Books to Accompany Bi-Folkal Kits
From Brandon Kempf, Reader Advisor for Institutes
(Updated March 2005)
Wolfner Library's Bi-Folkal kits have been flying off the shelves since we re-introduced our collection to nursing homes, senior centers, public libraries, and other groups in April 2001. The activities in the kits, which range from slide shows to skits to picture sets, have been successfully used to bring programs to Wolfner Library patrons across the state. The following bibliography is intended to enhance the Bi-Folkal kit programs. For each kit, from Remembering 1924 to Remembering Work Life, there is a list of books revolving around the particular theme. After your program, request some of the following books for members of your group who want to reminisce some more. Or request the books before presenting the Bi-Folkal program to get people thinking about the topic. Whether they decide to read a love story set aboard the Orient Express after participating in Remembering Train Rides, or reread a beloved children's story before discussing Hanukkah celebrations with the Jewish Memories kit, we hope your group members enjoy the book selections!
Remembering 1924
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth.
RC 23282, BR 353.
An account of happy family life in the 1920s. The author's father, an efficiency expert who believed in living fully, entertained and practiced some very unconventional ideas about raising his many children. This edition contains an update on the twelve original Gilbreths and their many children. Also available as a descriptive video, DV 516.
Hollywood: A Novel of America in the 1920s by Gore Vidal.
RC 31018.
In the era just before World War 1 and into the 1920s, the politicians of Washington, D.C., learn that the new, glitzy, image-making world of Hollywood can be used to further their own ends. Caroline Sanford, heroine of "Empire," is sent to Hollywood to persuade producers of the "picture-plays" to make pro-American stories. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.
RC 34114, BR 3615.
A wealthy group of English and American ex-patriates in post World War I Europe move from the boulevards of Paris to the bullfights of Spain. The disillusioned characters are a reflection of the war-weary generation of the 1920s.
Remembering African American Lives
The Children by David Halberstam.
RC 45703.
As a young journalist in the early 1960s, Halberstam covered the story of the "sit-in kids," who integrated lunch counters in Nashville. In this book, he chronicles the actions of African American college students who were part of the Civil Rights Movement and traces their subsequent careers. Some violence.
Desegregating the Dollar: African American Consumerism in the Twentieth Century by Robert E. Weems, Jr.
BR 12811.
An associate professor of history at the University of Missouri-Columbia traces African Americans' ascent among retail purchasers from marginal shoppers in the early 1900s to an important segment of the consumer market in the 1990s. Explores stereotypes used to target this community. Includes an epilogue, appendix, and notes.
Life Is so Good by George Dawson and Richard Glaubman.
RC 51912.
A 101-year-old laborer who learned to read at age 98 chronicles his life in the South and provides a personal retrospective on the African American past. In collaboration with a history teacher, Dawson recalls significant developments of the twentieth century, including the advent of two world wars.
American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military from the Revolution to Desert Storm by Gail Lumet Buckley.
RC 53330.
Chronicles two centuries of African American military experience. Drawing on interviews and primary sources, Buckley contends that the pressures of necessity opened military service to blacks. She describes the bravery and sacrifice of black soldiers despite discrimination against them and frequent minimization or denial of their achievements.
Remembering Aprons
A Window over the Sink: A Mainly Affectionate Memoir by Peg Bracken.
RC 15850, BR 4913.
Bracken's "official stance" for remembering is "at the kitchen sink, looking out the window" of her Hawaiian home, but food, cooking equipment, and cleaning the kitchen also provoke vivid memories of the Midwest.
Can't Quit You, Baby by Ellen Douglas.
RC 29202.
This novel is set during a summer in Mississippi in the early 1960s. Cornelia, a white woman, and Julia, her black employee, talk while making preserves together. They relive their struggles with family and men, alternating in their remembrances while a narrator stands back, invisible, in the kitchen, commenting on the two women and their lives. Some descriptions of sex.
Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke.
RC 53725.
After bakery owner Hannah Swensen of Lake Eden, Minnesota, judges a televised bake-off, someone murders a fellow judge, Coach Boyd Watson. His battered wife, Danielle, is the main suspect, but Hannah and her boyfriend, sheriff detective Mike Kingston, hope to prove otherwise. Includes recipes. A Hannah Swensen Mystery, Book 1. Series Code SWH.
Remembering Automobiles
America on Wheels: Tales and Trivia of the Automobile by Mark Smith.
BR 6640.
Interesting and amusing facts and anecdotes about the automobile from its first appearance to the present. Includes topics such as: automobile nomenclature, famous automobile firsts, how Americans adapted to the automobile, races and endurance tests, unusual automobile gadgets, and cars of the future.
The Beetle and Me: A Love Story by Karen Romano Young.
RC 49078.
At fifteen, Daisy, who is as obsessed with cars as the rest of her family, convinces her reluctant father to let her try to restore his purple 1957 Volkswagen Beetle. While she struggles to work on the car, Daisy experiences her first relationships with boys.
Dale Earnhardt: Remembering the Intimidator.
RC 52198.
Describes the fatal last race of the NASCAR legendary driver on February 18, 2001, during the Daytona 500. Eleven articles briefly trace Earnhardt's life and highlights of his long and successful career, including seven Winston Cups, as well as his legacy.
Remembering Birthdays
Birthdays: Their Delights, Disappointments, Past and Present, Worldly, Astrological, and Infamous by Linda Rannells Lewis.
BR 3770.
Explores the anniversaries of birth in a happy and anecdotal fashion. Discussion covers social history, literary annotations, interior reflections, wise observations, lore, symbolism, and astrology.
The Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux.
RC 52370.
Leslie, Ellie, and Madison first met on their twenty-first birthday at the DMV in New York City. Now, on their fortieth birthday, these women meet again to take stock of their lives and the choices they have made. But they do not expect the opportunity they are about to be offered. Some strong language.
Surprise Party by William Katz.
RC 22080.
A psychological thriller starring a schizophrenic murderer who kills an auburn-haired woman every year on his birthday. It seems an incredible coincidence that the murderer's birthday should fall on the same day as Samantha's husband's. Beautiful, young Samantha, who has long auburn hair, is planning the party to top all parties to celebrate her adored husband's fortieth birthday. Some strong language.
Christmas
The Christmas Box Collection by Richard Paul Evans:
Parkin Family.
Series Code: PAF.
David and Mary Ann have an idyllic courtship and marriage until tragedy strikes. Eventually, Mary Ann is an elderly widow living on her own. She receives a second chance at building a strong family through the housekeeper she hires.
| 1. The Timepiece | RC 43227 |
| 2. The Christmas Box | RC 43556 |
| 3. The Letter | RC 44841 |
| 4. The Christmas Box Miracle | RC 53293 |
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham.
RC 52929, BR 13636.
Tax Accountant Luther Krank calculates that a Caribbean cruise will cost less than what he and his wife, Nora, spent celebrating the holidays last year. Since daughter Blair is in the Peace Corps, they plan to skip Christmas. Luther, however, does not anticipate the town's reaction. Some strong language.
For more selections, see the Christmas books recommended by the Wolfner Library staff in the Holiday recommended reading mini-bibliographies.
Remembering County Fairs
The Bobbsey Twins and the County Fair Mystery by Laura Lee Hope.
RC 11332.
The cruel owner of a merry-go-round and calliope and the terrified boy who plays the calliope involve the Bobbsey twins in a mystery at the county fair. Use this book written for grades 3-6 in an intergenerational program or ask your members if they would like to hear stories that they may remember reading as children. The Bobbsey Twins series. Series Code BOBB.
Remembering the Depression
Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 by David M. Kennedy.
RC 50809.
Surveys a period of crises, fears, and insecurities in American history. Includes the post-World War 1 years of poverty, the Great Depression and its subsequent social unrest, Herbert Hoover's attempts at economic reform, Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, isolationism, and the United States ' entry into World War 2. Oxford History of the United States. Series Code OXUS.
Remembering Fall
Autumn across America: A Naturalist's Record of a 20,000-Mile Journey through the North American Autumn by Edwin Way Teale.
RC 34829.
Teale chronicles a cross-country journey with his wife. The two begin on a Cape Cod beach looking out over the Atlantic and criss-cross the continent, ending on a windy point high on a cliff above the Pacific. Along the way, they observe the season, and Teale describes what makes autumn the "most reflective season."
Remembering Farm Days
The American Family Farm: A Photo Essay by Joan Anderson.
BR 8387.
This tribute to the American family farm focuses on the daily lives of three families: the MacMillans of Massachusetts, who operate a dairy farm; the Adamses of Georgia, who run a chicken farm and belong to a cooperative; and the Rosmanns of Iowa, who own an organic hog and grain farm.
In Good Hands: The Keeping of a Family Farm by Charles Fish.
RC 42730.
Account of six generations on a Vermont family farm by the author who spent his boyhood summers there. Fish recounts the arduous and complex tasks of farm routine and tells of a close family dedicated to land, duty, and the virtuous life. He evokes an era when the family farm was central to the national experience.
A Painted House by John Grisham.
RC 51331, BR 13239.
Arkansas, 1952. Seven-year-old Luke Chandler, who lives with his parents and grandparents in a house that has never been painted, recounts the events during cotton-picking season. As Luke faces the daily grind of harvesting, he witnesses a murder, a birth, and a storm that changes their lives forever. Contains some violence.
Remembering the Fashion
Chanel: A Woman of Her Own by Axel Madsen.
RC 33310.
Born in 1883, Gabrielle " Coco " Chanel was a penniless orphan. Yet when she died in 1971, she was one of the wealthiest women in the fashion world. She spent most of her life disavowing her roots and creating the "little black dress," Chanel No.5, and the Chanel suit for which she is known. And along the way she found time to be friends with many of the rich and famous.
The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden.
RC 53672.
Traces the business fortunes of Italy 's Gucci family from its first leather shop in Florence in 1921 to the loss of the fashion conglomerate in the 1990s. Investigates events suggesting that personal and legal squabbles of the dysfunctional second and third generations culminated in the 1995 murder of Maurizio Gucci.
Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women by Michael Gross.
RC 40543.
Journalist writes about models, agents, photographers, and other players in the fashion-modeling industry. Beginning with John Robert Powers, an out-of-work actor who became an agent in the early 1900s, Gross discusses the work and social lives of a slew of notable people including Richard Avedon, Lauren Hutton, Eileen Ford, and Cindy Crawford. Strong language.
Remembering the Fifties
Coming Attractions: A Wonderful Novel by Fannie Flagg.
RC 17173.
Spunky, young Daisy Fay Harper keeps a diary of her comic experiences and teenage traumas growing up in the 1950s where, through her wheeling and dealing father, she becomes Miss Mississippi of 1959. Some strong language.
I Love Lucy premiered in 1951. By 1953, just over half of all American households had television sets and the TV Guide hit the newsstands. Explore the beginning of TV history and the end of the 'Golden Age' of radio with the following titles:
The Great American Broadcast: A Celebration of Radio's Golden Age by Leonard Maltin.
RC 46002.
An account of radio's early years from 1920 to the 1950s. Draws upon interviews with radio show writers, directors, actors, and announcers to present an "anecdotal history" of the dominant form of home entertainment during that era.
Please Stand By: A Prehistory of Television by Michael Ritchie.
RC 42313.
Documents the formative years between 1927 and 1947, prior to national broadcasts and prerecording. The book is based on interviews with television pioneers, many of them well known, who tell of haphazard live shows produced in sweltering and cramped studios. Despite the conditions, the visionaries persevered because they saw the potential of the mass medium.
A Book by Desi Arnaz.
RC 10301.
The entertainer and producer exuberantly relates his rise from poverty to show business success. He describes his private life, his marriage to the popular comedienne Lucille Ball, and his love for his family. Some strong language.
Food
Chocolat: A Novel by Joanne Harris.
RC 49086.
On the first Sunday in Lent, newcomers Vianne Rocher and her young daughter Anouk open a chocolate shop, La Câeleste Praline, near the church in a small French village. Priest Monsieur Reynaud and Mademoiselle Rocher compete for the townspeople's attention.
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel.
RC 36256, BR 9187.
When Pedro asks Mama Elena for the hand of her youngest daughter, Tita, he is offered her sister instead. By family tradition, Tita is to remain unmarried to care for her mother. Tita, a magical cook, shares recipes that, seasoned by her emotions, have an extraordinary impact on the events that follow her mother's decision. Descriptions of sex.
Friends
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.
WOD 854.
Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy. Everyday the boy would come to eat her apples, swing from her branches, slide down her trunk...and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave and gave. A moving parable for readers of all ages that offers an affecting interpretation of the gift of giving and a serene acceptance of another's capacity to love in return.
Remembering Fun and Games
The Big Book of Family Games: The Most Complete Treasury of Fun-Filled Games and Activities for Family and Friends by Jerome Meyer.
BR 2433.
A complete guide to games for every occasion, for all interests and ages. Includes: word games, pencil-and-paper games, tricks and riddles, quiz games, magic tricks, and stunts.
Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
RC 45007, BR 11289.
A personal history of growing up in suburban New York in the 1950s. A love of baseball permeated the author's childhood and helped her forge a special bond with her father. He taught her at age six to keep a scorebook for the Brooklyn Dodgers and to relate an inning-by-inning account of the game to him at the end of the day.
Remembering Home
To Our Children's Children: Preserving Family Histories for Generations to Come by Bob Greene and D.G. Fulford.
RC 41038.
To put together a personal history for the family, select from a "menu" of questions on topics such as family and ancestry, childhood, favorite things, career, romance, philosophies, and parenthood. Examples of questions are "Do you remember your house's having a particular scent?" and "Why did you name your children what you named them?"
Your Life and Times: How to Put a Life on Tape: An Oral History Handbook by Stephen and Julia Arthur.
RC 28872.
A guide to help individuals record their life experiences for their families and future generations. By describing such experiences as your school years, family, marriage, work history, vacations, and religion, your family can be taken on a trip through moments in your life.
Remembering the Home Front
Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad by William Craig.
RC 52163.
Historical account of a pivotal World War 2 battle: the 1943 surrender of the elite German Sixth Army to the Russians at Stalingrad. Describes the incredible march of the German army across southern Russia and the equally amazing victory of the Soviet army.
In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton.
RC 52097.
Recounts the events of July 30, 1945, when a Japanese submarine torpedoed the USS Indianapolis, and the subsequent failure of the navy to begin a timely rescue of its crew. Relates the survivors' tales of the ordeal and the tragic destiny of its captain years later.
Roosevelt and Churchill: Men of Secrets by David Stafford.
RC 52092.
Explores the relationship between the United States president Franklin Roosevelt and the British prime minister Winston Churchill before and during the Second World War. Explains how the two leaders shared intelligence secrets, bribed Spain to remain neutral, and trusted each other despite conflicting postwar national interests.
For more selections, see our mini-bibliography entitled World War 2: The Real Story compiled by Reader Advisor Paul Mathews.
Jewish Memories
The Family Orchard by Nomi Eve.
RC 51055.
A multigenerational saga of a Jewish family whose story begins in 1837, when Esther and Yochanan immigrate to Palestine, and ends in America in the 1990s. The storyteller interweaves the tale of her father, the orchard man, with her family's history of love, fulfillment, and loss. Contains explicit descriptions of sex.
The Spotted Pony: A Collection of Hanukkah Stories by Eric Kimmel.
RC 39534.
A collection of eight Jewish folktales, each preceded by a brief "shammes" story, to be read on the eight nights of Hanukkah. Includes "Leviathan and the Fox," "Did the Rabbi Have a Head?" and "The Caliph and the Cobbler." Stories can be appreciated by children and adults alike.
Remembering Music
Benny Goodman and the Swing Era by James Lincoln Collier.
RC 32782.
The "King of Swing" got his start at the age of ten when he took up the clarinet with the local synagogue band in his native Chicago. He became the single most influential clarinetist in the history of jazz. When he formed a band, he made another kind of history by becoming the first leader to hire black musicians. Benny, who was equally at home as a classical musician, was not particularly at home with himself.
Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock and Roll, 1947-1977 by James Miller.
RC 50791.
A chronicle of the major turning points in rock history, from Wynonie Harris's record "Good Rockin' Tonight" in December 1947 to the death of Elvis Presley in August 1977. Discusses the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and many others.
Nat King Cole by Daniel Mark Epstein.
RC 51157.
Biography of the popular singer and jazz pianist. Covers the background, upbringing, and lifestyle of the inventive musician whose career started in Chicago in the 1930s. An entertainer and not a political activist, he nonetheless broke the color line in Las Vegas in the 1950s.
Remembering Pets
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul edited by Jack Canfield.
RC 46429.
Collection of almost 100 stories portraying the belief that a "loving, interdependent relationship" with a pet can be life-enhancing. Writers including Barbara Bush, Betty White, Art Linkletter, and Jimmy Stewart describe how pets entertain us, teach us, and sometimes bring out the good in us. Chicken Soup series. Series Code CHSO.
I Never Met an Animal I Didn't Like by Rory C. Foster.
RC 33146.
Lighthearted reminiscences about the years the author and his wife spent building a veterinary practice. Foster recounts his work with injured wild animals and ailing pets. He talks about treating a fawn hit by a car, a loon who mistook a puddle on an airport runway for a lake, and a kitten, whom he temporarily adopted, with a badly fractured leg.
Remembering School Days
All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum.
RC 28047, BR 7700.
A retired Unitarian minister presents his thoughts and observations on the joy of life. The essays cover such topics as: the joys of Crayolas, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, jumper cables, a shoebox of childhood momentoes, and the author's wife. A frequently quoted maxim, from a kindergarten graduation speech, is "When you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together."
'Twixt: Teens Yesterday and Today by Ernie Anastos with Jack Levin.
RC 21425.
A celebration of the positive aspects and good times of the American teenager. Includes memories, personal recollections, and confessions of teens from the 1920s to the 1980s. They talk about school and sports, cars and dating, music and dancing, clothes and haircuts, heroes, and just hanging around.
Remembering Spring
Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems by Fransisco X. Alarcon.
RC 55040.
Bilingual collection of humorous and serious poems celebrating spring, when nature and poetry make us "see everything for the first time." For grades K-3 and older readers. Pura Belpré Honor Book. Bilingual Seasonal Poetry. Series Code BLSP.
Appalachian Spring by Marcia Bonta.
RC 34962.
Journal of a naturalist-writer who lives with her family on a mountaintop in the northeastern United States. The author records her observations of the coming of spring, beginning with the typical sights and sounds that herald its onset as early as January, when the great horned owl goes courting. By March, her journal entries become daily events.
Under Milk Wood: A Play for Voices by Dylan Thomas.
RC 20411, BR 475.
Lyrical, humorous play expressing the reactions of a variety of people on one Spring day in a small Welsh seaside town.
Remembering Summertime
Journey into Summer: A Naturalist's Record of a 19,000-Mile Journey through the North American Summer by Edwin Way Teale.
RC 34828.
First published in 1960, Teale recounts a leisurely trip with his wife, beginning in Franconia Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. He describes the many summers of America including the shore, the woods, the Great Plains, and the mountains, as the Teales travel from New England and across the prairies into the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Nature and Travel series. Series Code NATR.
Remembering Train Rides
Dream Train by Charlotte Vale Allen.
RC 28359.
A romantic adventure set aboard the Orient Express. For photojournalist Joanna James, a chance to ride the new Orient Express on a travel assignment provides not only an adventure, but the necessary time to decide which one of two men she really loves. Along the way, she makes many friends and arrives at some decisions about her future. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex.
Great Train Robberies of the West by Eugene B. Block.
RC 23878.
Accounts of several sensational robberies, from the 1870 holdup of the Central Pacific Railroad to that of the Sunset Limited in 1933.
Train Song by Diane Siebert.
BR 8913.
"Out in back/railroad track/clickety-clack/ clickety-clack." Thus begins this tribute to trains that criss-cross the nation carrying goods and people. The lilting verse captures the cadence of the rolling cars. For preschool to grade 2 to share with older readers. This is a great addition to an intergenerational program!
Remembering Valentines Day
Saint Valentine's Day by Clyde Robert Bulla.
RC 13211.
Simple account of how Saint Valentine's Day began in ancient Rome and how its celebration has continued to present times.
Valentine's Day: Stories and Poems by Caroline Feller Bauer.
RC 39902.
This collection of stories and poems in celebration of love and Valentine's Day includes selections by Karla Kuskin, Ted Joans, Cynthia Rylant, Jane Yolen, Langston Hughes, and Gordon Parks. The book also includes Valentine's Day activities, a list of recommended books, and "I love you" in twelve different languages.
Hearts, Cupids and Red Roses: The Story of the Valentine Symbols by Edna Barth.
RC 53400, BR 13938.
Traces the history of Valentine's Day, celebrated on February 14, and the little known stories behind its symbols.
Remembering Work Life
The Brothers Reuther and the Story of the UAW: A Memoir by Victor G. Reuther.
RC 10532.
Personal account of the lives and activities of four devoted brothers who struggled to establish the United Automobile Workers Union. Includes descriptions of the sit-ins, the riots, and the leadership splits.
Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling by Eleanor Clift and Tom Brazaitis.
RC 52381.
Washington pundits assess the chances of America electing a female president. They assert that pop culture in the media age makes the goal attainable and highlight the careers of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Christine Todd Whitman, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, among others. The authors propose strategies for women considering political office.