I’m no stranger to George MacDonald. In fact, I would say I often feel like his welcome companion when I’m immersed in his fiction. A Quiet Neighborhood, Castle Warlock, or Sir Gibbie are places I’ve been to, and people I’ve visited in my imagination. But MacDonald also wrote a number of essays commenting on the […]

Liona Caravatti’s family belongs to one of the highest ranks in the city of Venice. Her life is comfortable, filled with little delicacies, affectionate siblings, and splendor. The one note in it that sounds off is her relationship to her father, which, though she doesn’t understand why, is different than his relationship with her siblings. […]

Every Friday night during my childhood, my family ordered pizza and rented a few movies from the local video store. A few of us piled onto the couch and recliners while everyone else made beds on the floor of the living room. After pizza, popcorn was always served. Sometimes we’d watch a new release, but […]

The hidden-picture nature of this engaging middle-grade novel accounts for some portion of its appeal: Can you spot the echoes of Charles Dickens, C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle, Lewis Carroll, and J.K. Rowling? (Not to mention a host of others with whom I’m likely unacquainted. Literary influences cited by the author alerted me to The Wonderful […]

Have you ever read a story that made you look up from the page at the world around you to see it with a renewed sense of wonder? That little patch of woods out back—or the bus stop down the street—suddenly harbors a new magic that lends itself to the imagination. Your eyes scan the […]