Rereading Our Childhood
Episodes
Rereading From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konisburg
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For the first episode of our fourth (!) season, we reread E.L. Konigsburg's Newbery Medal winner From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwe...
Rereading The Young Unicorns by Madeleine L'Engle
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For this episode, we reread Madeleine L’Engle’s 1968 novel The Young Unicorns, the third book in the Austin family series. We discussed 1960s New ...
Rereading A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, Deborah introduces Mary Grace to A Bear Called Paddington, the first book in the beloved series about a bear from Peru who ends up li...
Our Favorite Picture Books
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We celebrated our 50th episode by talking about our favorite picture books and discussing our favorite memories from the two and a half years we'...
Rereading Theater Shoes, with Jean Freedman
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Writer and scholar Jean Freedman joins us to talk about Noel Streatfeild’s 1944 book Theater Shoes (originally published in the UK as Curtain Up), t...
Rereading Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For this episode, we reread E.B. White’s 1952 classic Charlotte’s Web. Also by White: Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan, The Elements of Sty...
Rereading Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues by Donald J. Sobol
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For our third annual Encyclopedia Brown episode, we matched wits with each other and with Encyclopedia in trying to crack the cases in Encyclopedia Br...
Rereading The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For this episode, we reread Louise Fitzhugh's 1965 novel The Long Secret, the sequel to Harriet the Spy. We discussed the mystery of who is leavi...
Rereading Little Women, with Jamie Stiehm
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, syndicated columnist Jamie Stiehm joins us to reread Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women, which was published in two par...
Rereading Magic by the Lake by Edward Eager
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, we reread Edward Eager’s 1957 book Magic by the Lake, the sequel to Half Magic, which we discussed during our first season. Mentio...
Rereading Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, we reread Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers's beloved 1934 classic. We discuss the difference between the book and the movie version of...
Rereading All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, we discuss All-of-a-Kind Family, Sydney Taylor's 1951 classic about five sisters growing up on New York's Lower East Side. ...
Rereading Nancy Drew: The Secret of the Old Clock, with Sara Fitzgerald
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, we discuss The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene, the first installment in the Nancy Drew series, with writer Sara Fitzgerald....
Rereading Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, we discuss Esther Forbes's Newbery Medal-winning 1943 novel Johnny Tremain, the story of an apprentice silversmith in Boston who...
Rereading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
23 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, we reread Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved 1911 classic The Secret Garden, about Mary, a neglected girl who discovers a garden ...
Rereading Little Town on the Prairie, with Judith Kalb
09 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We were delighted to welcome our first guest, Judith Kalb, to talk about Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little Town on the Prairie (1941), the seventh bo...
Our Favorite Children's Books from 60 Years Ago
26 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For our last episode of 2024, we talked about our favorite children's books of 60 years ago, which we defined as 1964-1966---a great era for chil...
Rereading The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, we read Susan Cooper's 1973 novel The Dark is Rising, which was a Newbery Honor Book. It's the story of Will, a British boy...
Rereading The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars
28 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, we reread Betsy Byars' The Summer of the Swans, which won the 1971 Newbery Medal. It's an evocative story of a 14-year-old ...
Rereading Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch by Donald J. Sobol
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On the second annual Encyclopedia Brown episode, Mary Grace and Deborah match wits with America’s most brilliant boy detective, and with each other,...
Rereading The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
31 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, we reread Elizabeth Enright's 1941 novel The Saturdays, about four children who pool their allowances and set out on solo advent...
Rereading The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
17 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Elizabeth George Speare’s 1958 Newbery Medal winner The Witch of Blackbird Pond, about a girl, Kit, who’s strugglin...
Rereading The Hotel Cat by Esther Averill
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, Deborah (a cat person) rereads, and Mary Grace (not a cat person) reads, The Hotel Cat (1969), a late entry in Esther Averill’s lon...
Rereading M.C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton
19 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, Mary Grace and Deborah read Virginia Hamilton's 1974 novel M.C. Higgins the Great, about a teenaged boy in Appalachia whose life...
Rereading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
06 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, Deborah rereads, and Mary Grace reads, a book that needs no introduction: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, also known as The Wizard of Oz....
Rereading Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken
22 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah commemorate the 100th anniversary of Joan Aiken’s birth by reading Black Hearts in Battersea, the second in her Wolves Chroni...
Rereading Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
08 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Deborah and Mary Grace discuss Beverly Cleary's 1968 classic Ramona the Pest. This was the first book starring Ramona, who appeared in Cleary&apo...
Rereading The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) by Ellen Raskin
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Ellen Raskin’s 1971 mystery romp, The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel), about a woman’s decades-long ...
Rereading Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Misty of Chincoteague, Marguerite Henry's classic 1947 novel about Misty and her mother Phantom, wild ponies fro...
Rereading The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
28 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss The Book of Three (1964) by Lloyd Alexander. Other books in the series:The Black Cauldron (1965)The Castle of Llyr (196...
Rereading Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Deborah and Mary Grace discuss Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery's beloved 1908 tale of a strong-willed and imaginative orphan.Other books in...
Rereading February's Road by John Verney
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace introduces Deborah to John Verney’s 1961 novel February’s Road. Other books by Verney:Friday’s Tunnel (1959)Ismo (1964)Seven Sunflow...
Rereading Stuart Little by E.B. White
16 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Deborah and Mary Grace reread Stuart Little, E.B. White's 1945 classic about the adventures of a New York boy who looks exactly like a mouse. The...
Rereading The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, Mary Grace and Deborah discuss The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster's 1961 classic about Milo, a boy who's bored with life ...
Rereading The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss The Egypt Game, Zilpha Keatley Snyder's 1967 Newbery Honor Book about a group of children who create an elaborate ...
Rereading Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, Deborah and Mary Grace discuss Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint, published in 1956. In the first book of the popular series, Dan...
Our Favorite Children's Books from 50 Years Ago
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah ring in 2024 with a special episode where they count down their five favorite books from 50 years ago, defined as published bet...
Rereading Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren's 1945 classic (published in English in 1950) about an anarchic Swedish girl. ...
Rereading Half Magic by Edward Eager
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Edward Eager's Half Magic, the first of Eager's seven books of magical adventures. Four bored siblings living...
Rereading Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Deborah and Mary Grace read Carol Ryrie Brink's 1935 Newbery Medal winner Caddie Woodlawn, which is based on Brink's grandmother's chil...
Rereading Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers
03 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah reread one of their childhood favorites, Mary Rodgers' 1972 mother-daughter body-switching story Freaky Friday. They also ...
Rereading Little Witch and The Little Leftover Witch
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Deborah and Mary Grace celebrate Halloween by reading two books about witches, Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett, published in 1953, and The Litt...
Rereading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
05 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah reread Madeleine L'Engle's 1962 classic A Wrinkle in TIme, about...well, it's hard to describe what it's ab...
Rereading The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Deborah and Mary Grace read John D. Fitzgerald’s 1967* novel The Great Brain, the first book in the series featuring John, the narrator, and his old...
Rereading The Owl Service by Alan Garner
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah reread Alan Garner’s Carnegie Medal-winning 1967 novel The Owl Service, which tells the story of three teenagers, Alison, Gwy...
Rereading Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol
24 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective, which was published in 1963, is the first of Donald J. Sobol’s 29-book series featuring Encyclopedia, the boy det...
Rereading "B" is for Betsy by Carolyn Haywood
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah celebrate the beginning of a new school year by rereading "B" is for Betsy,, Carolyn Haywood's 1939 novel about ...
Rereading Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
27 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Deborah and Mary Grace discuss Ballet Shoes, Noel Streatfeild's classic 1936 story of a trio of adopted sisters, Pauline, Petrova, and Posy, who ...
Rereading The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Oops! Mary Grace made a mockery of the show title by picking a book that it turns out she probably didn't read as a child. What she (and Deborah)...
Rereading Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
29 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Harriet the Spy, Louise Fitzhugh’s 1964 classic about an 11-year-old would-be writer, her spying career, and her inte...
Rereading Henry Reed, Inc. by Keith Robertson
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Henry Reed, Inc., Keith Robertson's 1958 novel about a boy who starts a research business while spending the summe...
Rereading Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth by E.L. Konigsburg
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Deborah and Mary Grace reread Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, E.L. Konigsburg’s 1967 debut novel. You can listen to ...
Rereading Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On the first episode, Mary Grace and Deborah revisit Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Judy Blume's 1970 classic of adolescence.Mentione...