Rereading Our Childhood

Mary Grace McGeehan and Deborah Kalb
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Revisiting the children's books that made us who we are today

  1. Jul 23

    Rereading The Borrowers by Mary Norton

    For this episode, we revisited The Borrowers, Mary Norton's 1952 novel about a family of tiny people who live under the kitchen of a house in the British countryside. We were as charmed as ever by the ingenuity of the Borrowers, who have a dresser made of matchboxes and a teapot made of an acorn shell, but there was a layer of darkness in the story that we hadn't remembered.  Mentioned on this episode: Other books in the series: The Borrowers Afield The Borrowers Afloat The Borrowers Aloft The Borrowers Avenged Also by Mary Norton: Bedknob and Broomstick Film adaptations: Bedknobs and Broomsticks, 1971 movie (trailer here) The Borrowers, 1973 Hallmark Hall of Fame TV special (IMDB entry here) The Borrowers, 1997 live-action adaptation (trailer here) Arietty, 2010 Japanese anime adaptation (trailer here) Also mentioned: Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright, illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush, who illustrated the American edition of The Borrowers All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush The English Bookshop, in Uppsala, Sweden and other locations Independent obituary of Mary Norton Independent obituary of Mark Norton, Mary Norton's son Recommended by Mary Grace: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett Recommended by Deborah: Stuart Little by E.B. White Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes: Rereading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett Rereading Stuart Little by E.B. White 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

  2. Jun 18

    Rereading I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip, with Nancy Hudgins

    Nancy Hudgins joins us to talk about I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip, John Donavan's groundbreaking 1969 novel about a romance between two thirteen-year-old boys. Nancy is the author of Books Good Enough for You, a children's biography of legendary children's book editor Ursula Nordstrom, who edited I'll Get There. Mentioned on this episode:  Nancy's childhood favorites: Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (an Ursula Nordstrom book) The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert De Jong, illustrated by Maurice Sendak (an Ursula Nordstrom book) More Ursula Nordstrom books: Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh William's Doll by Charlotte Zolatow Stevie by John Steptoe The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik, illustrated by Maurice Sendak Freaky Friday and A Billion for Boris by Mary Rodgers In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak. (You can read an excerpt from Books Good Enough for You about In the Night Kitchen, published in Publisher's Weekly, here.)  Also mentioned: Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom, edited by Leonard Marcus Time magazine's 2021 list of the top 100 young adult books of all time, which includes I'll Get There 2009 Publisher's Weekly article about the 40th anniversary reissue of I'll Get There 2014 Los Angeles Review of Books article by Rumaan Alam about I'll Get There Born Free (movie trailer here) The audiobook of Books Good Enough for You, narrated by Barbara Rosenblatt Recommended for fans of I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip: Nancy: Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden; A High Five for Glenn Burke by Phil Bildner Deborah: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger; Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh Mary Grace: Bertram Cope's Year by Henry Blake Fuller Recommended Ursula Nordstrom books: Nancy: All sixteen books discussed in Books Good Enough for You, especially A Hole is to Dig by Ruth Krauss Deborah: Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh; Charlotte's Web by E.B. White Mary Grace: Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes: Rereading Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink; Rereading Charlotte's Web by E.B. White; Rereading Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh; Rereading Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms. You can find Nancy at nancyhudgins.com, 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

  3. May 21

    Rereading Deenie by Judy Blume, with Alex Poppe

    Writer Alex Poppe joins us to talk about Deenie, Judy Blume’s 1973 novel about a girl, pigeonholed as the pretty one in her family, whose life is thrown off track when she’s diagnosed with scoliosis. Alex is the author most recently of the memoir Breakfast Wine. Other books by Judy Blume: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great Forever Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing Then Again, Maybe I Won’t It’s Not the End of the World Blubber (this is the book Alex couldn’t remember the name of) In the Unlikely Event (this is the adult novel we couldn’t remember the name of) Also mentioned: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, the 2023 movie (trailer here) Judy Blume: A Life by Mark Oppenheimer New Yorker review of Judy Blume: A Life by Katy Waldman Otherwise Known as Judy the Great by Selina Alko, children’s biography of Judy Blume Michigan Daily article about Deenie by Rebecca Smith, a student with scoliosis To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Recommended for fans of Deenie: Alex: Fight Night by Miriam Toews; “The River Nemanus,” a short story by Anthony Doerr from the collection Memory Wall Mary Grace: Karen and With Love from Karen by Marie Killilea (MG) Deborah: Braced by Alison Gerber Previous podcast episode: Rereading Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret You can find Alex at alexpoppeauthor.com, 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

  4. Apr 24

    Rereading The Moffats by Eleanor Estes

    We had completely forgotten about Eleanor Estes's The Moffats until a friend suggested that we reread it. Published in 1941, it's the first in a series about four children growing up in small-town Connecticut in the 1910s.  Mentioned on this episode: Other books in the series: The Middle Moffat (1942), a Newbery Honor Book Rufus M. (1943), a Newbery Honor Book The Moffat Museum (1983)  Other books by Estes: The Hundred Dresses (1944), a Newbery Honor Book Ginger Pye (1951), winner of the 1952 Newbery Medal Pinky Pye (1958) Also mentioned: Many Moons (1943) by James Thurber, with illustrations by Louis Slobodkin "Eleanor Estes: Chronicler of the Family Story," by Claudia Mills, on the UConn Archives and Special Collections Blog.  "Celebrating Children's Books Week--and a pioneering children's librarian," on Mary Grace's blog, My Life 100 Years Ago Recommended by Deborah: The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright; Beverly Cleary's books Recommended by Mary Grace: The All-of-a-Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor Other episodes: Rereading The Young Unicorns by Madeleine L'Engle Rereading Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary Rereading Stuart Little by E.B. White Rereading Charlotte's Web by E.B. White 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

  5. Mar 19

    Rereading From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konisburg

    For the first episode of our fourth (!) season, we reread E.L. Konigsburg's Newbery Medal winner From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, which was published in 1967. This book, one of our all-time favorites, has one of the best plot premises of all time: a suburban brother and sister run away from home and camp out at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Mentioned on this episode: Other books by Konigsburg: Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver About the B'nai Bagels Also mentioned: Ban this Book by Alan Gratz 1965 New York Times article about the Metropolitan Museum's purchase for $225 of a statue that may be a Leonardo da Vinci 1996 New York Times article about a cupid statue at the French cultural center in New York that may be by Michaelangelo Post on the Metropolitan Museum website about celebrating the 50th anniversary of From the Mixed-Up Files 2017 Smithsonian magazine article in which Johnny Doran reminisces about playing Jamie in a film version of From the Mixed-Up Files Recommended by Mary Grace: Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes mentioned: Rereading Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth by E.L. Konigsburg Rereading Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers Rereading Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh 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

  6. Feb 19

    Rereading The Young Unicorns by Madeleine L'Engle

    For this episode, we reread Madeleine L’Engle’s 1968 novel The Young Unicorns, the third book in the Austin family series. We discussed 1960s New York, racial representation, family musical evenings, and how absolutely bonkers this book is. Mentioned on this episode: Other books by L’Engle: A Wrinkle in Time (1962) Meet the Austins (1960) The Moon by Night (1963) A Ring of Endless Light (1980) Troubling a Star (1994) A Severed Wasp (1983) New York Times review of The Young Unicorns by Maia Wojciechowka Blog posts on The Young Unicorns on Pickle Me This (this is the one where the writer thinks L’Engle wrote Dave as a Black character) and Lady Fancifull Article on The Young Unicorns by Mari Ness on Reactor 2004 New Yorker article about Madeleine L’Engle New York Times article on race in the Wuthering Heights movie (gift link) Other episodes: Rereading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle 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

  7. Jan 22

    Rereading A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond

    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

  8. 12/18/2025

    Our Favorite Picture Books

    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

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About

Revisiting the children's books that made us who we are today

Information

  • Creator
    Mary Grace McGeehan and Deborah Kalb
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    57
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Rereading Our Childhood
  • Show Website
    Rereading Our Childhood

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