What We've Been Reading

Well, we have only read one chapter book since my last post, but it was a great one!


The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit has been on our reading list for quite some time, yet another timeless classic that I had never read as a child.  Similar to The Saturdays, we came across some excerpts from the book in Mary's writing assignments from The Complete Writer and decided to read it in its entirety.  This is the story of a family consisting of a mother, father, and three children, whose lives are turned upside down when the father must go away for a time due to unexplained circumstances.  Mother and the children move away from their home.  Their new home is located near a railway, where the children spend the majority of their time.  They befriend workers at the railway and even passengers on the train and encounter many adventures.  They save a train from a crash, reunite a Russian political refugee with his family, and rescue a young man collapsed with an injury in a tunnel.  In the end, the father is able to return to his family and the reasons for his departure are explained. 

I want to share one small excerpt from the book.  This was my favorite part, a conversation between Mother and Peter:

"Don't you think it's rather nice to think that we're in a book that God's writing?  If I were writing the book, I might make mistakes.  But God knows how to make the story end just right--in the way that's best for us."
"Do you really believe that, Mother?" Peter asked quietly.
"Yes," she said, "I do believe it--almost always--except when I'm so sad that I can't believe anything.  But even when I can't believe it, I know it's true--and I try to believe..."