Helen Dore Boylston, the author of the Sue Barton series, and her younger friend Jane Cobb collaborated on a series of columns about children's books that appeared at intervals in the Atlantic Monthly from 1946-1951. They were cheerfully irreverent; the December 1946 column begins "In November we reported on 140 later Spring and early Fall Juveniles and were profoundly depressed." Just for fun, I've compiled a list of the works they singled out from the depressing heap of books published each year. People should feel free to vote up their favorite books. My own votes are in descending order of the books' popularity on goodreads.
1

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3.78 avg rating — 21,099 ratings
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2

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4.20 avg rating — 457 ratings
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3

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4.28 avg rating — 16,189 ratings
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4

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3.65 avg rating — 4,159 ratings
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5

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4.05 avg rating — 1,707 ratings
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6

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4.35 avg rating — 5,326 ratings
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7

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4.18 avg rating — 460 ratings
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8

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4.20 avg rating — 460 ratings
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9

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4.28 avg rating — 13,476 ratings
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10

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3.95 avg rating — 1,467 ratings
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10

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4.02 avg rating — 31,142 ratings
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12

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3.92 avg rating — 1,098 ratings
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12

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3.55 avg rating — 748 ratings
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14

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3.89 avg rating — 360 ratings
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15

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4.09 avg rating — 156 ratings
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16

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4.34 avg rating — 50 ratings
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17

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4.52 avg rating — 27 ratings
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18

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3.73 avg rating — 8,445 ratings
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19

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4.08 avg rating — 285 ratings
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20

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4.18 avg rating — 180 ratings
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21

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3.84 avg rating — 135 ratings
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22

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3.89 avg rating — 139 ratings
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23

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3.98 avg rating — 119 ratings
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24

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3.71 avg rating — 124 ratings
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25

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4.22 avg rating — 106 ratings
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26

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4.26 avg rating — 90 ratings
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27

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3.79 avg rating — 89 ratings
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28

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3.95 avg rating — 73 ratings
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29

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3.99 avg rating — 74 ratings
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30

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3.75 avg rating — 63 ratings
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31

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3.68 avg rating — 57 ratings
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32

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4.73 avg rating — 52 ratings
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33

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3.55 avg rating — 49 ratings
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34

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4.12 avg rating — 41 ratings
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35

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3.92 avg rating — 39 ratings
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36

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 41 ratings
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37

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3.73 avg rating — 33 ratings
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38

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4.27 avg rating — 33 ratings
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39

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4.12 avg rating — 32 ratings
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40

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3.38 avg rating — 21 ratings
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41

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4.16 avg rating — 19 ratings
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42

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3.80 avg rating — 15 ratings
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43

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3.76 avg rating — 17 ratings
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44

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3.47 avg rating — 15 ratings
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45

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4.54 avg rating — 13 ratings
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46

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3.70 avg rating — 10 ratings
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47

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4.30 avg rating — 10 ratings
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48

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4.20 avg rating — 10 ratings
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49

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4.57 avg rating — 7 ratings
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50

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4.33 avg rating — 6 ratings
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51

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3.80 avg rating — 5 ratings
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52

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3.50 avg rating — 6 ratings
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53

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 5 ratings
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54

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 5 ratings
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55

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3.67 avg rating — 6 ratings
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56

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3.25 avg rating — 4 ratings
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57

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3.25 avg rating — 4 ratings
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58

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3.25 avg rating — 4 ratings
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59

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4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings
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60

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3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings
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61

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3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings
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62

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3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings
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63

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liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
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64

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4.67 avg rating — 3 ratings
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65

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
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66

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
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67

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings
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68

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
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69

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings
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70

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4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
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71

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3.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
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72

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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73

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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74

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it was ok 2.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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75

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3.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
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76

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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77

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
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78

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liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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79

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liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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80

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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81

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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82

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liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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83

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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84

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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85

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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86

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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87

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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88

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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89

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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90

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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91

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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92

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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93

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did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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94

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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95

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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96

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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97

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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98

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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99

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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100

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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100 books · 11 voters · list created March 10th, 2017 by Emily (votes) .
16 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Emily 4786 books
142 friends
Charlotte 6995 books
77 friends
Deborah 5001 books
175 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3388 books
851 friends
Hannah 7673 books
676 friends
J. 4428 books
75 friends
Dianna 9036 books
81 friends
Meg W 1439 books
12 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-7 of 7 (7 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 2: by Emily (last edited Mar 16, 2017 04:52PM) (new)

Emily Here's a shout out to Plants, from the list in the preceding comment. A direct quote from the article from Dec. 1947 reads "...Mr. Zim has a book starkly entitled Plants." How did this not become a best-seller?


message 3: by J. (new)

J. Boo "Daddies: What They Do All Day" - the title looks extremely familiar, and I'm sure I've seen it recommended before, probably by someone contemporary. Maybe Annis Duff?


message 4: by Emily (new)

Emily "Daddies: What They Do All Day" - the title looks extremely familiar

I hadn't heard of it before, but I didn't read the Duff book very carefully. It's certainly the right time period.


message 5: by J. (new)

J. Boo I think I've figured it out -- not Duff, but rather the 1950s Childcraft series, in one of their "advice to parents" volumes.


message 6: by Emily (last edited Jun 12, 2023 07:54AM) (new)

Emily Exciting (?) update: at some point in the last six years, two people have rated The Golden Book of Poetry, and it moves from my waiting in the wings comment on to the stage. Booted off the list and into the comments section is The Rocky Summer by Lee Kingman.


message 7: by Emily (last edited Jun 30, 2023 08:52AM) (new)

Emily Another update, because apparently I don't have anything to do today that actually matters: Toby on the Sheep Drive and Susan B. Anthony: Champion of Women's Rights, with 1 rating each go on to the list, pushing off Little Bear Island and What's in the Trunk?.


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