The Railway Children, by E. Nesbit

An ebook, free from Amazon for my Kindle app. An old book, now in public domain. A sweet, old-fashioned children's book. It features three upper middle class British children, Roberta ("Bobbie"), Peter, and Phyllis ("Phil"), who live comfortably in a London suburb with their mother, father, a cook, and one or two maids. Life is good until one evening when Father is suddenly called away. He does not return, and some time later the children and their mother move to a small house in the country, with no servants. They no longer go to school, and their mother no longer has the time to play with them, nor tell them stories or make up sweet and silly poems for them. At first she tells them they must play at being poor, and as time goes on, she tells them they are poor. They all miss their father, but no one mentions him and the children are in the dark as to why he disappeared. They entertain themselves by waving at the trains as they pass by near their home, and visiting the kind porter at the railway station. One adventure leads to another; they save lives; they prevent a train wreck; they rescue a boy who has broken his leg in the tunnel. They are polite and respectful and kind to everyone they meet, and everyone is charmed by them. As one might expect from a children's book, it ends happily; Father is reunited with his family, but they have grown stronger, braver, and wiser in his absence.
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This is a better, more thorough and more thoughtful review of the same book by my friend at Reading to Know:
The Railway Children

Secret Dream, by Muriel Fontenot Blackwell

Book image courtesy of journalpics

Read, reviewed, and released in September-October, 2012 (I don't know why I didn't keep this for my grandchildren. I wish now that I had.)

A children's book.
This was very quick to read and with a happy ending (I needed that!). A book about an Acadian family (Cajun) in Louisiana and the dreams of a young girl to further her education. Set in the early days of World War II when drastic changes were coming to everyone.

Ms. Blackwell is of Acadian heritage herself. She wrote in the Preface, "This book is not autobiographical. However, the characters have been drawn from many persons I knew and loved in my childhood. It is an attempt to present a true picture of the Acadian people and the struggles they went through as World War II brought abrupt changes to their way of life." The book was dedicated to her son and daughter "that they might better understand their maternal heritage, a simple but noble one."

Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls

Book image courtesy of Amazon.com

Read and reviewed in November, 2010. It is no longer in my possession.

A very well-written coming-of-age story about a young boy and his hunting hounds, his adventures coon hunting in the Ozark backwoods, and the bond between him and his dogs.

Fancy Nancy, by Jane O'Connor

Read and reviewed in March, 2008. A book for my granddaughter.

This children's book was sent as a gift for me and my granddaughter, by a LiveJournal user who is not (yet) a Bookcrosser. I am thrilled!

It is a cute story about a little girl who tries to teach her plain-jane family to be fancy like she is.

My screen name is Fancy, but I am actually more plain-jane in real life. I need to take "Fancy" lessons, too!