We’ve read and enjoyed these titles as a family. All include strong characters, engaging plots, and superlative story-telling. All have stood the test of time. (Kimber: You may detect a big canine bias here. Because everything is better with dogs. Including the Great Outdoors!)
Here, in no particular order, are our 100% unscientific, completely subjective recommendations for 20 awesome outdoor classics for older children. How many have you read?
Continue readingYou know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and... Oh, wait. Wrong season. Silly Mom. Never fear. For I, Kimber the Magnificent, shall get us back on track with our latest stroke of blogging brilliance. Hey. It’s what I do! (Well. Mom helped. A little.)
Anyway, you know Austen, C.S. Lewis, Hugo, Dickens and Dostoevsky. You know Dr. Seuss. E B. White. Charles Schultz (Some of Mom’s faves. Go figure).
The Biggies.
But guess what, Cookie? These big names aren’t the only hoomans who can fill a book with something worth reading. Or engage. Entertain. Inspire and elucidate. (Kimmi: No idea what that last one means. Mom’s idea. And you know She Who Must Be Obeyed, right?)
Well. These “big” hoomans are all good reads. But guess what again? Some of our favorite authors are indie authors. They may not be :biggies” or household names. Yet. But Her Momness and I decided to highlight some indie authors. Cuz even though their names may not rhyme with Suzanne Collins or J.K. Rowling, they are still uber talented. And worth reading. (The Kimster: I wanted to give them all a one year subscription to the Steak of the Month Club. But I kinda got over-ruled on that one. Nobody’s perfect.)
You’ll want to keep an eye on all of these authors. Several have new books out or are working on new titles. So here, in no particular order, are 12 indie authors you really oughtta get to know. Cuz we say so again:
Have you ever re-discovered a book from your childhood that still has the power to move and profoundly impact you, even a half century after your initial read? If so, then you’ve found a true classic.
Joy Adamson’s Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds is such a book.
Evocative and compelling, Born Free is the remarkable true story of Elsa, an orphaned lion cub raised by Joy Adamson and her husband, George.
At its core, Born Free is a love story. With great sensitivity and precision, Adamson chronicles the mutual affection and bond between a magnificent lioness and the humans who loved her enough to set her free.
It’s probably the most moving and inspiring “animal story” I’ve ever read.
Joy Adamson wrote three books about African lions: Born Free, Living Free, and Forever Free. I read them all. Born Free is my favorite.
I first read Born Free in 1969, nine years after it was first published. I was in the fifth grade. Entranced, I read it over and over. There’s something timeless and transcendent about the story that’s difficult to put into words.
I lost track of Adamson and Elsa over the years. But I never forgot the extraordinary story of a free born lioness and the humans who loved her. I recently located a library copy of Born Free. Finally.
Elsa and “Born Free” author Joy Adamson.
Opening the Forward to the Fortieth Anniversary Edition (2000), I was startled to learn that Joy Adamson was stabbed to death by a disgruntled former employee in 1980. The news hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt like I’d lost a best friend I’d never met. So it was with a mixed sense of sadness and reverence that I sat in a sun-soaked living room in a far corner of the Pacific Northwest nearly forty years after that sad event and re-opened a book that profoundly impacted my life, especially with regard to animals.
Lavishly illustrated with black and white photographs, Elsa’s story is still an unforgettable one. So is Adamson’s prodigious writing talent. Her breezy, bucolic style recalls another formidable literary talent who writes so evocatively about her life in Kenya: Isak Dinesen. Like Dinesen, Adamson’s descriptions of her life as the wife of a senior game warden in East Africa have a luminous quality that is almost melodic.
My favorite photo from the book. Joy Adamson and Elsa.
I read Born Free cover to cover in one sitting. Here’s a key line, from page 109:
“Her (Elsa’s) good-natured temperament was certainly due in part to her character, but part too may have come from the fact that neither force nor frustration was ever used to adapt her to our way of life. For we tried by kindness alone to help her to overcome the differences that lie between our two worlds.”
The Adamsons and Elsa succeed beyond all expectations.
Re-reading the last chapter, The Final Test, the same intense sense of sadness and loss these pages evoked in me five decades ago bubbled up again from some deep internal well. It was as if Elsa and her human pride had never left, patiently waiting 50 years for my return to their story.
Recording Elsa’s success in finding her own wild pride and mate, Adamson writes:
“We returned to camp alone, and very sad. Should we leave her now, and so close a very important chapter of our lives?”
The Adamsons decide to wait “a few more days” to make sure Elsa has been accepted by the pride.
In the final elegiac paragraph, Adamson returns to her “studio” by the river to continue writing the story of Elsa, “who had been with us until this morning.” Sad to be alone, the author writes that she tries to make herself happy “by imagining that at this very moment Elsa was rubbing her soft skin against another lion’s skin and resting with him in the shade, as she had often rested here with me.”
I cried. Again.
And that, friends, is the mark of a true classic.
Elsa on Camp Bed Photo Credit
Author’s note: This post was first published on Pages and Paws in June 2019. We thought it deserves a second run. – Mom and The Kimster
You know Her Momness loves historical fiction, right?
“If historical fiction was a flavor, it’d be raspberry white chocolate cheesecake! With double hot fudge!” croweth Mom.
Why she says this, I don’t know. I do know she’s breaking out her Happy Dance. Because we’re reviewing three sturdy historical fiction titles today! All set during World War II.
Break out some extra spoons for Lilac Girls, Irena’s War, and The Orphan’s Tale:
Woof-hoo! It’s summer time, summer time, sum-sum, summer time! Doo-whop, doo-whop.
Kimber here. Mom and I are celebrating August with something a little special. I was lobbying for filet mignon. But nooooo! Mom decided on a quick run-down on recently read titles. To save you some time. So you can avoid the clunkers. And enjoy the goodies.
Public domain
And hey. What’s summer without baseball, right? So I suggested we categorize titles as either Hits and Misses or as Strike Outs and Home Runs. Brilliant huh? (Mom helped a little. But it was mostly me.)
So here are five kinds of each book. Five duds. As in, swing-from-the-heels strike-outs and don’t waste your time. And five awesome-dawsome, tail-wagging, bonafide home runs. (One is somewhere in the middle, depending on which bat you choose.)
So… batter up!
Shhh! Mom’s snoozing. So it’s just us, okay?
Can we talk? Like, about book reviews? Cuz Mom and I are getting flooded with requests for book reviews. We love it! But we also want to be efficient. So we decided to set and clarify some basic ground rules. As in, what to avoid. Or Don’t Be This Author. With this kind of book.
So, here’s how to get a negative review in three easy steps (Examples taken from actual events. Names and places sort of changed to protect the not-so-innocent.):
Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
From Army Scout to Outlaw, from Hero to Legend.
This is the story of a gifted man “suspended on a cross between two cultures” who became the best army Apache scout and the most feared outlaw in the southwest borderlands. And then disappeared.
Apache Kid opens in Aravaipa, Arizona in May 1871. Young Ohyessonna (“Hears something in the night”) is living with his family.
He survives the embers of the fires and murders at the Camp Grant Massacre of Apaches. Young Has-kay-bay-nay-ntayl (“brave and tall and will come to a mysterious end”) is known by many names growing up. But growing up in two cultures means choosing between loyalty and betrayal, choosing between his people and their overseers.
Hark! Her Royal Momness Speaketh! With a Royal Announcement-eth! (I’d listen up ‘fize you!)
We are CLOSED to new review requests until further notice. For three main reason-eths:
When folks commit The Unpardonable Sin of ignoring our Guidelines, they’re wasting our time. And theirs. Now, we used to feel obliged to respond to every review request, no matter how ridiculous or unlikely. We don’t feel that way anymore. It’s a waste of our time. So we don’t bother.
Speaking of “bother,” another reason we’re temporarily closing the review queue: You wouldn’t believe the number of authors and others who get a positive review (3.0 or above) and bail. Never to be seen or heard from again. Let alone Like, Share, and Comment. Which is a requirement for every positive review. It’s clearly stated in our Guidelines.
NEWSFLASH Buttercup: It takes a LOT of time and effort to read a book and craft a brilliant review. We don’t even charge for said genuis. So we’re not too keen on pouring time and effort into a review for an author who can’t even be bothered to take two mins to say Thanks. It’s also a good way to get burnt out. And that’s pretty much where we’re at. (But we really, really appreciate the few who do take the time to read and abide by our Guidelines. Cuz you’re really, really PAWsome. Maybe not quite as Pawsome as a T-bone steak. Nobody’s perfect.)
So there you have it, Cupcake.
We have plenty of stuff still in the blogging pipeline. In case you’re wondering, Toots. Just not accepting any new review requests until further notice.
TTFN.
“Eureka!” says Mom the other day. I have no idea why she says this. But she says it a lot. Especially when she’s lugging another truck load of “books” home from The Book Place.
Me, I’m not crazy about The Book Place. Ever since Mom pointed out the “guide dogs and service animals only” sign. What am I, chopped Salisbury steak with extra gravy? Tri-tip roast? A nice, thick burger sizzling merrily on the outdoor grill?
Wait. What was I saying?
Oh yeah. “Eureka” and The Book Place.
“See what we have here?” says Mom, pulling out one of those big square reading thingies from a library “book bag” big enough to choke a Brontosaurus. “This is a book,” she explains. “Black letters on white pages.” She fans the pages.
I sniff said pages. Can I eat it? Something tells me no. As in, BIG N-O.
“David Copperfield!” Mom announces. I’m still sniffing. “A classic!” she says.
Am I supposed to be impressed?
“Wait! There’s more!” Mom crows, excavating deeper into the Bronto bag. She unearths more reading thingies. Like Pride and Prejudice. A Raisin in the Sun. The Black Stallion Returns. Thunder Rolling in the Mountains.
Still sniffing…
Meanwhile, I’m beginning to wonder about these reading thingies she calls “books.” They don’t have any buttons. Blinking lights. Bonus levels. App updates. In fact, books really don’t have any sounds at all. And not much smell, either. (Dust maybe.)
This doesn’t seem to slow Mom down.
“Look,” she says, cheerfully paging through something called Anchor in the Storm.
You’d think she just discovered filet mignon, medium well.
“Finding a good book is like finding buried treasure!” Mom continues. “It’s an adventure waiting to happen!”
She tells me that these reading thingies – “books” – can take you on travels only you can imagine. Through forests thick with facts. Whole galaxies dripping with starry fiction. A book can introduce you to lifelong friends, says Mom. Keep you awake all night until The End. A book can be a friend if you just want to be by yourself in the highest peak of a status-update-free mountain. And the only “storage space” that runs out in a book is what’s in your own head.
Also, a book doesn’t run on batteries. Never needs a recharge. Or a power cord. Doesn’t have an off button. You don’t need to remember a password to get inside. And a book won’t unfriend you. Ever.
At the end of the day, you can put down a book and it won’t mind. Because, says Mom, a book will always be there, waiting for you to come back. Pick up where you left off. Like an old friend welcoming you home. Whether you’re a “service animal” or not.
Mom may be on to something. I just hope she hurries up with that steak.
Brontosaurus image: Wikimedia Commons
*We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
Mom and I used to feel duty-bound to finish every book we picked up. Or someone wanted us to review. Even if continued reading felt like plowing through a raging blizzard in the middle of Siberia. In winter. At night. Bare foot.
We don’t feel that way anymore.
So, listen up, Buttercup. About 2.6 mil books were published globally last year. Some are worth reading. Others aren’t. Some books are just lousy. Poorly written with paper-thin plots and anemic characters. Others just aren’t our cuppa. As in, Yawn.
Pages & Paws 
