Long Forgotten Author

Reading is a new passion of mine. I never read a book growing up unless it was a book assignment. My top two all time children's chapter book authors are Lucy Maud Montgomery and Laura Ingalls Wilder. We finished up reading all of the "Little House on The Prairie" books a couple of months ago. Let me just say that my boys all time favorite books are the "Little House" on audio cd. I kept on checking the library for a new series and I couldn't find anything similar to the series. I noticed at the Rogers Library, a series of books by Lois Lenski. The books look old and out of date. I have ,noticed them for several months. I finally decided to pick "Strawberry Girl" and feel in loved with the author. My observation of the books are they are very similar to the "Little House..." books. Her illustrations capture a folksy simplicity that I adore.
The best way to describe these books are as historical novels of children growing up in the early 1900's in different regions across America. Lois Lenski did extensive research on each book and give accurate details about each region. So, far...I haven't come across anything questionable and all of the booksim are wholesome. The girls and boys are courageous in all of her books. The books give a nice glimsed have what it would of been like to live in that time period.
I so appreciate that for her American Regional and the Roundabout America series she traveled to the places she wrote about and actually lived with local families. Their real-life experiences, as a whole, are the books, with names changed. She didn't just sit down and make up these stories. She lived among the people and work these amazing stories.

It's a real shame, that most of her works are out of print. I'm going to end up spending a small fortune in building up my own collection.

Here's the list of books I have read so far...

Strawberry Girl

Blue Ridge Billy

Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison

Bayou Suzette

Shoo-Fly Girl

Every child would greatly benifit from these books. The best way to teach and learn about history is thru historical novels. I thought the books had a nice cross between the "Little House.." books and American Girl books. Don't miss out, especially if you have girls. The girls in these books are not silly but strong and they all have challenges that they have to overcome. You can re-read these books over and over again. You wouldn't get tired of them.