Pippi Longstocking

Title: Pippi Longstocking

Author: Astrid Lindgren

Rating: ★★★★★

Age Category: Children's Literature, Middle Grade

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    The beloved story of a spunky young girl and her hilarious escapades. 

    Tommy and his sister Annika have a new neighbor, and her name is Pippi Long stocking. She has crazy red pigtails, no parents to tell her what to do, a horse that lives on her porch, and a pet monkey named Mr. Nilsson. Whether Pippi's scrubbing her floors, doing arithmetic, or stirring things up at a fancy tea party, her flair for the outrageous always seems to lead to another adventure.

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 "I challenge you to be dreamers; I challenge you to be doers and let us make the greatest place in the world even better." - Brian Schweitzer -

Sonnet 51 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 51

by William Shakespeare

Thus can my love excuse the slow offence
Of my dull bearer when from thee I speed:
From where thou art why should I haste me thence?
Till I return, of posting is no need.
O, what excuse will my poor beast then find,
When swift extremity can seem but slow?
Then should I spur, though mounted on the wind;
In winged speed no motion shall I know:
Then can no horse with my desire keep pace;
Therefore desire of perfect'st love being made,
Shall neigh--no dull flesh--in his fiery race;
But love, for love, thus shall excuse my jade;
Since from thee going he went wilful-slow,
Towards thee I'll run, and give him leave to go.

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"I don't dream at night, I dream all day; I dream for a living." - Steven Spielberg -

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"A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams." - John Barrymore -

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 "All men of action are dreamers." - James Huneker -

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 "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney -

The Trumpet of the Swan

Title: The Trumpet of the Swan

Author: E. B. White

Rating: ★★★★★

Age Category: Middle Grade

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    Louis is a trumpeter swan. He is born one summer on a little pond in Canada, a long with four brothers and sisters. But Louis has a terrible problem. Unlike the rest of his joyfully noisy family, Louis can't make a single sound. And without a trumpet sound, his true love - the beautiful swan Serena - just ignores him. Louis's father promises to help. So does Sam Beaver, a boy who loves all wild animals. First Louis goes to school with Sam and learns to read and write. But swans can't read, so Louis still can't make himself understood. That's when Louis's father puts his honor aside and steals a brass trumpet to give his son a voice. Louis's determination to pay off his father's debt and to woo his own true love takes him far from the wilderness he loves. But his faith and his joy in life are always with him.

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"Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe -

Sonnet 46 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 46

by William Shakespeare

Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war
How to divide the conquest of thy sight;
Mine eye my heart thy picture's sight would bar,
My heart mine eye the freedom of that right.
My heart doth plead that thou in him dost lie--
A closet never pierced with crystal eyes--
But the defendant doth that plea deny
And says in him thy fair appearance lies.
To 'cide this title is impanneled
A quest of thoughts, all tenants to the heart,
And by their verdict is determined
The clear eye's moiety and the dear heart's part:
As thus; mine eye's due is thy outward part,
And my heart's right thy inward love of heart.

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 “Sleep is good, he said, and books are better.” — George R.R. Martin ―

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 "Dreams are necessary to life." - Anais Nin -

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 "Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world." - Harriet Tubman -

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 "Each man should frame life so that at some future hour fact and his dreaming meet." - Victor Hugo -

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"If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." — Toni Morrison —

Charlotte's Web

Title: Charlotte's Web

Author: E. B. White

Rating: ★★★★★

Age Category: Middle Grade

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    Some Pig

    These are the words in Charlotte's web, high in the barn. Her spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, as well as the feelings of a little girl named Fern... who loves Wilbur, too. Their love has been shared by millions of readers.

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“Cheat your landlord if you can and must, but do not try to shortchange the Muse. It cannot be done. You can’t fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal.” — William S. Burroughs —

Sonnet 45 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 45

by William Shakespeare

The other two, slight air and purging fire,
Are both with thee, wherever I abide;
The first my thought, the other my desire,
These present-absent with swift motion slide.
For when these quicker elements are gone
In tender embassy of love to thee,
My life, being made of four, with two alone
Sinks down to death, oppress'd with melancholy;
Until life's composition be recured
By those swift messengers return'd from thee,
Who even but now come back again, assured
Of thy fair health, recounting it to me:
This told, I joy; but then no longer glad,
I send them back again and straight grow sad.

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“Most writers regard the truth as their most valuable possession, and therefore are most economical in its use.” — Mark Twain —

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“Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.” — Orson Scott —

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“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” — Madeleine L'Engle —

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“When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.” — George Orwell —

Journey to Jo'burg - A South African Story

Title: Journey to Jo'burg - A South African Story

Author: Beverley Naidoo

Rating: ★★★⯪☆

Age Category: Middle Grade

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

   If only Mma was here, Naledi wished over and over... 

    Mma lives and works in Johannesburg, far from the village thirteen-year-old Naledi and her younger brother, Tiro, call home. When their baby sister suddenly becomes very sick, Naledi and Tiro know, deep down, that only one person can save her. Bravely, alone, they set off on a journey to find Mma and bring her back. It isn't until they reach the city that they come to understand the dangers of their country, and the painful struggle for freedom and dignity that is taking place all around them.

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“Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.” — Stephen King —

Sonnet 48 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 48

by William Shakespeare

How careful was I, when I took my way,
Each trifle under truest bars to thrust,
That to my use it might unused stay
From hands of falsehood, in sure wards of trust!
But thou, to whom my jewels trifles are,
Most worthy of comfort, now my greatest grief,
Thou, best of dearest and mine only care,
Art left the prey of every vulgar thief.
Thee have I not lock'd up in any chest,
Save where thou art not, though I feel thou art,
Within the gentle closure of my breast,
From whence at pleasure thou mayst come and part;
And even thence thou wilt be stol'n, I fear,
For truth proves thievish for a prize so dear.

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“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.” — Henry David Thoreau —

April 5, 2026; Update

    Hello everyone! This is the second year anniversary of this blog! Thank you everyone for all the views that you've been giving this blog over the past year!

    In order to celebrate, the first 5 commenters on this post can share 3 of their favourite quotes - for a chance that they'll be featured on this blog!

    Again, a big big thank you to everyone who's been regularly checking out my blog! I really appreciate it. 

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“Write what should not be forgotten.” — Isabel Allende —

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“Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. Be willing to be split open.” — Natalie Goldberg —

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“The story must strike a nerve in me. My heart should start pounding when I hear the first line in my head. I start trembling at the risk.” — Susan Sontag —

The Cottage at Bantry Bay

Title: The Cottage at Bantry Bay

Author: Hilda van Stockum

Rating: ★★★★★

Age Category: Middle Grade

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    Introducing the O'Sullivan Family of Glengariff, Country Cork, Ireland. 

    "Mother washed up the tea things and settled herself in a chair with her knitting. Michael fetched Father's pipe and tobacco and took a stool to sit beside him, whilst Brigid and her homemade rag doll shared the bench in the chimney corner with the twins. They made a nice picture, as they sat around the flickering fire. Michael, the eldest boy, had a round freckled face, Merry blue eyes, and a mop of red hair; Brigid was the pretty one with red-gold curls and an elfin face. The chubby twins looked like sweet blond cherubs, though they often acted otherwise.

    'How are y e feeling now, Father?' Mrs. O'Sullivan asked anxiously, when she'd finished counting stitches. 

    'Better, much better,' Father said. 'But I'm afraid I won't be able to go to Kenmare tomorrow to bring Farmer Flynn the donkey he wanted to buy from me.'

    'Will he mind Father?' Michael asked.

    Father smiled sadly. 'He may not, son-o, but I do. He may buy some other donkey, and then where will we be? Mother needs the money, doesn't she?

    Mother sighed a little, but she smiled bravely and said: 'No harm, we'll manage.' By the way her needles clicked the children could tell she did mind. There was always a lot to be bought and never much money to do it with."

    Little did the O'Sullivans realize the adventures, complete with an unexpected treasure, about to seize the simple fabric of their lives at Bantry Bay and give it a happy shake. 

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  “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” - Thomas A. Edison -