Wow - I've not thought of these books in decades. I remember many of them - the pictures on the covers, even the fonts of the titles! Now I need to hunt some down for my grandkids!
Just recently discovered https://www.livingbookpress.com, they are picking up this mission for sure. I got some hardcover H E Marshall books as well as some George MacDonald that I couldn't find anywhere else, especially not for an affordable price. If you can, patronize their shop! Their hardbound unabridged editions are a boon to the world!
The other title was The Iroquois Trail: Dickon Among the Onondagas and Senecas, by M. R. Harrington. I think it is not as good, but it does a great job of explaining the "constitution" of the confederation, and what was so ruthless about it vs what was workable. (Among other things.)
Dickon among the Lenni Lenape and Dickon of the Iroquois, by Mark Raymond Harrington or M.R. Harrington, are two big novels about daily life in two tribes, during the 15-1600's. The books were written by an anthropologist who hung out a lot with old tribal men and women and also did research. But they are modeled on captivity narratives too, so the tribes (and colonists) are not sugarcoated.
The books have been reprinted with various titles, including by Rutgers University Press. I think the current title of the first novel is The Indians of New Jersey: Dickon Among the Lenapes.
Anyway, in both novels, Dickon gets captured and enslaved, proves his worth and gets adopted, and then learns skills and ways of the tribe in order to survive. In the first, he is a kid. In the second, he is a young man. Both novels explain a lot about what various tribes were thinking when they did various things, and show the big difference between being in and out of the group.
The big appeal for kids is all the survival and skills stuff. There is a LOT of practical craft info.
The drawback is that, as an anthropologist, of course the novel talks about tribal beliefs, which of course are pagan although both tribes had a hidden monotheism. Dickon admits to being impressionable about this, although he clearly tries to remain a Christian. This is edgy for kids, but it is also fair warning about peer pressure in matters of religion.
There are some very sad parts. Also violence.
Overall, it is a very good, long novel, and families could read it together.
I seem to remember that many, if not all, of these books were required to be withdrawn from libraries and outlets because they contained materials that were deemed to be physically harmful to children. The law, I believe, is the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008, which banned all items like books and their components (ink and staples) that contained lead or pthalates from items that were accessable to children. They could only be made available to children if the holder of the items performed expensive tests on each and every book to prove that they did not contain the banned substances.
This law caused a panic and MANY books were removed from libraries in an abundance of caution. I seem to remember seeing news stories of the books being removed from libraries and carted off for isolation (and probably destruction). The panic subsided in 2011 after passage of a law that permanently exempted ordinary printed books and paper-based materials from the strict third-party chemical testing requirements of the CPSIA of 2008. However, by then, a lot of damage had been done and many books had been pulped. And no libraries wanted to take a chance that they might, eventually, be sued for damages, so none of the removed books were put back into circulation.
It is an interesting way to remove information that is considered "culturally harmful" without actually burning it, as was done in earlier totalitarian regimes.
I have 35 landmark books that I’ve been considering selling since the kids are older and leaving home. Maybe I’ll keep them for the potential grandkids…
It's tragic! My husband has an online store….he's keeping these books alive! Steppingintime.com
I collect old books, encyclopedias, etc. It’s so important.
Thank you!
Thank you very much. As somebody who is possibly going to be married at some point in the future this is very important to me.
Wow...how sad.
I hated reading in 4th-5th grade until I discovered age-appropriate biographies. Then I took off. I still love them.
Wow - I've not thought of these books in decades. I remember many of them - the pictures on the covers, even the fonts of the titles! Now I need to hunt some down for my grandkids!
Those were the best books....
Thank you for drawing attention to them! And somebody needs to acquire the rights and reprint them.
Just recently discovered https://www.livingbookpress.com, they are picking up this mission for sure. I got some hardcover H E Marshall books as well as some George MacDonald that I couldn't find anywhere else, especially not for an affordable price. If you can, patronize their shop! Their hardbound unabridged editions are a boon to the world!
The other title was The Iroquois Trail: Dickon Among the Onondagas and Senecas, by M. R. Harrington. I think it is not as good, but it does a great job of explaining the "constitution" of the confederation, and what was so ruthless about it vs what was workable. (Among other things.)
Dickon among the Lenni Lenape and Dickon of the Iroquois, by Mark Raymond Harrington or M.R. Harrington, are two big novels about daily life in two tribes, during the 15-1600's. The books were written by an anthropologist who hung out a lot with old tribal men and women and also did research. But they are modeled on captivity narratives too, so the tribes (and colonists) are not sugarcoated.
The books have been reprinted with various titles, including by Rutgers University Press. I think the current title of the first novel is The Indians of New Jersey: Dickon Among the Lenapes.
Anyway, in both novels, Dickon gets captured and enslaved, proves his worth and gets adopted, and then learns skills and ways of the tribe in order to survive. In the first, he is a kid. In the second, he is a young man. Both novels explain a lot about what various tribes were thinking when they did various things, and show the big difference between being in and out of the group.
The big appeal for kids is all the survival and skills stuff. There is a LOT of practical craft info.
The drawback is that, as an anthropologist, of course the novel talks about tribal beliefs, which of course are pagan although both tribes had a hidden monotheism. Dickon admits to being impressionable about this, although he clearly tries to remain a Christian. This is edgy for kids, but it is also fair warning about peer pressure in matters of religion.
There are some very sad parts. Also violence.
Overall, it is a very good, long novel, and families could read it together.
I seem to remember that many, if not all, of these books were required to be withdrawn from libraries and outlets because they contained materials that were deemed to be physically harmful to children. The law, I believe, is the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008, which banned all items like books and their components (ink and staples) that contained lead or pthalates from items that were accessable to children. They could only be made available to children if the holder of the items performed expensive tests on each and every book to prove that they did not contain the banned substances.
This law caused a panic and MANY books were removed from libraries in an abundance of caution. I seem to remember seeing news stories of the books being removed from libraries and carted off for isolation (and probably destruction). The panic subsided in 2011 after passage of a law that permanently exempted ordinary printed books and paper-based materials from the strict third-party chemical testing requirements of the CPSIA of 2008. However, by then, a lot of damage had been done and many books had been pulped. And no libraries wanted to take a chance that they might, eventually, be sued for damages, so none of the removed books were put back into circulation.
It is an interesting way to remove information that is considered "culturally harmful" without actually burning it, as was done in earlier totalitarian regimes.
Landmark! I have a few.
Thank you. Since you mention "Seabird" I would also like to note that I can never think of the Great Lakes without remembering "Paddle-to-the-Sea".
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-companies-destroying-rare-books
I have 35 landmark books that I’ve been considering selling since the kids are older and leaving home. Maybe I’ll keep them for the potential grandkids…