Sunday, February 17, 2008

Learn Your Lesson

Land ho! I just made a discovery that I can't believe I've missed all these years. Those smart girls who already know about this will just roll their eyes and say,"Where have you been?" , but I'm so excited I have to share. I just found the Mary Frances series of books which were originally published in 1916 by Jane Earye Fryer. The first story, Adventures Among The Thimble People, tells how Mary Frances learned to sew with advice from tools in her grandmother's sewing basket like Fairy Lady, Tommy Pin Cushion, and Sewing Bird. Throughout these charming stories there are actual instructions and 33 patterns for sewing doll clothes.I learned something just from reading about the Mary Frances books.Have you ever heard of a sewing bird? Well I hadn't and it is an amazing little item. Mary Frances has other lessons, too. There are books on first aid, knitting and crocheting, cooking, gardening, and housekeeping which includes etiquette and social graces.The housekeeping book comes with the Paper Doll Family of Sandpile Village to make the lessons more fun to learn.The Mary Frances series can appeal to a wide range of ages as older sisters can read them to younger siblings and any girl could read them with their Momma and learn all the valuable skills for the time when they have their own homes and children.

2 comments:

Sandi McBride said...

Oh Holley, I love all the old books. Have you read The Boxcar Children? I read it when in second grade and it was old already...and it never occurred to me that a gaggle of kids couldn't take care of themselves, nor to ask where in heck their parents had gone to...if you haven't read it, you must, you really must!

Sandi

Jamie {See Jamie blog} said...

I just discovered your blog, and have already noticed that you're a homeschooler, a Georgia girl (even if you don't live here now), and a Christian, so we have a lot in common!

Please come visit my blog sometime, too. :-)