Bearly Reading 2022- final list

A Dog Named Christmas by Greg Kincaid…….. 136 pages…. fiction, Christmas, book featuring a character with a disability……….. finished reading 1 January

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella…….. 435…… fiction, favorite author……. 13 January….. recommend

Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke…………. 663…. fiction, fantasy series, book about books……. 3 February…….. highly recommend

Holier Than Thou by Jackie Hill Perry……….168…. non-fiction, Christian living, book by a person I admire…….. 28 February…… recommend

Story of With by Allen Arnold………. 268……. non-fiction, Flourish book club, book about writing…… 6 March….. recommend

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand……… 466……. fiction, mystery, random book from the library…… 12 March

The Enchanted Castle by E Nesbit………. 291………. fiction, book I never finished previously……. 21 March

Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller………. 195……… non-fiction, memoir, book chosen by cover……. 3 May

Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud………. 230……. non-fiction, recommended by a friend, lifestyle, career………. 21 May……. recommend

The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith……… 132……. non-fiction, Flourish book club, writing instructional……. 28 June

The Brontes: Eccentric Lives by Robert Johanson…… 62……. play, book bought in another country…… 29 July

Influence by Shannon Popkin and Kate Motaung………… 138…….. non-fiction, Flourish book club, book by an author I follow, writing related, Christian, book with two authors…….. 26 September

Marriage Be Hard by Kevin and Melissa Fredericks……….. 228……. non-fiction, memoir-ish, book by a couple, marriage, book recommended by YouTubers I follow………5 November

Little Women: Mermaid Edition by Megan Lois Whitehall……… 360….. fiction, retelling of a classic, book for review……. 26 November

Take a Breath With Him by Karen Brough……… 145…… non-fiction, book by a friend, Christian, book for review…….. 23 December……. recommend

In It Together by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes……….. 205…….. non-fiction, philosophy, book for review……. 31 December

16 books completed, 4,122 pages, 6 fiction, 10 nonfiction, 1 play, 3 writing related, 4 Christian living, 4 did not finish (not listed, 3 will finish in 2023), additional book reviews from end of 2022 coming soon

What books should I read in 2023?

Moms in Children’s Literature

My dad forwarded me this article about the best and worst moms in children’s literature asking my opinion and input. Feel free to read the article first or just keep reading as I mention the mothers listed for context.

The 5 worst moms are listed as the Evil Queen from Snow White, Petunia Dursley from Harry Potter Series, Lady Tremaine from Cinderella, The Other Mother from Coraline, and Mrs. Wormwood from Matilda. My first point would be to make a distinction on having actual mothers versus stepmothers and adoptive mothers. The literary trope is an evil stepmother with Snow White and Cinderella as primary examples and it remains popular today in reality and fiction.

Some examples include Meredith Blake in The Parent Trap, the witch in Rapunzel (I think she’s called Gothel), and the countless variations of Cinderella over the years which are flooding my mind keeping other examples at bay. A Cinderella Story- Just Ella- Ever After- Ella Enchanted- Cinderella the Brandy version- and the Cinderella Story remakes 2 through eternity. I don’t know the story of Coraline so I cannot speak to the validity of that pick, even though that mother exists in an alternate reality… Not sure.

If you want to find bad biological mothers in stories you can include Mrs. Wormwood for utter neglect and the best thing she ever does for Matilda is sign the papers for Ms. Honey to adopt her instead. I would also include the mother from Hansel and Gretel in this place because she is the one convincing the father to send the children off to get lost and die of starvation in the woods.

Now I will make an argument to keep Mrs. Dursley out of good and bad categories. She belongs more in the neutral category swaying between the extremes because we do see her love for Harry come through the different books whereas there is no argument for those mentioned previously in this bad category to have any affection toward the (step)child of the story.

On to the wonderful! The five mothers mentioned in the article are Ma from Little House on the Prairie, Molly Weasley from Harry Potter, Marmee from Little Women, Dr. Kate from A Wrinkle in Time, and Mrs. Quimby from the Ramona series. Before checking back with the article for the list of good mothers I wrote down Little House on the Prairie because that was a good example of a present mother who came to mind while thinking on the bad mums, and I am not the only one who thinks so! Perfect.

I would easily agree that Ma and Marmee are great examples of good mothers who are involved in the story enough to be mentioned and biological mothers in that category. Mrs. Weasley easily falls into good adoptive mother category as she is a mother figure to everyone who meets her and has that natural nurturing capacity displayed in the series. I do like Dr. Kate and Mrs. Quimby very much, but would defer them to other mothers who play a more direct role in the stories. Certainly not bad mothers, but I would like more involved mothers to receive the good mother spotlight.

I would propose Helen in the Spiderwick Chronicles, Nia in The Wingfeather Saga, and Mama Bear in the Berenstain Bears to join the good mother category for birth mothers involved in the storyline. As an adoptive mother I would suggest Marilla in Anne of Green Gables.

It was a fun article to analyze and report back my thoughts. What about you? Who is your favorite and least favorite mother that I missed? Do you think there should be a list for birth mothers separate from adoptive and step mothers? Let me know in the comments!