An Old Favorite

When I was young, there was a small town library that we used to go to, with a small but cozy children's section. I used to check out the same books a lot and re-read them. I don't remember what they all were, just snatches - I guess I was about 11, because we moved soon after that. Some of the books I've come across again as we've been homeschooling - Half Magic by Edward Eager, The Saturdays, The Railway Children. But my very favorite one, I couldn't remember. I couldn't remember much of anything about it (I guess I don't have a very good memory!) except that there were five kids, and the baby was called Honey. Mama Squirrel suggested that I ask at Stump the Bookseller, so I did - and within a couple of days someone had solved my mystery and provided me with the name and author of the book - The Children of the Old House by Ruth Bouchard (1963, Doubleday). So I ordered a copy - it's not an easy book to locate - and it's been sitting on my shelf for a long, long time. I'm finally getting around to reading it. J is away this week; he went to Biloxi with some guys at church to do some post-Katrina work, so I started reading this book to L because he's bored with his brother gone. And, as I'm reading, I'm remembering, and I'm sure this is the same book.

Here's what the inside book jacket says:

"What could be more exciting than to move from Grandfather's too-small house in town to a big house all one's own right near a river? That's what the children thought until they saw the house: it had no front door, only a big opening where a double door should have been. The sun poured through empty window holes and everything was dirty--but there was a garden, wild and beautiful, with plenty of room. Almost anything could happen in such a house and such a garden, and this the story of what did happen in the house in which Ruth, Michael, Peter, Inga and Honey grew up and had their funny, sad, and dangerous adventures. Moving to a new town meant the excitement of new friends and a new school--but it also meant lots of money needed for proper furnishings and house repairs. The brothers and sisters embarked on some hilarious projects to help make money, and through their loving and imaginative efforts, combined with several serious family crises, the family finally turned the old house into a real home."

What I liked about the book was that each child was allowed to choose a place in the house, any place they wanted, to be their very own, and after they had done something to earn the privilege, the father would fix it up for them as a private place.

The littlest one, Honey, was born at midnight on Midsummer Eve, and the mother is convinced that he's special. The rest of the family agree that he's a beautiful baby, with a honey-colored glow and honey brown eyes to match, but they don't see him as unusual. He's just a baby in the book and doesn't really come into the story too much.

The story feels like All-of-a-Kind Family, or The Moffats.

Anyway, here's how chapter 9 begins:

Almost An Accident

It was on Granny's birthday that something terrible very nearly happened. It was Ruth's fault. It was the greatest trouble she ever caused, but it came about through one of her usual faults--tormenting Michael.

Of late Ruth had been even nastier to Michael than usual. She did not want to, but she could not stop herself. The truth was she was jealous of Michael. For one thing, Ruth was jealous because she had not yet earned her own place. But she minded even more about Daddy. He had become quite interested in Michael's doings in the attic, and he often visited him there. Nobody else was allowed in Michael's own place. He had put up a notice: 'Private.'

... All this made Ruth jealous. She ran Michael down more than ever. Again and again she had to be told to leave the table. Again and again Mummy told her she had a proper poison tongue. And still she crossed Michael whenever she could.

Then Granny's birthday came along, and on that day something happened that did change Ruth at last ...

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The back of the book jacket lists 'Books About Children in Other Lands': Mario by Marion Garthwaite (Mexican), Ten and a Kid by Sadie Rose Weilerstein (Lithuanian), Aloha Susan by Helen Hoyt (Hawaii), Su-Mei's Golden Year by Marguerite Harmon Bro (Chinese), Esmeralda Ahoy by Elisabeth Fairholme and Pamela Powell (British), Sword of the Winds by Nancy Faulkner (Cornish), Children of the Soil by Nora Burglon (Scandinavian). This one is apparently the German one, although when I was a kid, I never saw any others in the series and never even realized that this was a story about turn-of-the-century Germany. Listen to some of the illustrators of this series: Kurt Weise (Ping), Peter Spier, Edgar Parin D'Aulaire, C. Walter Hodges.