All Sail Set, A Romance of the "Flying Cloud" by Armstrong Sperry

All Sail Set, A Romance of the “Flying Cloud” written and illustrated by Armstrong Sperry, introduction by William McFee. Published by John O. Winston Company, c. 1935, 171 pages. Upper elementary reading level.

Best known for his book Call It Courage, American writer Armstrong Sperry wrote many biographical and historical fiction books especially for boys. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1897, the same year as my grandfather! Sperry received his art training at Yale, and then was drafted into the U.S. Navy toward the end of World War I. During his boyhood, he had read and enjoyed the works of Herman Melville, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Jack London, so after the war he traveled extensively in the South Pacific. These experiences definitely influenced his writings. In the late 1920s, after his marriage, he illustrated for advertising, including Campbell’s soup. He illustrated the dust jacket for the first edition of Tarzan and the Lost Empires by Burroughs.

Sperry’s great-grandfather was a sea captain and undoubtedly passed on his love for the sea and stories of sea travel. Armstrong wrote All Sail Set and it won the Newbery Medal in 1936. After this he lived in the Southwest for a time and was inspired to write several novels about that area. His earlier travels in the South Pacific set the stage for his Newbery Medal winner Call It Courage in 1940.  This was the story of a young boy on a Polynesian island who had been branded a coward because of his fear of the sea, even though his name is Stout Heart. He goes out alone on his canoe, faces storms, stays on a deserted island, and eventually returns home. When accepting the medal for this book, Sperry said, "I had been afraid that perhaps in Call It Courage, the concept of spiritual courage might be too adult for children, but the reception of this book has reaffirmed a belief I have long held: that children have imagination enough to grasp any idea, and respond to it, if it is put to them honestly and without a patronizing pat on the head."

Armstrong Sperry died in 1976. Some of his books, both fiction and nonfiction, include:

Call It Courage

All Sail Set

Wagons Westward

John Paul Jones: The Pirate Patriot

Storm Canvas

The Rain Forest

Little Eagle: A Navajo Boy

Frozen Fire: A Story of the Amazon Jungle

Coconut: The Wonder Tree

The Voyages of Christopher Columbus, a Landmark book

The Amazon: River Sea of Brazil, a Rivers of the World book

Hull-Down for Action

Captain Cook Explores the South Seas, a World Landmark book

River of the West: The Story of the Boston Men, a Winston Adventure book

Black Falcon

All about the Jungle, an Allabout book

All about the Arctic and Antarctic, an Allabout book

All about Captain Cook, an Allabout book

Lost Lagoon

The Boy Who Was Afraid

One Day with Tuktu, an Eskimo Boy

One Day with Manu

One Day with Jambi in Sumatra

Thunder Country

Understanding Egypt

Great River, Wide Land: The Rio Grande Through History

Danger to Windward, about Nantucket Whaling

South of Cape Horn: a Saga of Nat Palmer and Early Antarctic Exploration

He illustrated The Story of Hiawatha by Chaffee, Thunderbolt House by Pease, and Boat Builder by Judson, among many others

This book, All Sail Set, is a story told by Enoch Thacher in his old age, of his adventures on the Flying Cloud, the very fast clipper ship built by the famous Donald McKay in the early 1850s. The introduction to the book, written by William McFee, sets the stage to this exciting tale of drama on the high seas.

“The maritime history of New England in the first part of the nineteenth century has certain features not found elsewhere in the world. A stormy, difficult coast; a hardy race of men, who were also born traders; an almost unlimited supply of oak and pine suitable for shipbuilding, and a network of manufacturing centers – all these combined to produce a shipping community second to none. It is not enough to have ships coming into harbor and merchants with cargoes to consign. True maritime prosperity arises when men take naturally, without immediate thought of money making, to ship and shipbuilding, when whole families are so saturated with seafaring thoughts that it becomes the natural way of life for boys to adopt, and the girls accept as part of their existence the absence of their husbands and sweethearts for long voyages.”

This is the environment in which Enoch Thacher grows up. At the age of 15, he signs on with the first voyage of the Flying Cloud, after helping Donald McKay work on its design. The story of this voyage and its record-breaking speed is told in a manner that makes it believable, without being over-sensational.  Thacher learns courage, faces an enemy on board, and earns respect as the story proceeds. The adventures of the crew sailing around the southern tip of South America and on to San Francisco do not follow the typical exaggeration and stereo-typing of other books about the sea. It’s easy to see how Sperry’s travels caused his writings to “ring true.” The book includes a lot of black-line illustrations done by Sperry, including informational diagrams of the clipper ship. There is also a Nautical Glossary, “a first aid for the landlubber” at the back of the book. I highly recommend this book for ages 9 to 12, especially for boys.

Recommended additional books/resources to aid your studies:

America Travels by Alice Dalgliesh

Clipper Ship Days by John Jennings, a Landmark book

When Clipper Ships Ruled the Seas by James McCague, How They Lived series

Meet the Men Who Sailed the Seas by John Dyment, a Step-Up book

Clipper Ships and Captains by Jane Lyon, an American Heritage book

Clipper and Whaling Ships by Tim McNeese

Seabird by Holling Clancy Holling

The Story of the Clipper Ships by R. Conrad Stein, a Cornerstones of Freedom book

South of Cape Horn: a Saga of Nat Palmer and Early Antarctic Exploration by Armstrong Sperry

Full Hold and Splendid Passage: America Goes to Sea 1815-1860 by Bill Bonyun

Voyage of the Javelin by Stephen Meader

Clipper Ship by Thomas Lewis, an I Can Read History book

Bluewater Journal by Loretta Krapinski

Yankee Clippers: The Story of Donald McKay by Clara Ingram Judson

Donald McKay and the Clipper Ships by Mary Ellen Chase, a North Star book

The True Adventures of Daniel Hall by Diane Stanley

Whaling Days by Carol Carrick

Harvest of the Sea by Walter Buehr

The Story of the New England Whalers by R. Conrad Stein, a Cornerstones of Freedom book

When Nantucket Men Went Whaling by Enid Meadowcroft, a How They Lived book

Whaler ‘Round the Horn by Stephen Meader

American Practical Navigator by Nathaniel Bowditch

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham

Down to the Sea: A Young Peoples’ Life of Nathaniel Bowditch, the Great Navigator by Louise Hall Tharp

Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana

The Voyager’s Stone by Robert Kraske, about sea currents

Trail Blazer of the Seas by Jean Lee Latham, about Matthew Maury and his story of sea currents

Wandering Albatross (Birds of Antarctica) by Jennifer Dewey

Albert the Albatross by Syd Hoff, An Early I Can Read book

Tierra del Fuego: A Journey to the End of the Earth by Peter Lourie

San Francisco by Jean Fritz

Plants That Changed History by Joan Elma Rahn

The Money Trees, the Spice Trade by George Massalman

(Book review by Sandy Hall. All rights reserved. August 26, 2017)

We Live in the City - by Lois Lenski

We Live in the City by Lois Lenski

One of the Roundabout America series. Published by Lippincott in 1954.

Second/third grade independent reading level; interest level lower.

My phone rang one day recently; it was my sister calling from upstate NY. She was at a church rummage sale, and there were old books. Did I want them? Fifty cents each. I asked her to read off the titles so I could make a decision on each one. “We Live in the City by Lois Lenski”! Yes! Yes!!! First edition too! I’ve watched sales for these Roundabout America books for 40 years!

Lois Lenski was born in 1893 in Springfield, Ohio, the fourth of five children born to Reverend Richard and Mrs. Lenski. The adults in her life encouraged her artistic talent. After high school graduation, she attended Ohio State University, graduating with a degree in education. She then studied art in New York City and in London. After her marriage to Arthur Covey, she began to carve out time from family life to pursue her art as well as writing. Many of her children’s books were based on her own family growing up as well as her own children. The places they lived also inspired several books including the Roundabout America series. She wrote,

” Through all my poems run the same themes, concepts and values that rear again and again in my stories. It is of interest to note that my very first book, Skipping Village, was originally titled: A Child's Town. This theme - a child and his town, or a child and his environment - can be traced through all my books. It is obvious in two of my latest picture books, At Our House and I Went For a Walk, and is behind all of Mr. Small's activities. It runs through my historical books, which portray children and family life in early periods of our history, and it is the basic theme behind my Regional and Roundabout America books. Whether a short picture book, a scholarly historical study, or an interpretation of some phase of life in contemporary America, my books are essentially family stories, reflecting the child in his environment.”

Lenski wanted her stories to draw the reader to empathy. Her characters’ experiences served as examples of personal growth. She felt that all people are to be respected, regardless of their social background, no matter how they live, no matter how much they own or lack. In that sense, her books are very appropriate for today’s climate of prejudice and racial unrest. Some currently criticize her work as unrealistic, naïve, and too simplistic, as well as inaccurate historically, especially in relation to interactions between whites and non-whites.

She won the Newbery Medal for Strawberry Girl in 1945 and the Children’s Book Award for Judy’s Journey in 1947. Lenski also illustrated books for other authors such as The Little Engine That Could  by Watty Piper, 1930, and the first four books in Maud Hart Lovelace’s well-loved Betsy-Tacy series. Lois died in Florida in 1974.

Her books make nice easy read-alouds to early elementary children. Some titles are very rare; others are easily accessible.

Some of her books include: (books followed by * are titles I own)

Mr. Small  books – picture books*

Seasons books – picture books

Phebe Fairchild, Her Book – 1936 Newbery Honor book

A-Going to the Westward*

Bound Girl of Cobble Hill

Ocean-Born Mary

Blueberry Corners*

Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison – 1941 Newbery Honor book*

Puritan Adventure*

Roundabout America series

We Live in the South

Peanuts for Billy Ben*

We Live in the City*

Project Boy

Berries in the Scoop*

We Live by the River

Little Sioux Girl

We Live in the Country

We Live in the Southwest

We Live in the North

High-Rise Secret*

Regional series

Bayou Suzette

Strawberry Girl*

Blue Ridge Billy*

Judy’s Journey*

Boom Town Boy*

Cotton in My Sack*

Texas Tomboy*

Prairie School *

Mama Hattie’s Girl

Corn-Farm Boy*

San Francisco Boy*

Flood Friday*

Houseboat Girl*

Coal Camp Girl

Shoo-Fly Girl

To Be a Logger

Deer Valley Girl*

And many others, including an autobiography, Journey Into Childhood*, published in 1972.

We Live in the City is one of the Roundabout America series. 128 pages in length. The book is divided into 3 parts: Newsboy Mike, Penthouse Girl, and Shoeshine Boy. Lenski has included two original poems at the start of each section.  Lenski’s blackline illustrations are scattered throughout. The book does not say, but I believe the story takes place in the 40s or 50s. Also, the city is not named but seems to be New York City or some other big city in the Northeast.

From the forward:

“Here is a world within a world. A world of a few streets between a park and a river in a great city. Here the streets are noisy with traffic; the subway rushes underground.; the elevated shakes the house and rattles the windows. Many homes are tucked away in tall apartment houses and three- and four-story flats. Here many children live and work and play on the streets. They are very much at home there. Let us make them our friends.”

In part 1, we first meet Mike Flynn, the city newsboy, from Irish descent. He is a young boy working to help support his family by selling papers. What an industrious young man he is! He’s working hard to earn enough money to buy a good warm coat for himself. He also takes some side jobs shoveling snow. A young lady comes to purchase a paper and Mike befriends her. She is the little girl in part 2, Penthouse Girl. Shirley is well-to-do, friendly and polite. She goes to the bakery to get her birthday cake, insists on carrying it herself, but she trips over her little dog and the cake falls and is smashed. Mike comes to the rescue. Later Shirley leaves for the summer to go to Maine on holiday. Mike also met a boy named Angelo in part 1, and Angelo is the main character in part 3. Angelo works as a shoeshine boy to bring in some extra money for the family. Mike helps him learn how to be a good businessman and successful in his new enterprise. Angelo’s family has to leave their tenement building because they are behind in the rent. They move all of their possessions out onto the sidewalk and sit down, no place to go. But Mike comes along and takes them all home, and his father helps Angelo’s father find work and a place to stay so all ends well.

Obviously, the plot is simplistic and would appeal only to younger children. Some of the vocabulary might have to be explained to children who do not live in a city: fire escape, taxis, shoe shine boy, tenement, dumb-waiter, icebox.  It’s a sweet story with an optimistic feel despite the hardships of Mike and Angelo in contrast to Shirley. But even then, Shirley is kind-hearted and unspoiled.

An example of Lenski’s poetry from the book:

In the City

The buildings are tall,

The people are small –

              In the city.

The noises are loud,

There’s always a crowd –

              In the city.

The cars move fast,

Great trucks jolt past –

              In the city.

Up in the sky

The pigeon fly –

              In the city.

East or west,

I like it best

              In the city.

Recommended additional books/resources to aid your studies:

The Bobbsey Twins’ Search in the Big City by Laura Lee Hope

City Book by Lucille Corcos

A Walk in the City by Rosemary Dawson

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Subway by Larry Brimner

Newspapers by Leonard Everett Fisher

The First Book of News by Sam & Beryl Epstein

Maisy Goes to the City by Lucy Cousins

The Story of the Empire State Building by Patrick Clinton

The Inside-Outside Book of New York City by Roxie Munro

This is New York by M. Sasek

The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde Swift

The Scots and Scotch-Irish in America by James E. Johnson

Just Like Max by Karen Ackerman

The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone – on the topic of industriousness

Jam & Jelly by Holly & Nellie by Gloria Whelan – on the topic of industriousness

(Book review by Sandy Hall. All rights reserved. August 15, 2017)

In the Days of William the Conqueror by Eva March Tappan

In the Days of William the Conqueror by Eva March Tappan

First published by Lee and Shepard in 1901, now reprinted by many including Yesterday’s Classics in 2006. That edition has 236 pages. Upper elementary and up reading level.

Eva March Tappan, 1854-1930, was born in Massachusetts, the only child of Reverend and Mrs. Everett March Tappan. She graduated from Vassar College and then taught at Wheaton College. Later she was assistant principal at an academy in Camden, New Jersey.  She earned her degree in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania. Later she was the head of the English department at the English High School in Worcester, Massachusetts. She was involved in education for more than two decades before she began writing.

Some of the other titles of her books include:

In the Days of Alfred the Great

In the Days of Queen Elizabeth

In the Days of Queen Victoria

England’s Story

Robin Hood: His Book

American Hero Stories

The Chaucer Story Book

The Story of the Greek People

Old World Hero Stories

When Knights Were Bold

An Elementary History of Our Country

Heroes of the Middle Ages

Heroes of Progress: Stories of Successful Americans

From the back of the book:

“With her extensive classroom experience she was able to create stories that appealed strongly to children. She had ‘a talent for making stories real, for filling the imagination with fascinating facts, for bringing out the romance of history, the wholesome excitement of heroism and adventure, and the beauty and wonder of poetry, myth, and legend.’ She authored over 50 titles, including biographies, history textbooks, fairy tales, and hero stories. Her greatest works were The Children’s Hour, an anthology for children in 15 volumes, and The World’s Story, an anthology for older students in 14 volumes.”

Tappan’s preface to this book:

“The story of William the Conqueror is the story of the man who for more than a quarter of a century was the most prominent personage of western Europe. Into whose hands shall England fall, was one of the two or three great questions of the time, and it was William who solved the problem. Whether or not his claim to the English throne was just, the people and their new sovereign seemed made for each other. The English could follow, William could lead. The English could endure; William could strike the blow that made endurance needless. The English were inclined to be grave and serious; William enjoyed a jest. The English were a little slow in their thinking; William was quick-witted. The English would yield to fate; William was fate itself. William’s reign was a period of transition, and in such a time both faults and virtues stand out in bold relief. Whatever in the character of the Conqueror the twentieth century may find worthy of blame or of praise, no student of his life will deny that his faults were those of his time, that his virtues were his own.”

I was very curious to read this book because William’s household steward, Robert Despenser, was a distant ancestor of my family on my father’s side.  Despencer was a Norman landowner who was given status in William’s conquered England. From his line came the famous Spencer family through the centuries. Despencer is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.

William was born in Normandy around 1028 and became Duke of Normandy from 1035 on.  Keeping his control over Normandy was difficult and involved many skirmishes with other men trying to challenge his authority for their own means. In the 1050s and 1060s, William became a contender for the throne of England because King Edward was childless. William claimed that Edward had promised him the throne, a first cousin once removed. Others also claimed the right to the throne. Thus began a long process of obtaining his right to the throne and keeping it. He “invaded” England in 1066 and won the Battle of Hastings. He was crowned king then on Christmas Day in 1066. William’s rule was characterized by the building of many castles and keeps including the keep of the Tower of London, the White Tower. He replaced many of the Saxon knights and rulers with those loyal from Normandy. He also seized and depopulated a large track of land in southern England turning it into the New Forest to support his great love of hunting. Interestingly, the book Children of the New Forest which I previously reviewed took place in this forest during the English Civil War of the mid-1600s. In 1085, William ordered a survey of the landholdings of himself and his vassals. This compilation included the holdings of each landowner, who owned the land before the Conquest, its value, what the taxes were, and the number of all of its resources including peasants and tools.  William died in 1087 following a battle in France against the French King Philip I, who was allied with William’s son Robert.

Being of English background, I had always had a negative impression of William the Conqueror. After all, he invaded England and defeated his foes there and took over the land, making great changes in the culture. I always saw him as a ruthless man. This book gave me a different perspective of a man who set out to claim what he felt was his given rights to rule England. He was brave and courageous even as a young boy when he became Duke of Normandy. He often displayed great mercy in his dealings with his enemies, even against the advice of his elders. William was fiercely protective of his mother and of his wife. He fathered 9 children some of whom were disloyal to him.  Born in a historic period of great political unrest, he lived a life of conflict and battles which he faced with courage and determination.

This book, In the Days of William the Conqueror, written by Eva March Tappan, is a valuable read for young people to learn about this time in history. Although I found it quite interesting because of my fascination with this time period, it is not a good read-aloud, in my opinion. It tends to be a little dry. Still it is informative and well-written, and has a place in my library for knowledge of this time period which has so much influence historically.

Recommended additional books/resources to aid your studies:

Domesday Book, Jackdaw No. 39

1066, Jackdaw No. 38

If you have never seen these Jackdaw collections, you might not realize what a wonderful resource they are of primary sources to aid your studies. They are pamphlets published over the years in England on many historical events and people, many about English history but some also on American and Canada. The packet contains a short document of the history of the event or person, and a list of the document facsimiles included in the packet. I highly recommend them – a little hard to find – but well worth the effort.

Oh my! Such excellent authors have written wonderful books of this era for young people! A rich feast!!

Heroes of History by Winston Churchill

William the Conqueror by Thomas Costain, a Landmark book

William the Conqueror by L. DuGarde Peach, a Ladybird book

Famous Men of the Middle Ages by Rob Shearer

Seven Kings of England by Geoffrey Trease

Tower of London by Leonard Everett Fisher

The Bayeux Tapestry: The Story of the Norman Conquest 1066 by Norman Denny

The Norman Conquest by C. Walter Hodges

Hastings by Philip Sauvain

Growing Up with the Norman Conquest by Alfred Duggan

Cunning of the Dove by Alfred Duggan

Wulf the Saxon by G.A. Henty

Twelve Bright Trumpets by Margaret Leighton

The Twelve Ships by Eloise McGraw

Knight’s Fee by Rosemary Sutcliff

Shield Ring by Rosemary Sutcliff

Little Duke by Charlotte Yonge

Man with a Sword by Henry Trease

The Middle Ages by Sue Lyon

Rory the Red by Evelyn Begley

To Kill a King by Madeleine Polland

Invaders and Invasions by Ronald Syme

The History of the English Speaking Peoples by Winston Churchill, volume 1

Saxon Britain by Tony Triggs

Earliest English by Rosemary Cramp

Kings, Bishops, Knights and Pawns by Ralph Arnold

They Lived Like This in Ancient Britain by Marie Neurath

Fourteenth of October by Bryher – I have not read this one

This is London by M. Sasek

The Inside-Outside Book of London by Roxie Munro

The Story of Britain by R.J. Unstead

Heart’s Conquest by Gladys Malvern – I have not read this one

Faraway Princess by Jane Oliver

(Book review by Sandy Hall. All rights reserved. August 14, 2017)