Rereading Our Childhood

On this episode, Deborah introduces Mary Grace to A Bear Called Paddington, the first book in the beloved series about a bear from Peru who ends up living with a London family. We discuss Paddington’s timeless appeal to children, his status as a British icon, and how the book can be read as a refugee’s story.
Mentioned on this episode:
Paddington, the 2014 movie (trailer here)
“Paddington Bear, Refugee,” by Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, June 28, 2017
Olga da Polga series by Michael Bond
Monsieur Pamplemousse series by Michael Bond
“Ma’amalade Sandwich, Your Majesty?” (video of Queen Elizabeth with Paddington on the British royal family’s website)
Article about the Paddington movie in the New York Times, January 9, 2015
Recommended for Paddington fans:
Mary Grace: Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers, Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
Deborah: Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, Stuart Little by A.A. Milne
Other episodes mentioned:
Rereading Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
Rereading Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
Rereading Stuart Little by E.B. White
You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com, Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago, and Jean at jeanfreedman.com.
This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.
Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

We celebrated our 50th episode by talking about our favorite picture books and discussing our favorite memories from the two and a half years we've been doing the podcast. 
Mentioned on this episode:
Deborah's favorites: 
Curious George Takes a Job by H.A. Rey
The House on East 88th Street by Bernard Waber
Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik
Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban
What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry
Mary Grace's favorites:
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson 
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Also mentioned:
Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats 
The U.S. Postal Service's The Snowy Day stamps
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein 
New York Times articles about The Giving Tree (here and here)
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak 
Danny Dunn: Into the Volcano (forthcoming) 
Other episodes mentioned: 
Rereading Stuart Little by E.B. White
Rereading Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin
Rereading Little Town on the Prairie, with Judith Kalb
You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago.
This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.
Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

Writer and scholar Jean Freedman joins us to talk about Noel Streatfeild’s 1944 book Theater Shoes (originally published in the UK as Curtain Up), the story of three children who attend a theatrical school. We discuss London during World War II and welcome the (offstage) reappearance of the three sisters in Streatfeild’s beloved Ballet Shoes (1936).
Mentioned on this episode:
Other books by Jean Freedman: Whistling in the Dark: Memory and Culture in Wartime London and Peggy Seeger: A Life of Music, Love, and Politics
Books by Noel Streatfeild: Circus Shoes, Dancing Shoes, Tennis Shoes, Skating Shoes
A website on Streatfeild that includes a detailed discussion on Theater Shoes/Curtain Up
Recommended by Jean: A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett; Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, and Dress Rehearsal by Monica Stirling; fairy tales by Oscar Wilde
Recommended by Deborah: The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright; Half Magic by Edward Eager
Recommended by Mary Grace: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Other episode: Rereading Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com, Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago, and Jean at jeanfreedman.com.
This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

For this episode, we reread E.B. White’s 1952 classic Charlotte’s Web. 
Also by White: Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan, The Elements of Style, Is Sex Necessary?, Essays of E.B. White, Letters of E.B. White, "Death of a Pig"
Blog post on Henry Fussy
New Yorker article on Garth Williams
The Story of Charlotte’s Web, Michael Sims
Eudora Welty’s New York Times review
Recommended: Anne of Green Gables, Caddie Woodlawn (Mary Grace); Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan, Misty of Chincoteague, The Cricket in Times Square (Deborah)
Adaptations: 1973 movie, 2006 movie, 2025 miniseries
You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago.
This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.
Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

For our third annual Encyclopedia Brown episode, we matched wits with each other and with Encyclopedia in trying to crack the cases in Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues, which was published in 1966. We included the relevant clues in our discussion, so you can solve along with us. We discussed the origins of Bugs Meany's hat and solved the mystery of what state Idaville is in. Also, Mary Grace mispronounced "divining rod" about 15 times. 
Mentioned on this episode:
Other Encyclopedia Brown books:
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch
Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes:
Rereading Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Rereading Henry Reed, Inc. by Keith Robertson
Also mentioned:
Goodreads review of Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues by Chance Hansen
Reddit thread on what state Encyclopedia lives in
"Donald Sobol and the Case of the Elusive Mystery Writer," interview with Donald Sobol by Elizabeth Weinstein, Oberlin Alumni Magazine, Fall 2011
Clip from a 2024 episode of Futurama featuring Wikipedia Brown
You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s at My Life 100 Years Ago. 
This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.
Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com