I tend to review new books. It’s certainly not that I don’t like old books. I love them! But sometimes, I think everybody already knows about all the wonderful children’s books that have been around for a while. But when I was looking around for something to read to my ten-year-old recently and suggested we reread The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook and she claimed to have never heard of it! Well, that was too much. We found it in my oldest teen’s room–she had been rereading them–and we started from the beginning.
But that got me thinking, maybe you’ve never heard of the Milly-Molly-Mandy stories by Joyce Lankester Brisley. For a while, you could only find used copies of most of the books. But I was delighted to find that MacMillian has issued all new editions!
So let me introduce you to this calming read aloud that has found a permanent place in my children’s hearts. Milly-Molly-Mandy is a little girl who lives in a thatched roof house with her father, mother, grandparents, aunt, and uncle. The stories depict simple, small-town life in a time when shops sold penny candy and children had the freedom to explore.
Milly-Molly-Mandy is a sweet helpful child without seeming goody. And she does things that are of interest to children finding their place in the world. She goes blackberry picking. She bakes a cake. Her family entrusts her with errands. She saves up for a duckling.
Brisley is a wonderful storyteller. Each chapter contains a charming story that can be read on it’s own in just a few minutes. But you won’t want to stop with one.
These stories soothe the reader as well as the listener. And we’ve returned to them again and again over the last fifteen years. Despite nearing their hundredth birthday, the Milly-Molly-Mandy books never truly grow old. They just grow dearer, like a childhood friend.
