwest to be able to understand the terms used in stories about the sea, how the ships were rigged, how they operated, what the life of a sailor was like, etc.
His over fifty-six books, including four for adults, reflect his wide variety of interests, including sailing and the sea, medieval history, exploration, transportation, electricity, and more. His history books dealt with romantic eras full of knights, castles, galleys, and galleons. My copies were all published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons. His children’s books are short (less than 100 pages) with large print and lots of illustrations, making them easy on young eyes.
Our favorites have been the volumes about the medieval times: Chivalry and the Mailed Knight, The Crusades, Knights and Castles and Feudal Life, and Heraldry: The Story of Armorial Bearing. Heraldry was my personal favorite. Others that were very helpful in our study of US history were French Explorers in America & The Spanish Conquistadores in North America. My girls also enjoyed the Bread book. Like many of his books it followed the history of a common, everyday item and made it very interesting!
List of titles by Walter Buehr:
1812: The War and the World, 1967 - TruthQuest
Automobiles, Past and Present, 1968
Birth of a Liner, 1961
Bread, the Staff of Life, 1959
Cargoes in the Sky, 1958
Chivalry and the Mailed Knight, 1963 - TruthQuest
Cloth, from Fiber to Fabric, 1965
The Crusades, 1959 - TruthQuest
Famous Small Boat Voyages, 1967
Firearms, 1967
First Book of Machines, 1962
Food, From Farm to Home, 1970
Freight Trains of the Sky, 1969
French Explorers in America, 1961 - TruthQuest
Galleys and Galleons, 1964 - TruthQuest
Genie and the Word: Electricity and Communication, 1959
Harbors and Cargoes, 1955
Harvest of the Sea, 1955 - TruthQuest
Heraldry: The Story of Armorial Bearing, 1964 - TruthQuest
Home Sweet Home in the Nineteenth Century, 1965
Keeping Time, 1960
Knights and Castles and Feudal Life, 1957 - TruthQuest
Magic of Paper, 1966
Marvel of Glass, 1963
Meat, From Ranch to Table, 1956
Oil, Today’s Black Magic, 1957
Plastics, The Man-made Miracle, 1967
The Portuguese Explorers, 1966 - TruthQuest
Railroads, Today and Yesterday, 1958
Rubber, Natural and Synthetic, 1964
Salt, Sugar, and Spice, 1969
Sea Monsters, 1966
Sending the Word, The Story of Communication, 1959
Ships and Life Afloat: From Galley to Turbine, 1953
Ships of the Great Lakes, 1956
The Spanish Armada, 1962 - TruthQuest
The Spanish Conquistadores in North America, 1962 - TruthQuest
Storm Warning, 1972
The Story of Locks, 1953
Story of the Wheel, 1960
Strange Craft, 1963
Through the Locks: Canals Today and Yesterday, 1954
Timber! Farming Our Forests, 1960
Treasure: The Story of Money and Its Safeguarding, 1955
Trucks and Trucking, 1957
Underground Riches, The Story of Mining, 1958
The Viking Explorers, 1968 - TruthQuest
Volcano!, 1962
Warriors Weapons (adult), 1963
Water, Our Vital Need, 1967
Westward with American Explorers, 1963 - TruthQuest
When Towns Had Walls, Life in a Medieval English Town, 1970
Wonder Worker, The Story of Electricity, 1961
World Beneath the Waves, 1964
The World of Marco Polo, 1961 - TruthQuest
Books Illustrated by Walter Buehr:
Adventures on the Cloud 9, by Adelaide Field
The First Book of the Ocean, by Sam & Beryl Epstein
Mary, Queen of Scots, by Emily Hahn (Landmark series) - TruthQuest
Moon Base, by William Nephew
He began a first sergeant in the first camouflage section of the U.S. Army Engineers during WWI and was awarded the active service medal.
He married Camilla Goodwyn, a portrait artist and fashion illustrator, in 1938. The two had three daughters, and at least five grandchildren. Two of his grandchildren lived in France & couldn’t speak English, which made it very hard on a grandfather who spoke very little French!
Buehr had varied talents and interests. He designed furniture, was interested in ceramics, like to tinker with high fidelity systems, and loved sailing. He even lived on his boat during the summers and cruised both the Atlantic coast and the Mediterranean. This hobby led to the writing of his first book - Ships and Life Afloat. He wanted children in the Midwest to be able to understand the terms used in stories about the sea, how the ships were rigged, how they operated, what the life of a sailor was like, etc.
His over fifty-six books, including four for adults, reflect his wide variety of interests, including sailing and the sea, medieval history, exploration, transportation, electricity, and more. His history books dealt with romantic eras full of knights, castles, galleys, and galleons. My copies were all published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons. His children’s books are short (less than 100 pages) with large print and lots of illustrations, making them easy on young eyes.
Our favorites have been the volumes about the medieval times: Chivalry and the Mailed Knight, The Crusades, Knights and Castles and Feudal Life, and Heraldry: The Story of Armorial Bearing. Heraldry was my personal favorite. Others that were very helpful in our study of US history were French Explorers in America & The Spanish Conquistadores in North America. My girls also enjoyed the Bread book. Like many of his books it followed the history of a common, everyday item and made it very interesting!
List of titles by Walter Buehr:
1812: The War and the World, 1967 - TruthQuest
Automobiles, Past and Present, 1968
Birth of a Liner, 1961
Bread, the Staff of Life, 1959
Cargoes in the Sky, 1958
Chivalry and the Mailed Knight, 1963 - TruthQuest
Cloth, from Fiber to Fabric, 1965
The Crusades, 1959 - TruthQuest
Famous Small Boat Voyages, 1967
Firearms, 1967
First Book of Machines, 1962
Food, From Farm to Home, 1970
Freight Trains of the Sky, 1969
French Explorers in America, 1961 - TruthQuest
Galleys and Galleons, 1964 - TruthQuest
Genie and the Word: Electricity and Communication, 1959
Harbors and Cargoes, 1955
Harvest of the Sea, 1955 - TruthQuest
Heraldry: The Story of Armorial Bearing, 1964 - TruthQuest
Home Sweet Home in the Nineteenth Century, 1965
Keeping Time, 1960
Knights and Castles and Feudal Life, 1957 - TruthQuest
Magic of Paper, 1966
Marvel of Glass, 1963
Meat, From Ranch to Table, 1956
Oil, Today’s Black Magic, 1957
Plastics, The Man-made Miracle, 1967
The Portuguese Explorers, 1966 - TruthQuest
Railroads, Today and Yesterday, 1958
Rubber, Natural and Synthetic, 1964
Salt, Sugar, and Spice, 1969
Sea Monsters, 1966
Sending the Word, The Story of Communication, 1959
Ships and Life Afloat: From Galley to Turbine, 1953
Ships of the Great Lakes, 1956
The Spanish Armada, 1962 - TruthQuest
The Spanish Conquistadores in North America, 1962 - TruthQuest
Storm Warning, 1972
The Story of Locks, 1953
Story of the Wheel, 1960
Strange Craft, 1963
Through the Locks: Canals Today and Yesterday, 1954
Timber! Farming Our Forests, 1960
Treasure: The Story of Money and Its Safeguarding, 1955
Trucks and Trucking, 1957
Underground Riches, The Story of Mining, 1958
The Viking Explorers, 1968 - TruthQuest
Volcano!, 1962
Warriors Weapons (adult), 1963
Water, Our Vital Need, 1967
Westward with American Explorers, 1963 - TruthQuest
When Towns Had Walls, Life in a Medieval English Town, 1970
Wonder Worker, The Story of Electricity, 1961
World Beneath the Waves, 1964
The World of Marco Polo, 1961 - TruthQuest
Books Illustrated by Walter Buehr:
Adventures on the Cloud 9, by Adelaide Field
The First Book of the Ocean, by Sam & Beryl Epstein
Mary, Queen of Scots, by Emily Hahn (Landmark series) - TruthQuest
Moon Base, by William Nephew
Start a Library
(from an article written in 1919 !)
The home ought no more to be without a library than without a dining-room and kitchen. If you have but one room, and it is lighted by the great wood fire in the flaming fireplace, as Abraham Lincoln’s was, do as Abraham Lincoln did; pick out one corner of your fireplace for a library, and use it. Every man ought to provide for the brain as well as for the stomach. This does not require capital; there are cheap editions of the best books; it only requires time and forecast. We write in a private library, and a fairly good one for working purposes, of three thousand-and-odd volumes; we began it many years ago, on a salary of $1,000 a year, with five books -- a commentary in four volumes and a dictionary. The best libraries are not made; they grow.
At first buy only books that you want immediately to read. Do not be deluded into buying books because they are classics, or cheap, or that you may get rid of an agent. One book read is worth a dozen books looked at. No book is possessed till it is read. Reference books constitute an exception, and an important exception, to this rule. These are the foundations of a good library. The essential reference books are a dictionary, a good atlas, and an encyclopedia. Any school atlas will do, though if you are able to purchase it a good atlas is much better; and best of all is a wise selection of atlases. There is no best encyclopedia; your choice must depend upon your resources, pecuniary and mental.
In purchasing books exercise a choice in editions. The lowest-priced books are not always the cheapest. Buy books of transient interest or minor importance -- all novels, for example, and current books of travel -- in cheap form. On the other hand, histories, classics of all sorts, and generally all permanent books, should be bought in good binding and good type. It takes well-seasoned lumber to make a good family library.
Have a place for your library. A dollar spent in pine lumber, and a little mechanical skill, will make a larger and better one. Varnished pine is handsome enough for any parlor. A place for books will cry to be filled till it gets it prayer answered. Book shelves preserve books. One shelf of books gathered together is a better library than twice the number scattered from attic to cellar.
Finally, a taste for reading is an essential prerequisite to a useful library. A well is of no use if you never draw water from it. At the same time a good library in the household, accessible to all, from baby to grandmother, is one of the best influences with which to develop a taste for reading. Have no books so fine that they cannot be used.
The home ought no more to be without a library than without a dining-room and kitchen. If you have but one room, and it is lighted by the great wood fire in the flaming fireplace, as Abraham Lincoln’s was, do as Abraham Lincoln did; pick out one corner of your fireplace for a library, and use it. Every man ought to provide for the brain as well as for the stomach. This does not require capital; there are cheap editions of the best books; it only requires time and forecast. We write in a private library, and a fairly good one for working purposes, of three thousand-and-odd volumes; we began it many years ago, on a salary of $1,000 a year, with five books -- a commentary in four volumes and a dictionary. The best libraries are not made; they grow.
At first buy only books that you want immediately to read. Do not be deluded into buying books because they are classics, or cheap, or that you may get rid of an agent. One book read is worth a dozen books looked at. No book is possessed till it is read. Reference books constitute an exception, and an important exception, to this rule. These are the foundations of a good library. The essential reference books are a dictionary, a good atlas, and an encyclopedia. Any school atlas will do, though if you are able to purchase it a good atlas is much better; and best of all is a wise selection of atlases. There is no best encyclopedia; your choice must depend upon your resources, pecuniary and mental.
In purchasing books exercise a choice in editions. The lowest-priced books are not always the cheapest. Buy books of transient interest or minor importance -- all novels, for example, and current books of travel -- in cheap form. On the other hand, histories, classics of all sorts, and generally all permanent books, should be bought in good binding and good type. It takes well-seasoned lumber to make a good family library.
Have a place for your library. A dollar spent in pine lumber, and a little mechanical skill, will make a larger and better one. Varnished pine is handsome enough for any parlor. A place for books will cry to be filled till it gets it prayer answered. Book shelves preserve books. One shelf of books gathered together is a better library than twice the number scattered from attic to cellar.
Finally, a taste for reading is an essential prerequisite to a useful library. A well is of no use if you never draw water from it. At the same time a good library in the household, accessible to all, from baby to grandmother, is one of the best influences with which to develop a taste for reading. Have no books so fine that they cannot be used.
Book Review: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again
Author: John Ronald Reul Tolkien
Review by Lauren Tatum, 12 years old
September 15, 2003
The Hobbit takes place in the Middle Ages during the Thrid Age. The main character and hero in this story is Bilbo Baggins. The other main characters are Gandalf, Thorin Oakenshield, the Dwarves, Elrond, Beorn, and King Bard.
The conflict was when Gandalf convinced Bilbo, a hobbit from the peaceful and quiet Shire, to lands beyond the Misty Mountains to where he may not return. The climax was when Biblo found the Ring, they killed Smaug the dragon, and when the Free People fought a battle against the goblins.
My favorite character was Bilbo, because he was brave and reading about him reminds us that even small people can do great things. I love books like this. It is not as good as The Lord of the Rings. But it is still very goofd and the best part is that it is easy enough that children can read it, to. J.R.R. Tolkien is my favorite author. There is not much I dislike in his books. I recommend this book for everyone to enjoy. Especially people who enjoy reading fantasy and old classic books.
"There are very few works of genius' in recent literature. This is one." -- The Nation
Other Books J.R.R. Tolkien Wrote
The Silmarillion
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
PLUS:
18 Short Stories
Adwards won: International Fantasy adward, 1957 Royal Society of Literature Benson medal, 1966 Foreign Book prizee, 1973 World Science Fiction Convention Gandalf adward, 1974 Hugo adward, 1978
Author: John Ronald Reul Tolkien
Review by Lauren Tatum, 12 years old
September 15, 2003
The Hobbit takes place in the Middle Ages during the Thrid Age. The main character and hero in this story is Bilbo Baggins. The other main characters are Gandalf, Thorin Oakenshield, the Dwarves, Elrond, Beorn, and King Bard.
The conflict was when Gandalf convinced Bilbo, a hobbit from the peaceful and quiet Shire, to lands beyond the Misty Mountains to where he may not return. The climax was when Biblo found the Ring, they killed Smaug the dragon, and when the Free People fought a battle against the goblins.
My favorite character was Bilbo, because he was brave and reading about him reminds us that even small people can do great things. I love books like this. It is not as good as The Lord of the Rings. But it is still very goofd and the best part is that it is easy enough that children can read it, to. J.R.R. Tolkien is my favorite author. There is not much I dislike in his books. I recommend this book for everyone to enjoy. Especially people who enjoy reading fantasy and old classic books.
"There are very few works of genius' in recent literature. This is one." -- The Nation
Other Books J.R.R. Tolkien Wrote
The Silmarillion
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
PLUS:
18 Short Stories
Adwards won: International Fantasy adward, 1957 Royal Society of Literature Benson medal, 1966 Foreign Book prizee, 1973 World Science Fiction Convention Gandalf adward, 1974 Hugo adward, 1978
Author Review: Sonia Bleeker
Sonia Bleeker (1909 - 1971)emigrated to the US from Russia when she was 9 years old. After graduating from Hunter College in 1933, she married Herbert Zim. (Another author we have enjoyed.) When her sons were young she couldn't find any books about Native Americans for their age level -- so she wrote her own.
"The Nez Perce Indians were unique in many ways. Miss Bleeker's story of young Spotted Salmon points out the differences between his tribe and the others of the Northwest. The 8-to-12 reader will enjoy this one and learn something of Indian relations in the early days of American expansion."
--Charlotte News
List of titles by Sonia Bleeker:Books about Native Americans and other indigenous people:
Apache Indians, The: Raiders of the Southwest
Ashanti of Ghana, The
Aztec, The: Indians of MexicoCherokee, The: Indians of the Mountains
Chippewa Indians, The: Rice Gatherers of the Great Lakes
Crow Indians,The: Hunters of the Northern Plains
Delaware Indians, The: Eastern Fishermen & Farmers
Eskimo, The: Arctic Hunters and Trappers
Horsemen of the Western Plateau: The Nez Perce Indians
Ibo of Biafra , TheInca, The: Indians of the Andes
Indians of the Longhouse: The Story of the Iroquois
Masai, The: Herders of East Africa
Maya, The: Indians of Central America
Mission Indians of California, The
Navajo, The: Herders, Weavers & Silversmiths
Pueblo Indians, The: Farmers of the Rio Grande
Pygmies of Africa, The: Africans of the Congo Forest
Sea Hunters, The: Indians of the Northwest Coast
Seminole Indians, The
Sioux Indians, The: Hunters & Warriors of the PlainsTuareg, The: Nomads & Warriors of the Sahara
Zulu of South Africa, The: Cattlemen, Farmers, & Warriors
Other:
Golden Book of Bird Stamps, The
Golden Playbook of Indian Stamps, The
Indians
Life and Death (co-authored with Herbert Zim)
Mexico: A Regional Guide
Apache Indians, The: Raiders of the Southwest
Ashanti of Ghana, The
Aztec, The: Indians of MexicoCherokee, The: Indians of the Mountains
Chippewa Indians, The: Rice Gatherers of the Great Lakes
Crow Indians,The: Hunters of the Northern Plains
Delaware Indians, The: Eastern Fishermen & Farmers
Eskimo, The: Arctic Hunters and Trappers
Horsemen of the Western Plateau: The Nez Perce Indians
Ibo of Biafra , TheInca, The: Indians of the Andes
Indians of the Longhouse: The Story of the Iroquois
Masai, The: Herders of East Africa
Maya, The: Indians of Central America
Mission Indians of California, The
Navajo, The: Herders, Weavers & Silversmiths
Pueblo Indians, The: Farmers of the Rio Grande
Pygmies of Africa, The: Africans of the Congo Forest
Sea Hunters, The: Indians of the Northwest Coast
Seminole Indians, The
Sioux Indians, The: Hunters & Warriors of the PlainsTuareg, The: Nomads & Warriors of the Sahara
Zulu of South Africa, The: Cattlemen, Farmers, & Warriors
Other:Golden Book of Bird Stamps, The
Golden Playbook of Indian Stamps, The
Indians
Life and Death (co-authored with Herbert Zim)
Mexico: A Regional Guide
Author Review: Patricia Beatty
Mrs. Beatty wrote in an autobiographical sketch in 1972, “When I, Patricia Beatty, started writing a children’s novel -- largely as a resort from boredom -- in 1956, I had no idea that writing was about to become first my avocation with a vengeance and then a full-time job. Nor did I have any idea that my long-suffering Ph.D. husband, John Beatty, was also to be snatched up before long into the wild wide world of authorship. It has all been a great surprise to us!”
Patricia Beatty and her husband, John, were born in the same hospital in Portland, Oregon, in the same year! Even though their mothers were acquainted with each other, Patricia and John didn’t really get to know each other until they were attending Reed College and they didn’t marry until they were 28 years old.
Patricia and John were both teachers. John taught 16th-18th century English history at the college level and Patricia taught high school history before they married. This knowledge of history shows throughout their detailed historical novels.
In 1959 Patricia began a novel set in 1752 London. Her husband began helping her since this time period was his specialty. In all they wrote 11 novels together before his sudden death in 1975. Mrs. Beatty died in 1991.
In another part of her autobiographical sketch Mrs. Beatty says, “In all our writing we aim to teach history to young readers in what we conceive to be its most painless form, the historical novel.”
I was first introduced to Patricia Beatty through the Sonlight Curriculum and later we came to know more of her work through the TruthQuest history guides. Our family appreciates her approach especially because we have two very adventurous girls who don’t like typical “girl books.” Many of the main characters in her books are girls living during pioneer times.
List of titles by Patricia Beatty
: "SL" = used in the Sonlight Curriculum; "TQ" = TruthQuest History Guides
The Bad Bell of San Salvador
Be Ever Hopeful, Hannalee
Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant
Billy Bedamned Long Gone By
Blue Stars Watching
Bonanza Girl --SL
By Crumbs! It's Mine!
Charley Skedaddle- TQ
The Coach that Never Came
Eben Tyne- TQ
Eight Mules from Monterey
Hail Columbia
How Many Miles to Sundown
I Want My Sunday, Stranger!
Indian Canoemaker
Jayhawker
Jonathan Down-Under
Just Some Weeds from the Wilderness
Lacy Makes a Match
The Lady from Black Hawk
A Long Way to Whiskey Creek
Lupita Manana
Me, California Perkins
Melinda Takes a Hand
The Nickel-Plated Beauty
O the Red Rose Tree
The Queen's Own Grove
Red Rock Over the River
Rufus, Red Rufus
Sarah and Me and the Lady from the Sea
The Sea Pair
Something to Shout About
Squaw Dog
The Staffordshire Terror
That's One Ornery Orphan
Turn Homeward, Hannalee - SL
Wait for Me, Watch for Me, Eula Bee - SL & TQ
Who Comes with Cannons- TQ
Written by Patricia and John Beatty:
At the Seven Stars- TQ
Campion Towers - TQ
A Donkey for the King
Holdfast
King's Knight's Pawn
Master Rosalind
Pirate Royal
The Queen's Wizard
The Royal Dirk
Who Comes to King's Mountain?
Witch Dog
Patricia Beatty and her husband, John, were born in the same hospital in Portland, Oregon, in the same year! Even though their mothers were acquainted with each other, Patricia and John didn’t really get to know each other until they were attending Reed College and they didn’t marry until they were 28 years old.
Patricia and John were both teachers. John taught 16th-18th century English history at the college level and Patricia taught high school history before they married. This knowledge of history shows throughout their detailed historical novels.
In 1959 Patricia began a novel set in 1752 London. Her husband began helping her since this time period was his specialty. In all they wrote 11 novels together before his sudden death in 1975. Mrs. Beatty died in 1991.
In another part of her autobiographical sketch Mrs. Beatty says, “In all our writing we aim to teach history to young readers in what we conceive to be its most painless form, the historical novel.”
I was first introduced to Patricia Beatty through the Sonlight Curriculum and later we came to know more of her work through the TruthQuest history guides. Our family appreciates her approach especially because we have two very adventurous girls who don’t like typical “girl books.” Many of the main characters in her books are girls living during pioneer times.
List of titles by Patricia Beatty
: "SL" = used in the Sonlight Curriculum; "TQ" = TruthQuest History Guides The Bad Bell of San Salvador
Be Ever Hopeful, Hannalee
Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant
Billy Bedamned Long Gone By
Blue Stars Watching
Bonanza Girl --SL
By Crumbs! It's Mine!
Charley Skedaddle- TQ
The Coach that Never Came
Eben Tyne- TQ
Eight Mules from Monterey
Hail Columbia
How Many Miles to Sundown
I Want My Sunday, Stranger!
Indian Canoemaker
Jayhawker
Jonathan Down-Under
Just Some Weeds from the Wilderness
Lacy Makes a Match
The Lady from Black Hawk
A Long Way to Whiskey Creek
Lupita Manana
Me, California Perkins
Melinda Takes a Hand
The Nickel-Plated Beauty
O the Red Rose Tree
The Queen's Own Grove
Red Rock Over the River
Rufus, Red Rufus
Sarah and Me and the Lady from the Sea
The Sea Pair
Something to Shout About
Squaw Dog
The Staffordshire Terror
That's One Ornery Orphan
Turn Homeward, Hannalee - SL
Wait for Me, Watch for Me, Eula Bee - SL & TQ
Who Comes with Cannons- TQ
Written by Patricia and John Beatty:
At the Seven Stars- TQ
Campion Towers - TQ
A Donkey for the King
Holdfast
King's Knight's Pawn
Master Rosalind
Pirate Royal
The Queen's Wizard
The Royal Dirk
Who Comes to King's Mountain?
Witch Dog
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Author Review: Irving and Ruth Adler
I've had a personal website now for about five years. We used it to share book lists of our favorite authors and series and to sell my own books that I wrote. Now that I sell them on CurrClick I'm thinking about closing the website and moving everything to this blog. There's quite a bit of info over there so it's going to take awhile. Here's my first entry:
Irving Adler(April 27, 1913 - )
and
Ruth Adler (April 20, 1915 - March 30, 1968)
"Writing books is like eating peanuts. As soon as you finish one, you start on another." --Irving Adler
While a graduate student he met Ruth Relis, a seventeen-year-old sophomore attending Barnard College. Ruth was born on a farm in New York and went to a one-room schoolhouse when she was young. She was sent to college in New York City when she was 16. They were married in 1935, one day before Ruth received her college degree.
Adler was a mathematics professor at Columbia University and Bennington College, and at one time was the head of the mathematics department of a New York City high school. In 1937 he took a course in atomic structure at Columbia University. He says of this course, "This course planted in my head... that the main ideas that physicists have put together in their theories of atomic structure are so simple that it should be possible to explain them to children... By this time there was a full-grown book in my head clamoring to be let out to explain to children how we learn about small things like atoms and big things like stars." So, he wrote the book that was clamoring to get out of his head. Later it was divided into two books, The Secret of Light and The Stars: Steppingstones Into Space.
At first Ruth illustrated the books that Irving wrote. Later she helped selected subjects, discussed outlines, and read and critiqued everything he wrote. When they began the Reason Why books, she began writing whole books herself. There are 30 books in this series, Ruth wrote 23 and illustrated almost all of them.
Writing allowed Adler more time for his studies than teaching and he received his PhD in pure mathematics in October 1961. Mrs. Adler also returned to graduate school after their children were in school and received a master of arts degree in 1959.
Together they have written more than fifty books about science and mathematics. Their books have been printed in 13 languages! Dr. Adler also wrote seven books under the pen name Robert Irving.
I also thought it interesting that one of their children became a theoretical physicist and the other became an author and illustrator!
Ruth became very ill in 1968. When she became too weak to write to her friend, Joyce, in South America, Irving would write letters for her. After Ruth's death, he continued to write to Joyce. They later became good friends and eventually married.
"The Adlers have an unfailing ability to get at the heart of science and express great truths in simple, direct prose." - Horn Book
List of titles by Irving Adler
:The Reason Why Series, published by The John Day Company, New York in the 1960s. Science books for young readers that show basic principles at work in this fascinating universe, explaining them with imagination and clarity.:
Air
Coal
Earth's Crust, The
Evolution
Fibers
Heat
Houses
Insects and Plants
Irrigation: Changing Deserts to Gardens
Machines
Numbers Old and New
Numerals: New Dresses for Old Numbers
Oceans
Rivers
Shadows
Storms
Story of a Nail, The, c1961
Things That Spin: From Tops to Atoms
Why? A Book of Reasons
Why and How? A Second Book of Reasons
Your Ears
Your Eyes
Books for Older Readers by Irving Adler:
Color in Your Life
Dust
Elementary Mathematics of the Atom
Fire in Your Life
Hot and Cold
How Life Began
Inside the Nucleus
Logic for Beginners
Magic House of Numbers
Man-Made Moons
Monkey Business: Hoaxes in the Name of Science
New Look at Arithmetic, A
New Mathematics, The
Probability and Statistics for Every Man
Secret of Light, The
Seeing the Earth From Space
Stars, The: Stepping Stones Into Space
Sun and Its Family, The
Thinking Machines
Time in Your Life
Tools in Your Life
Tools of Science, The
Weather in Your Life
What we Want of Our Schools
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