Papa's Wife

Papa's WIfe
by: Thyra Ferre Bjorn
1955
hardback, 305 pages

I found Papa's Wife to be a refreshing story. It is a step back into time before I was born and yet because "Mama" is the main character and I am a mom, there are lots of points of interesting connection for me.
As a housekeeper at age 16 Mama knew she loved Papa, who was a minister and 21 years her senior.  But it took a while for Papa to know he loved Mama.  The daily life of marriage make up the the bulk of the 300 page story.  They add eight children to their happy household, one after the next, and in time the family take a long voyage by boat from Sweden to America, the land of education and hope.  For Papa, who loved his little Swedish church in the land of the midnight sun situated in beautiful mountains, it was a big sacrifice to leave all that was familiar to move to America, even if it was Mama's dream.  The peppering of Swedish words throughout gave flavor to the story as did the mini-sermons that were not always preached from a pulpit.   Although at times there are patches of predictability, the slow-paced account of life, season upon season, felt comfortable and I'm tempted to look up recipes for some of the Swedish foods that filled Mama's kitchen with tempting odors. Thanks Chriss for your recommendation and I'm thankful to Height's Library that did a fine job in tracking down this hard to come by book.  I liked Mama and her dedicated life to her husband and children, she was an inspiration of hope and strength.  The dedication page reads:
To My Mother
Maria Wickman Ferre
This Is Lovingly Dedicated
I recommend Papa's Wife to those that would enjoy a glimpse of motherhood from another time.   A few lines from page 187 when Papa goes fishing makes me wish for a less electronically dependent society.  "The trees were faintly green against the silver-blue sky, and along the path wood violets lifted their delicate heads.  Birds twittered a hymn of joy that winter had passed. "   

Ribsy

 Ribsy
by: Beverly Cleary
1964
paperback 192 pages, larger kid-print

One evening after a great pizza at new restaurant in the Heights, we took a walk with the couple we ate with.  On the walk there was a red box that caught our attention and it turned out to be a local book box... like a very mini library.  Kristina and i browsed the books and as there were not any she had read to recommend to me, i chose one that i know i had read years ago when i was a kid.  Ribsy was written one year before i was born and it was interesting to me to think back to how life used to be lived... like new station wagons, phone numbers that began with two letters, the Pledge of Allegiance at school, show and tell in the class room, and so on.  I liked how Ribsy was a dog of great patience and as i am presently seeking to be more patient he was a good teacher.  The book is "a boy and his dog" kind of story, but in chapter one they get separated and in the 6 chapters to follow the story tells of Ribsy's adventures before the inevitable ending to wrap things up nicely.  It was fun to read things from the dog's point of view and i think most pet-lovers would enjoy this step back in time look at a month in the life of a dog and how he is joyfully reunited with his boy.