The Hundred Dresses

We finished the short story The Hundred Dresses, a Eleanor Estes Newberry Honor book, in a one-hour sitting. It's leveled at 5.0, (starting fifth grade), but most kids in grades 3-4 could easily read it, with help on a few advanced vocabulary words.

Although, in leveling books, maturity of themes is to be considered as much as vocabulary and readability. I think fifth grade is the best year to delve seriously into the themes Estes presents in The Hundred Dresses.

Estes's themes--racial, academic, and economic prejudice--challenge children to adhere to their convictions despite fears of losing friends, losing popularity, or of being ridiculed themselves.

The main character, Maddie, best friend to the antagonist in the story, largely ignores the Holy Spirit's warnings about letting her friend tease Wanda, a poor polish girl in their class who wears the same blue dress every day, and lives on the wrong side of town.

This isn't a Christian book, per se, but the inner warnings Maddie receives can only be described as Holy Spirit pricks of conscience.  And the conviction her tormented soul eventually arrives at--that she will never again stand by and allow anyone to be teased, despite any cost to herself (even losing her best friend), is clearly faith driven.

I highly recommend this book as part of your devotional time. It's a wonderful illustration of the cost involved in being set apart for God. Our children need to assured that God is with them always, that he will never abandon them, and because of this, they are free to be Holy. There is nothing to fear.

Leviticus 20:26 

You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Hebrews 13:5

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

See this post for more on the literary works of Eleanor Estes.

VBS blessings...and whines

Warning:  Whining first, blessings second.  Stick with me?

We started Vacation Bible School when our oldest was four years old. That makes six years of this high-octane activity. Only once did I find a daytime program. All the other years, it's been a grueling five consecutive nights of over-stimulation, leading to insomnia for my whole clan.

To get them through, I push naps every other day. That helps the VBS workers enormously, but it makes my nights worse. I never know if the insomnia is because of the nap, or because they can't settle their over-stimulated minds and bodies down.

Nap or no nap, they rarely fall asleep before 10:30 PM ( or 11 for Paul) on VBS nights....and the fussiness (x 4 this year) on the drive home and during bedtime prep, and the next day....is a sure thing. I've tried different things to calm them down before bed, to no avail.

It's just this beast I have to grit my teeth and endure--counting the hours until Friday night. They would call it the highlight of their year, with the county fair coming in second. Christmas is pretty wonderful too, of course.

They love it as much as I love chocolate....so I get it. I support it with fake smiles all week.

Would I want someone exiling me to a chocolate-free island?

In less than twenty-four hours, it's over for another year. I'm sure we'll survive, despite the heat advisories all week and the broken church air conditioning.  Sauna, anyone?

My husband reminds me that air conditioning is a recent invention. Considering this, I've berated myself all week. Surely I can be more long-suffering? How would I survive on the mission field, helping native women carry heavy jugs of water, uphill, back from the contaminated river?

The air conditioning went out in the van early last summer. The central AC in the house will break eventually, and we'll likely have no money to fix it. So, yes, the Lord will teach me that virtue yet....long-sufferingness.

There are many good things, and to remind my frazzled self of those, I list them here:

~ The unbridled passion my children exude as they sing (okay, shout) praise songs to Jesus, complete with sophisticated hand and body motions.

~ The friends they wave at and greet so enthusiastically in the parking lot....a practice always mimicked by my toddler.

~ The number of times they ask me each day....."How many more hours until VBS starts?"

~ The sanctuary and classrooms, decorated to eye-popping perfection, every year.

~ The delightful gadgets they come home with, like glow-in-the-dark trinkets. (Such things distract them from bedtime prep, so I confiscate them until morning.  They always remember to ask me for the confiscated loot, first thing in the morning, though.)

~ The enthusiasm with which they jump out of our vehicle upon arrival, smiling from ear to ear, eyes dancing.

~ The handmade T-shirts we've collected over the years, each one displaying a different VBS theme...a different Bible verse.

~ The loving, spirited teachers who never look tired...even on Friday night.  I'm sure they fall into bed every night, but the Lord sure holds them up during the festivities.

~ The youngest one here (Mary, this year) reciting the week's Bible verse at dinner, melting my heart.

~ For the inventive snacks and crafts, so lovingly provided.

~ The grace my children extend to me, the party pooper, every year.  Somehow, they get it...how it makes my days longer, harder, when they're overtired and fussy.

~ And this year, a very special thank you......for baby Matthew, seven months old this weekend, whom I've had the pleasure of holding in the nursery all week. He's amazing. His mother does sound for this church. Two-year-old Beth has taken my devotion to him in stride. She's still gotten more of my attention than usual.  (It been just the three of us in there.)

~ I shall always remember baby Matthew's humming along to my songs, as I walked him to sleep. He's a few months advanced in everything...and his singing? Incredible.

Do my children gain spiritual knowledge from VBS? Not always.

But the point, for me, is this:

They gain childhood memories of worshiping Jesus with every ounce of energy they've got...in the company of saints. They experience the joy of the Lord.

Priceless.

Author's Corner, Eleanor Estes

This afternoon before Vacation Bible School (it that adventure exhausting or what?) we finished Ginger Pye, by Eleanor Estes (6th grade reading level).

Oh, my goodness.

I cried for most of the last chapter, giving myself a wallop of a headache. It was a happy cry though. Do endings get any happier than this? The only sadness for my boys was that it came to an end at all. The main characters, 10- and 9-year-old brother and sister Jerry and Rachel, felt like friends to my boys.  How Paul and Peter would have loved to hang out in this 1951 neighborhood!

As I closed the book and headed for the tissue box, Paul begin perusing our shelves immediately, wondering what we would read next. He wanted to know if there was a sequel to Ginger Pye.

Yes, there is! Pinky Pye  (grade level 5.9) is the sequel to Ginger Pye.

Eleanor Estes, once a librarian, began her writing career with The Moffats, in 1941. She started this heartwarming story while in bed, recovering from tuberculosis. Here is her Amazon Page, listing all her books. Here is a biography.

Her Moffats books are a series, two of which are Newberry-honored books. The novel The Hundred Dresses (grade level 5.0) was also chosen as a Newberry Honor. Ginger Pye is her only Newberry Medal book.

What success! I can't think of another author we've read with more Newberry awards.

Most notable books:

The Moffats, 1941
The Middle Moffat, 1942 (Newberry Honor)
Rufus M, 1943 (Newberry Honor)
The Hundred Dresses, 1944 (Newberry Honor)
Ginger Pye, 1951 (Newberry Medal)
Pinkey Pye, 1958

        

Newberry honored books show a bronze circle award on the front cover, while the medaled books show a gold circle award.

6 Endearing Things About Ginger Pye:

~ Can a brother and sister be better friends than these two?  I don't think so. The book is about their relationship, really, though the plot line has to do with Ginger Pye, their dog, being kidnapped early in the book. With all its meanderings into a child's mind, this story warmed my heart from page 1.

~ This story will make you say YES!, the next time your kids ask for a dog. You'll suddenly feel that every kid needs a dog. (If we had the money to feed a dog, I'd go to the pound immediately.)

~ Everything is wholesome and safe in this neighborhood. Kids could wander, explore, and stay out 'till dark. The author draws you into an earlier time, delighting your heart every step of the way--making you long for the past.

~ Eleanor Estes started with pages of notes about her own childhood, and from there, she wrote her delightful books. It's amazing how she's captured the very essence of childhood--as though she'd lived it just yesterday.

~ There's a wonderful teenager in this book, Sam Doody, who makes your heart cheer. He's perfect for young kids to look up to.

~ Chapter Two, Dusting the Pews, is hilariously funny. I was laughing so hard at one point, I could barely read on.

What can I say?  Eleanor Estes is my new favorite author, next to my long-time favorite, Louisa May Alcott.

about those blog click stats

Just wanted to add something about blog statistics. I mentioned that only two people clicked on Kristin's Kenya story. I should add, for your comfort, that I don't know who clicks on what (and I wouldn't want to)--nor does any other blog author, unless they have some sophisticated equipment needed for crime solving, or whatever. I know little to nothing about technology.

Google blog stats show number of clicks, I assume, so blog authors will know what interests readers. Most stats seem to be designed for business blogs, or those containing advertisements or products. As such most of them are of little use to me. Interesting sometimes, but not very useful. And I write a knee-jerk, emotional kind of blog, so what people want to read doesn't usually figure in.

 I rarely have time to click on links, myself. When I sit down to read something during the day (or stand, as is often the case), I've usually got five minutes to spare. After the kids go to bed, I know that clicking on links means I probably won't get my dishes done, or my last laundry load shuffled. Dangerous.

So I know, first hand, why few moms click on links.


Another Random Topic

If I ever write a book before I die, I'm in trouble.  Publishers require you to push your own book nowadays, using blogs, Facebook and Twitter.  I'm so not a business woman.  I would abhor having to do this. Writing for magazines seems so much more appealing.

It'd be interesting to know whether self-promotion really works.  Ann Voskamp works very hard to push her book, while The Pioneer Woman, who has three books out, says very little on her blog about them, especially after publication release.  And yet both women are on the New York Times Bestseller lists for their genres.

Both women give generously to charity, so any self-promotion they do benefits the less fortunate. I find no fault in it.

Nevertheless, I hope publishers do away with the self-promotion requirement.  Not every author is also a savvy business person. Why not just ask them to picture the book on their blog, and provide a link for buying?

On a whim one day, I looked into submitting guest posts to (in)courage (a wonderful site, by the way). I found that you have to list your Twitter account, probably so they can see how many followers you have.

Is that what our society's been reduced to?  How many followers we have?

Insert eye roll here.

6 Ways to Love Your Husband Better

My heart broke a little this morning.

Two-year-old Beth got into something my husband left out, wasting it (and money). He was extremely frustrated. His ADHD makes it very difficult to attend to his personal items. Simple organizational tasks the rest of us take for granted, are huge for inattentive-type ADHD sufferers (Peter, my son, doesn't have this type).

I kept quiet, letting his frustration vent. I heard him say:  "She can't grow up soon enough for me! And I won't be adopting any little ones from a third world country, either."

Heartbroken, I just dropped my head, attending to Beth's diaper.

Mind you, my husband isn't a jerk, though this comment makes him seem like one. Yes, it was one of his worst moments, but we all have such moments. He exerts himself plenty to love us all sacrificially.

And even if my husband's heart was open to adoption, we would never qualify, due to poverty-level income and our ages. Besides, I hadn't even asked him about adoption. Perhaps the Lord's been at work in some way?  I don't know.

Husband has suffered incredible stress in the past two years, so very little of what he does or says right now, is his true self. That's never far from my mind.

Still, the hardness of his comments broke me.

He left for work after this, and I started a conversation with my heavenly Father. I have a list to share, which the Holy Spirit helped me compile.

6 Ways to Love Your Husband Better


~ When he disappoints you, go to your Father. Most things don't require a response. Pray something like: "Our Father, help me to magnify the good things about my husband, and apply grace to the bad things. Prevent me from stewing, from responding in anger, from holding a grudge. Remind me of my own need of grace."

~ Your husband wants respect more than love.  He's just wired that way.  Never complain about the living he provides--your everyday living circumstances--even if it's just to say you have nothing to wear. His burden to provide is huge. Be grateful and sensitive, thanking him for his hard work.

~ Serve him as much as you can, in love.  This is hard when little children keep you running, but simple things like bringing him a cold drink without being asked, blesses him. Any sign of respect blesses him!

~ Go to him with your personal difficulties, when other matters aren't stressing him. Let him lead you. This is so hard for women! We often think we can do it better. Practice getting out of the way, and see how his leadership skills develop. You'll feel blessed. He'll feel respected.

~ Leave him alone as he plays and interacts with the children. Let him be himself. If we want our men to be good fathers, we have to stop interfering. Pray much, say little.

~ Be willing to live out the Gospel in your home, because you are no better.

Remember, marriage doesn't complete us. God does. Once we realize this, we can love our spouses sacrificially. Marriage, like parenthood, is just another avenue by which we're sanctified.