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Children Who Lived in a Barn (Revised)
Children Who Lived in a Barn (Revised) | Eleanor Graham
12 posts | 9 read | 6 to read
Suitable for both adults and children to read, this 1938 novel shows five children successfully looking after themselves when their parents go away and fail to return.
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julieclair
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#PersephoneClub
I can‘t decide how I felt about this one. On the surface, it‘s a fun adventure similar to The Boxcar Children. I loved the way the children worked together to take care of themselves and fend off the dreaded DV and other “do-gooders”. The “Rules of the Barn” and refusal to take charity/handouts were admirable and smart. ⬇️

julieclair But if I thought too much about it, I just felt so sad for the children and worried for their safety. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I had read it as a child. 2mo
CarolynM Great review. I thought it was sad too. I‘m not sure I would have liked it any better if I‘d read it in childhood - I think even then I‘d have been concerned about just how hard they all had to work! 2mo
julieclair @CarolynM Thanks! And good point about the amount of work they had to do. It was much more than just “playing house”. 2mo
31 likes3 comments
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Aimeesue
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Pickpick

This was a good reminder that children are often much more resourceful & capable than we think, although they shouldn‘t have to be, of course. I enjoyed this one, and empathized with Sue, who carried most of the responsibility. Her going on strike certainly has given me ideas. I‘m fascinated by the haybox cooking, & recalled hearing about modern versions - the Wonderbag is one such. I‘d like to make one, just to try it out. 😄
#PersephoneClub

jlhammar Those wonderbags look kind of neat! 3mo
julieclair I‘ve never heard of a Wonderbag. Or a hay-box, either. But I‘m definitely curious about both! 3mo
CarolynM Wonderful indeed! As power prices rise we may all need to invest in one of these! 3mo
LeahBergen I haven‘t heard of a Wonderbag, either! 3mo
Aimeesue @jlhammar @julieclair @CarolynM @LeahBergen The Wonderbag company was started in 2008 to help South African families deal with the constant power outages, and hayboxes were used a lot during WW2 to save on fuel. I‘d bet similar techniques are being used in Ukraine and Gaza and other places seeing violent conflict today, if people can get food and have a pot and something to insulate it with. 3mo
40 likes5 comments
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andrew61
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Pickpick

Another enjoyable read from the persephone catalogue. Some great villains from Miss legge threatening to separate the children, to the dreadful DV, but strangest of all the curious Miss Blake + companion who Alice visits. All in all, Sue was remarkable. Good fun.
@LeahBergen @Cathythoughts @rubyslippersreads @quietjenn @Tamra @CarolynM @sisilia @Caryl @daena @elkeOriginal @Gissy @Aimeesue @Bookbuyingaddict @julieclair @willaful #persephoneclub

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Pretty 💜 3mo
LeahBergen Great review, Andrew! 3mo
CarolynM Miss Blake and her companion were very odd🤔 3mo
54 likes3 comments
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jlhammar
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Pickpick

Up the Dunnets! Fun and charming read. I‘m sure my young, eldest of four, Boxcar Children-loving self would have adored it. I liked their “rules of the barn”and all the housekeeping (barnkeeping?) details. I had to look up bully (canned corned beef?) and found the haybox fascinating. The adults in this book (including the parents) were an odd bunch. If I were Sue, I think I‘d be put off a conventional life/future as wife and mother after this!

LeahBergen I must get to this soon (when my current Laura Ingalls Wilder mania subsides 😆). 3mo
CarolynM At least Sue wouldn't have the romantic view of domesticity that a lot of girls at the time had. She'd done her time at the coalface! 3mo
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CarolynM
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Pickpick

Well, this wasn‘t the fun adventure I was expecting. It was all rather grim really. Poor Susan! No wonder she went on strike. I‘d like to think there was a little subversive intention behind the way that turned out, but probably not😆
I was glad to see the dastardly DV thwarted and I hope the Pearls got more than warm thanks. Had anyone heard of a hay-box or Solomon‘s rabbit cooking method?

#PersephoneClub

julieclair I‘m just starting this, and expecting a fun adventure! 🥴 Thanks for the heads up! 3mo
quietjenn I'm definitely shifting my expectations, based on this and other comments! 3mo
elkeOriginal Susan going on strike was the best. She sure was MVP and carried quite a load while the parents were gone. Agreed about the Pearls! 3mo
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elkeOriginal ‘dastardly DV‘ 😆 3mo
LeahBergen I need to pick this up soon! 🫣 3mo
Teresereading I remember the hatbox from Duchess of Duke Street 3mo
CarolynM @Teresereading Did you mean “haybox”? Did they use one in the hotel kitchen in DoDS? I remember the series, but not many details about it. 3mo
jlhammar Poor Susan for sure! I‘m about halfway through. I‘d not heard of a haybox before this—pretty neat. 3mo
rubyslippersreads @quietjenn @julieclair I picked this book precisely because I thought it would be it would be a fun adventure. 😟 3mo
rubyslippersreads @LeahBergen I haven‘t started yet either, and I‘m the one who picked it. 😏 3mo
Cathythoughts Not what I was expecting from the title! I havnt started yet … 👍🏻😁 3mo
Aimeesue I‘d heard of hatboxes. They had a bit of a revival during the pandemic, actually. People make similar ones with fabric covers. 3mo
Bookwomble A haybox oven was a pre-electric method of low-energy slow cooking. https://www.cottagesmallholder.com/haybox-cooking-how-to-make-a-haybox-and-save-... 1mo
70 likes14 comments
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rubyslippersreads
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A couple of my current reads:

My #FolioSociety edition of Ruth for the #PemberLittens #hashtagbrigade readalong. #foliofreaks

The tagged book for the #PersephoneClub

BarkingMadRead Ohhhhh that pic is beautiful 3mo
Aimeesue Oh, the Folio! 💜🩷💜 3mo
MaureenMc 🤩🤩🤩 3mo
52 likes4 comments
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andrew61
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The 1st thing that struck me as I started this book was whether I had gone back in time and was picking up my mums old secret seven books when visiting my nanas. Then I looked up the illustrator and went down a worm hole reading about Mary Gernat.
@LeahBergen @Cathythoughts @rubyslippersreads @quietjenn @Tamra @CarolynM @sisilia @Caryl @daena @elkeOriginal @Gissy @Aimeesue @Bookbuyingaddict @julieclair @willaful #persephoneclub

elkeOriginal The illustrations DID feel familiar! 3mo
CarolynM Thank you for this. I thought I recognised the style of the illustrations too. 3mo
Bookbuyingaddict 🤣🤣 3mo
39 likes3 comments
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elkeOriginal
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Pickpick

This #Persephone was not a romp of childhood fun & almost a so-so. When the parents disappear while traveling, the kids are resourceful taking care of themselves & with the help of kinder adults in town, keep together in the face of the adults trying to send them off to an orphanage.
While an image of 1930s-ish village-life, there were just SO many chores & eldest Susan had SO much work to do as The Girl. That plus the meddling ladies angered me.

31 likes4 comments
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LeahBergen
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It‘s now August so that means it‘s time for one of our #PersephoneClub reads!

@rubyslippersreads ‘ pick for us this month is The Children Who Lived in a Barn by Eleanor Graham. This is a casual buddy read; read and comment on each other‘s posts and reviews as you see them. We usually aim to finish by the middle of the month but that‘s not written in stone. 😉 And anyone is welcome to read along with us, of course!

Tamra Thank you for including me, Leah. I‘m going to sit this one out, but I‘ll rejoin the group for the next round. Happy reading everyone! 😄 3mo
willaful Well I'm really bummed I cant get ahold of this, after discovering the author was an editor at Puffin books! Oh well. 😭 3mo
Cathythoughts Thanks Leah. I have it ready and waiting ♥️👍🏻 3mo
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quietjenn @willaful oh, fun trivia! Although I'm sorry you won't be joining us. 3mo
elkeOriginal @quietjenn @willaful The intro says she founded the Puffin imprint and was in charge of the entire list for 20 years. Adding this, her book in a new slightly revised edition to Puffin in the 1950s. I am always torn about reading intros (in case of spoilers) and this time it was the right move! 3mo
quietjenn @elkeOriginal I usually skip them until the end, but I'm glad read it 😉 3mo
Aimeesue @willaful Internet Archive has a copy available to borrow if you do want to read it. 3mo
willaful @Aimeesue Unfortunately it's not downloadable, and reading on my laptop is too much for my eyes. :-( 3mo
julieclair @Aimeesue Thanks for the heads up about Internet Archive! I haven‘t been able to find a copy. 👏 3mo
Aimeesue @willaful I‘m with you there. My Kindle is so much easier to read on than my iPad, even. But since it‘s only available to borrow an hour at a time, maybe I‘ll do an hour a day and see how that goes. 🙂 3mo
Aimeesue @julieclair You are most welcome! I Check IA for any of the Persephones I don‘t have. Sometimes they have them and sometimes they don‘t, but I lucked out with this one 3mo
julieclair @Aimeesue I always forget about IA, but I have now added it to my “Where to Find Free Books” list. 😉 3mo
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Andrea313
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Pickpick

This was not the lighthearted romp I expected, with scrappy kids living joyously free of adult rule. Instead our protagonist Susan had to balance cooking all the meals and doing the washing, mending, and cleaning with going to school and managing the adults in her community who wanted to break up the family, keeping "Orphanages, Homes, and Adoptions" at bay. Still, I loved this book and imagine I'd have loved it more as a child. Highly recommend!

26 likes1 comment
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Andrea313
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Starting this month's #PersephonePick tonight and loving it. I'm sad I didn't read this when I was a kid (I already predict it would have been a favorite), but glad to be reading it now! Thank you, #PersephoneBooks. ❤️ #Persephone

LeahBergen I‘m glad to hear it‘s good! This is going to be one of the next Persephones I order. 👍🏻 3y
22 likes1 comment
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ManyWordsLater
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🙌

Megabooks 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 5y
51 likes1 comment