advice

Ch. 6-1: An Open Question

inconfidence Helpful , , , , , , ,

Dear Readers, 

I’ll post my answer to this query tomorrow. In the meantime, please feel free to offer your own advice in the comments.

XOXO

Emmy

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Dear Emmy,

My wife and I have two daughters, ages 6 and 9. We still enjoy reading bedtime stories together every night, though we’ve graduated to chapter books. We’ve just finished the Little House on the Prairie series, and have also already read the Chronicles of Narnia, which were series my wife remembered fondly from her own childhood.

We’d like to read a fantasy series next (dragons, magic, etc). Can you recommend something we’d all enjoy that’s appropriate for the 6 year old?  Preferably something with humor and strong female characters, and nothing dystopian-please! Illustrations are appreciated but not required.

I look forward to your response,

Andrew M.

Ch. 5 – Chocolate Coated History

inconfidence Educated , , , , , , , , , ,

Dear Emmy,

Can you recommend some historical fiction that I’ll actually learn something from? Preferably not too depressing but heavy enough that I actually feel accomplished after I read it.

I love historical fiction but I’m tired of sifting through the kind that is either X rated or just sticks the characters in 1850 but doesn’t actually incorporate any historical events.

Thanks! 

Kristen L.

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Dear Kristen,

I feel you 100% on this one.

My all-time favorite historical fiction novel is  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It takes place on the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and has to be the most well-written historical novel I have read to date.

That said, who doesn’t know about WWII?

If you’re looking for a more obscure historical event, try The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott, about the life of women who worked in textile mills in 1832. Or, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, about a segment of the foster care system that operated from the mid 1800s to the early 1900s.

If this still isn’t enough history for you, consider braving a little non-fiction. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie is such a beautifully written book with such wild subject matter that it reads like a novel (I promise!).

Enjoy!

XOXO

Emmy