Summer Reading Assignment #4 : Miss Osborne the Mop

  Ivy and I recently finished Sea View Secret, which was 'Reading Assignment #3'. So on to #4. My next recommendation is Miss Osborne the Mop by Wilson Gage.

The 1970's cover for Miss Osborne

 Wilson Gage was actually a woman named Mary Q. Steele, and I believe she did write some books under that name too. Miss Osborne was another book suggested by my older sister, who had also read it when she had been the age I was at the time.I only read one other book by Wilson Gage, "Dan and the Miranda", which I read when I was home in bed sick for several days as a kid. I remember that I enjoyed the story about a boy and a spider, but it didn't leave the impression on me that Miss Osborne did. I searched for a copy of Miss Osborne for years, before copying a library book out of desperation! (Yes, I know that's not legal, but I wasn't selling it, and this was the time before the internet. Now you can find and buy just about anything you want. But in those days finding scarce things was much more difficult.) I have since bought at least 2 copies of the book, including the library one I copied when they discarded it, and it ended up in the annual library book sale!

The original Miss Osborne. This is the library edition we bought, and also the same edition I read as a kid.

  Miss Osborne the Mop was originally published in 1963 and is most certainly out of print now. It still shows up online and, as I said, at second hand book sales! Another book set during the summer,the story concerns a girl named Jody who is sent to spend the summer with her aunt and uncle and cousin Dill. Jody and Dill don't get along very well, so Jody is expecting a miserable summer.Add to that situation the fact that Jody finds out she has to wear glasses for the summer. When strange things start happening it becomes apparent (to the reader at least!) that Jody's new glasses have the magical power to grant her wishes. Things really start to hop when Jody brings a mop to life. And what life! Miss Osborne is named after a teacher and she takes charge of Jody and Dill the way a teacher would. The three embark on a series of adventures over the summer, not least of which is keeping bossy Miss Osborne a secret.

The story is full of magic (gone wrong alot of the time!) and humour, as Jody and Dill--and the mop!-- become friends. The descriptions of the beautiful mountain setting are wonderful. My kids all loved the book. My 18 year old son only recently talked about the chocolate cake with orange icing that Jody wishes up for Dill! It sounded delicious and was something I always remembered too, and in fact I make such a cake every now and then.
  Expect a few tears at the end of the book, but the ending is a happy one really. Good reading!

Summer Reading Assisgnment #3: Sea View Secret by Elizabeth Kinsey

  I hope everyone is having a chance to get some reading in this summer. We haven't had much of a chance ourselves, but that doesn't mean we can't push others to do so! "Do as I say, not as I do!" My latest 'summer reading with your kids' suggestion happens to be one of Ivy's favourites, Sea View Secret' by Elizabeth Kinsey. Ivy has insisted that we read it every summer for the last few years. This year, even though she's 13 now, she still wants me to read it to her. I am glad to do so, because I know that these days are soon coming to a close.
  "Sea View Secret" was originally published in 1964.

 I'm sure it's out of print. I spent years trying to find a copy. This one is much harder to find than the other two books I have talked about so far. It was always one of my favourite books though, and has turned out to be one of Ivy's too. The story is set one sweltering hot summer, when two kids around 10 years old move to the suburbs with their parents and toddler twin siblings. They befriend the family in the only old house left in the neighborhood and discover a mystery surrounding some valuable rings that have been missing for decades. The rings, it turns out, could be just what's needed to save the old house from destruction by a greedy land developer, so of course they have to find them. My kids have pointed out that alot of my favourite books have to do in some way with saving someone's house. Hmm... I wonder what that means?
  The book is full of mystery, nothing scary though, some humour,and a warm story about friendship and family love. It's a nice old fashioned book, but I think kids will still enjoy it. The kids in the story all have respect for adults and take responsibility for doing chores and helping out, so maybe something like this is just what kids these days need to read! There's nothing inappropriate, and the search for the mysterious missing rings is something I think kids can really get caught up in.
  The only copies of this book I have ever seen are Scholastic paperbacks, but I'm sure it was printed in hardback at some point. As with the other books, the age recommendation depends on your child's attention span and interests. I would say you could possibly read it to them from age 6 to 10. As I said, Ivy still likes to have it read to her, but then, it's one of her special books, and this will probably be her last summer to have me read it to her.
  On another subject, the cake topper in my Beatles post was described as being made by Gay-Gem. While Gay-Gem did indeed make the exact same cake top figures, and the ones I found in my research were mostly by them, mine does in fact say Wilton on it. Just saying.