Paw Paws Stories

I didn't actually find and taste a pawpaw until I moved to rural Missouri, some 17 Pawpaw trees, bushes and patches a part of many American folklore stories.
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Where oh where is sweet sister Sally? We only found one pawpaw that day—just one perfectly ripe fruit to share with thirteen people. But this pawpaw we found was more typical—about four inches long and shaped like a short cucumber or a stubby green banana. Sometimes they are called Indiana bananas. I really wanted to share this marvelous fruit, so using my bark backpack as a cutting board I began carefully slicing. The flesh was a smooth creamy yellow with large brown seeds. Soon I had the entire fruit in slices and I passed them out.

Each person took a piece and there was enough for everyone.

We each ate our slice and the flavor was awesome! We were transported by sharing the succulent sweetness and the creamy sensuality—the perfect ripeness. It was mind altering.

Paw Paws Intro

Then a strange thing began to happen—I began to feel like a minister who had just handed out communion. I started hearing voices. This is my body which is given for you: When she finally ventures out beyond the grove of paw paw trees to visit her aunt by train, Anna Lavinia begins what is to become a magical journey to distant lands full of secrets and surprises. I had so much fun reading this book for the first time as an adult. I can only imagine how much better it must be for a child to read this.

Every night we read one or two chapters and she would race through her bedtime routine, just because she was so excited to hear more of the story. There are very cute pencil sketch drawings on almost every page sometimes every other page. I think there is a second book and it is coming back to print in April I definitely will read that to my daughter as well and I look so forward to continue Anna Lavinia's adventures.

This was the best chapter book ever to read to your young children and a great book for anyone of all ages to enjoy. I count myself lucky to have discovered this book. Rather delightful, in the dreamlike vein of Alice in Wonderland or the Phantom Tollbooth. It's one of those stories in which nothing is wasted - every little detail, however small or whimsical, comes back to be useful later on. Ja, nog steeds geweldig!

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Heeft hij niet meer boeken geschreven? Sep 21, Linda Aull rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: This is my favorite book from childhood.

Jul 27, Meg Wilson rated it really liked it. This world is small and gentle and lovely, compared to the worlds of Alice and Dorothy. It is full of lavender-blue skies and green silk ribbons and floating tea cosies. Early on, it is even a bit claustrophobic. Somewhere around the middle, though, the threads of the story start to pull together, and the whole thing rattles to a satisfying finish. Review of the sequel, The Silver Nutmeg , can be found here. Jun 23, Janet rated it liked it Shelves: An dreamlike children's fantasy. It has a surreal quality that I am not used to. Anna Lavinia is growing up in an unhappy home, with a missing father and a miserable mother.


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One morning her mother sends her alone on a long train trip to visit her aunt, for no particular reason. Partway through the trip, the engineer gets left behind, and Anna Lavinia, her cat, and the train journey on together, until they get to where the tracks meet, the end of the line. Anna Lavinia thinks perhaps she should b An dreamlike children's fantasy. Anna Lavinia thinks perhaps she should be concerned, but since everything seems to be going all right, she doesn't bother. She continues on in this unflappable way, through ever stranger adventures.

I would have loved this book when I was about eight. But I think this is a children's book that does not work as well for adults, no matter how much we want it to. Maybe my expectations were too high. But I expected more from this sweet old-fashioned story than a bit of twee, a bit of word-play, a very strange mother, and a series of safe adventures.

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Maybe a crazy amount of word and logic play like Alice in Wonderland would have saved it. Or maybe if our MC were actually a heroine on a quest, instead of a passive little girl, then it would have been more interesting. Or maybe if the cat, Strawberry, had a personality, or if there were some deeper meaning.. Or maybe if the cat, Strawberry, had a personality, or if there were some deeper meaning They've republished some of my favorites Thurber!

If you have liked more of their books, add this to your list; it might be perfect for you. Feb 10, Angela Tuson rated it really liked it. Charming, slightly absurd and quite satisfying. Just like 4pm tea. It was so whimsical and enchanting. Jul 21, Nancy rated it it was amazing Shelves: So charming and indeed quite enchanting. Mar 23, Cat rated it it was amazing. I loved these books as a child! Such wonderful little stories that have stayed with me for decades!

Anna lives with her mother in a large house with many rooms surrounded by a field of pawpaw trees, enclosed by a wall. Anna's mother spends her days making pawpaw jelly and missing Anna's father. Anna Lavinia misses her father as well, and reads the books he left behind. Anna's mother tells her to "Never believe what you see", but her father left the instruction to "Believe only what you see", and Another classic from the New York Review Children's Collection is the story of young Anna Lavinia.

Anna's mother tells her to "Never believe what you see", but her father left the instruction to "Believe only what you see", and Anna is inclined to her father's views, even though her mother cries when she thinks of him and tells Anna Lavinia he is off chasing rainbows. She eagerly awaits the day he will return, sure that it will happen on one of the special days when the sky is lavender blue, since interesting things always happen on those days. When her mother sends her off to visit her father's sister, Aunt Sophia Maria, Anna Lavinia is thrilled. She has never been outside the wall before and is eager to have adventures.

Her mother takes her to the train station and returns home, and Anna Lavinia is off on her adventure, and a good one it is. I had never come across this book before, but it is a lovely story albeit the long-suffering mother and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The story of the pawpaw tree

From cats to camels, tea cozies on trains to mirages off cliffs, Anna Lavinia sees a lot and believes it all. Nov 28, Miranda rated it it was amazing. This was one of my favorite books as a child, along with The Silver Nutmeg, also by Palmer Brown, also with Anna Lavinia as the heroine. These two books are magical in a completely individual way; nothing you could ever imagine without reading them. There is nothing hackneyed or slick about them, and the illustrations by the author are charming and express the book perfectly. Anna Lavinia has various adventures in a world that seems like ours but is just slightly, enchantingly askew.

In this book, Anna Lavinia embarks on a train trip to visit her Aunt, and encounters eccentric characters and odd places. This book contained the first reference to a tea cosy I ever ran across, and instilled an affection for copies and teatime I have never outgrown.

Just thinking about these two books fills me with a sense of the wondrous possibilities of life, especially when the sky is lavender blue.

Pawpaw | Order of Bards and Druids

I'm not really sure what I expected from this book, but I know I was disappointed. It is what it says in the description, it just sounded more appealing to me than it actually was. I personally only truly enjoyed the chapters before Anna Lavinia went out on her epic journey.

If the book had continued like that and was all about her strange home situation and everyday life, I think it would've been a much better story. As it was, it felt like a cheap rip-off of Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard o I'm not really sure what I expected from this book, but I know I was disappointed. And those are the titles it is compared to in said description, so I guess I should have seen it coming.

The illustrations were cute, though. Jan 01, Kathleen Hulton rated it really liked it. The was definitely 5 stars for my six year old, though. It's a relatively simple, sweet adventure story with a strong girl protagonist. I loved the language and appreciated the dry wit and aspects of the story that went above her head ie Anna lavinia's mother's deep depression. FYI it's got some language that is jarring in , some borderline racist descriptions of "Arabs" and also one of the characters Anna meets along the way is "the fat woman" and is always referred to as "the fat woman," The was definitely 5 stars for my six year old, though.

FYI it's got some language that is jarring in , some borderline racist descriptions of "Arabs" and also one of the characters Anna meets along the way is "the fat woman" and is always referred to as "the fat woman," along with some comments about what and how she eats. Nov 26, Adam rated it liked it Shelves: Jul 20, Christina rated it it was amazing Shelves: One of my favourite books from when I was a kid.

I checked it out of the library and read it over and over again. Something about Anna Lavinia's mother, with her selective believing of certain things and determined ignoring of other things, and Anna Lavinia's somewhat rebellious reactions, struck a chord. Then the adventure of going off by yourself into the desert! And the very charming illustrations by the author just add to the whole thing. Jun 29, Laura rated it it was amazing Shelves: I read this over and over again as a child, and pored over the delicately detailed drawings.

For years it was out of print, and I was unable to locate a copy in print. Recently the most excellent New York Review Children's Collection brought a number of great old titles back into print, Beyond the Pawpaw Trees included. I was so excited to order a copy. I was not disappointed. It is still as lovely, sweet and enchanting as it was when I was a child. Jan 30, DeAnne rated it it was amazing.

My darling husband got me a copy for my birthday, and so I plan to reread it, and hope that it is as magical as I remember.


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  • My mom gave away my entire collection while I was in college, and this is one of the books I've never been able to replace. View all 4 comments. Aug 13, Catalina Gonzalez rated it it was amazing. My favorite childhood book! How i wish i could het it and read it again!