Rachel's Corner
An Old-Fashioned
Thanksgiving
By Louisa May Alcott
Rachel's Rating: G
This is a very cute story about Thanksgiving. It is in fact, I should say, a children's story. But I enjoyed it as well, which makes it a story worth both reading aloud for children or just reading alone if you don't have so much time. The setting is a farmer's home maybe a century or two ago. Mother is preparing Thanksgiving dinner together with her many children, when suddenly she gets the message that Grandma is very ill. So Mother and Father rush off to see her, and the children are alone for a day. Then they decide that, why not prepare the rest of Thanksgiving dinner until their parents return the next day? And so they eagerly start the preparations...
Most Beloved Sister
By Astrid Lindgren
Rachel's Rating: G
Swedish author Astrid Lindgren wrote not only novels, but also many short stories. My favorite short story is this one, Most Beloved Sister. It was first released in a short story collection in 1949, but in 1973 it was re-released on its own. The story is about the girl Barbro, 7 years old. Her dad loved her mom the most, and her mom loves the new baby the most - but Barbro's secret twin sister Ylva-Li loves Barbro the most. Ylva-Li lives under the rose bush Salikon in the golden hall where she is the queen. Barbro visits her, plays with the dogs Ruff and Duff, they ride their horses Goldenfoot and Silverfoot through the lands of the Evil and of the Good. But then Ylva-Li tells Barbro something horrible.
Oliver Twist
By Charles Dickens
Rachel's Rating: PG
This story is set in early 19th century London and got many different reactions when it was released. Dickens wrote here about many things that were kind of taboo at the time - things that existed but that most people didn't really want to acknowledge. Orphan boy Oliver runs away from the workhouse where he's lived all his life and ends up in the streets of London. He is picked up by a group of thieves and brought to their den, where they work for the criminal Fagin. He befriends the Artful Dodger, and being so naive, Oliver doesn't realize what they really do for a living until he is too deep into it himself. Some of the other memorable characters we meet are the evil Bill Sikes and the street-girl Nancy. It's a very dark world that Dickens shows his readers, but the story is skilfully told and I was touched from the beginning to the end.