In the southern Netherlands many years ago, my father commuted to school on a little ferry. He experienced the terrible flood of 1953. Eventually his family moved to one of the modern polders which had just been reclaimed from the sea. His life, like that of many Dutch people, was defined by the sea. In […]
read aloud
Review: The Avion My Uncle Flew by Cyrus Fisher
Every once in a while it still happens: I discover a ‘new’ old book that absolutely delights me. The Avion My Uncle Flew, a 1947 Newbery Honor book, was the latest. Charming, complex, beautifully written, exciting, uplifting, and funny, it tells the story of Johnny Littlehorn, an injured American boy who unwillingly spends the summer […]
Resources for Luther and the Reformation
As I paged through piles of books while preparing this article, I was reminded that there is one resource each of the reformers would have placed at the top of a Reformation resource list, the Bible. All treasured it, all based their lives on it, and some died for it. Obviously, you cannot truly understand […]
Canadian History Through Literature
The best way to learn about the past is to live in it, and we can do that with well-written books. For Canadian history we have always focused on reading novels, stories, and even poems and have used textbooks mainly as outlines and guides. This literature-based approach to Canadian history leads to great learning and […]