Vintage Kidlit Summer: Smoky House by Elizabeth Goudge

This week’s theme for Vintage Kidlit Summer is Moody and Mysterious. I chose to read Smoky House by Elizabeth Goudge, a story of a family living in Smoky House, an inn in Faraway, a fairytale village in the  west of England during the period following the Napoleonic wars in the 1800s. When a mysterious fiddler arrives, he uncovers  a secret band of smugglers and threatens life at the inn, but the children, their good dogs, and a fair amount of fairy intervention saves the day. 

I became a huge fan of Elizabeth Goudge a few years ago and I have been steadily reading through (and buying) all of her books. This year for my birthday, Brent ordered me four of her children’s books, republished by Girls Gone By Publishing in the U.K., Henrietta’s House, Sister of Angels, Smoky House, and Valley of Song. Her children’s books have the same rich sense of place and beautiful descriptions of nature as her adult books, but are also firmly rooted in fairyland. So you can expect a fair mix-up of prayers, angels, the inner thoughts of dogs, and fairies. While I definitely enjoy her adult novels more, this story brought to life the history of smuggling in  Devon in the 19th century and the folklore of that area. This edition also included an introduction with the story of Elizabeth Goudge’s own connection to the Devon area and her inspiration. The cover and illustrations by C. Walter Hodges were also really charming.

Vintage Kidlit Summer: Canadian Summer by Hilda Van Stockum

Canadian Summer by Hilda Van Stockum

Happy Summer everyone! 

I thought it would be fun to join the Vintage Kidlit Summer reading challenge hosted by Anna Rose Johnson and Faith Elizabeth Hough. 

This week’s challenge is Summer Vibes, so I chose Canadian Summer by Hilda Van Stockum. My husband rescued this vintage copy from the library discard shelf. But the series, which includes The Mitchells, Canadian Summer, and Friendly Gables, has also been reprinted by Bethlehem Books.

This is the sequel to The Mitchell’s, which I read aloud to my kids many years ago. The Mitchell’s is set in Washington, DC during World War II. The mother of a large, boisterous family is trying to hold down the home front while her husband is a soldier. In Canadian Summer, father has returned, but the only place he has been able to find work is Montreal. He can’t find a house to rent anywhere in Montreal, so he moves the family to a rustic ski lodge in rural Canada for the summer, where they have no electricity, running water, or telephone. To add to Mother’s exasperation, all of their trunks have been lost on the way. 

This is one of those rare children’s books with no orphans! Instead we have a large Catholic family of nine, including Granny.  It reminded me very much of All-of-a-Kind Family. 

I found a kindred spirit with the mother in this one who one moment feels like “one of those clever mothers in the Parents Magazine who are forever finding ways to improve their children,” and moments later after disaster ensues, goes back to the kitchen “wondering whether she was different from the Parents Magazine mothers or wether it was her children who were different.”

The family’s faith is embedded throughout in everyday ways from going to Mass with hilarious results to the kids praying when they are lost. There is also a beautiful moment when Peter asks his mother what she hopes he will be when he grows up, and she answers, “I want you to become men and women who are easily moved by God’s inspiration. I think there is nothing more beautiful in the world than a soul who is sensitive to the language of God, whether He speaks in nature, or in art, or through people, or whispers directly to our hearts. I think we are happy and alive just so much as our ears are open to His voice and our eyes to his handiwork. That is what I wish for you and that alone. Then I know you will choose the right way of life for yourselves.”

If you’d like to know more about Hilda Van Stockum, the Plumfield Moms podcast did a wonderful interview with her son here.