The books that Mary Ellen, Erin and Elizabeth would read

[sdw]

Since there is a thread about what books John Boy would read,I thought I post what the girls might read.First for Elizabeth since she liked mysteries, Nancy Drew,The Hardy Boys mysteries, and those that are not mysteries Little Women,Alice In Wonderland, and as she got a teenager,romance books and poetry. For Erin it would be Little Women when she was younger,and older Gone With The Wind,Jane Eyre,Wuthering Heights,and anything by Jane Austen. For Mary Ellen,since she was a tomboy when she was younger,any book about sports.Asshe got older ,of course a book on Florence Nightengail and if there were any books about Clara Barton.I knew she liked romance books,that would be any book by Jane Austen, and the books I mentioned for Erin.

[goodnight]

There is a series of books about a nurse called Sue Barton written between 1936 and 1952. Written by a woman named Helen Boyleston. Who was a close friend of Rose Wilder Lane. Maybe Mary Ellen would have liked those.

I remember another series of nurse stories about a nurse called Cherry Ames, but I'm not sure when they were written though.

I like to think that the girls might have read the Anne of Green Gables books and other ones by L.M. Montgomery. They were around at the time. Also the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder were being written starting during the Depression. Rose Wilder Lane wrote a book called Let the Hurricane Roar (later called Young Pioneers) around this time based on her mother's family stories as well.

Erin was reading War and Peace when she tried to take a vacation from Pickett's and J.D. begged her to come back.

[kazk]

I think Mary Ellen would have devoured any annuals that were film based. You know the type of books that had stories about movies or movie stars. I suspect as Erin got older she probably would have too.

Being a tomboy it's quite possible that Mary Ellen might also have read some of her brother's adventure books, as I did as a child.

I think all three of them would have enjoyed the more classic books that probably their Mama and Grandma might have read.

[journaler]

You all picked books that really suit the characters' personalities and interests. You mentioned "Little Women." The three sisters would especially like that book. Mary Ellen could identify with the strong willed, independent Jo. As a teen, Mary Ellen dreamed of leaving the country life and discovering an exciting world beyond Walton's Mountain. So, I think she might enjoy books about world travel and adventure. Maybe books by Jules Verne and R. L. Stevenson. Also, maybe books about a country girl who follows her dreams and moves to a glamorous big city -- right now, I can only think of Theodore Dreiser's "Sister Carrie."

[pinkbaker07]

I think Mary Ellen gave Erin Gone With the Wind when she was trying to get a job with JD, he didn't think a woman could do it.

I picture Erin loving GWTW, Wuthering Heights and maybe To Kill a Mockingbird.

Elizabeth HG Wells books and Mary Ellen I'm not quite sure.

[sdw]

Good choices for those who have commented already

[JessicaGirlSpy]

I love this topic and I think all the responses are excellent.  I can see Mary Ellen reading a biography about Amelia Earhart and I could also see her reading a biography of a sports star like Babe Ruth.

Of the Walton daughters, I see Erin reading the more traditional "girl" books. Such As Anne of Green Gables, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, ETC. I also see her reading the poems of Emily Dickinson and Edna St. Vincent Milay.

Elizabeth of course other girl detective books. I see her loving the Secret Garden and Winnie the Pooh.

[Easton]

Feb 10, 2021 17:33:07 GMT -5 JessicaGirlSpy said:

Elizabeth of course other girl detective books.

Do you think she would read The Hardy Boys?

I suspect, as she got older, she would quite enjoy Agatha Christie, especially Miss Marple and Poirot.

[JessicaGirlSpy]

Feb 10, 2021 17:45:56 GMT -5 Easton said:

Feb 10, 2021 17:33:07 GMT -5 JessicaGirlSpy said:

Elizabeth of course other girl detective books.

Do you think she would read The Hardy Boys?

I suspect, as she got older, she would quite enjoy Agatha Christie, especially Miss Marple and Poirot.

I definitely think she would read the Hardy Boys. I think she would "devour" Agatha Christie books. I also see reading the Black Stallion series by Walter Farley.

I think Erin would also love the poetry of Robert Frost and the works of Jane Austin and the Bronte sisters.

[pinkbaker07]

Feb 10, 2021 18:19:17 GMT -5 JessicaGirlSpy said:

Feb 10, 2021 17:45:56 GMT -5 Easton said:

Do you think she would read The Hardy Boys?

I suspect, as she got older, she would quite enjoy Agatha Christie, especially Miss Marple and Poirot.

I definitely think she would read the Hardy Boys. I think she would "devour" Agatha Christie books. I also see reading the Black Stallion series by Walter Farley.

I think Erin would also love the poetry of Robert Frost and the works of Jane Austin and the Bronte sisters.

I read the Hardy Boys in middle school. I couldn't get into Nancy Drew. But I also loved the Secret Garden.

[JessicaGirlSpy]

I can't believe I didn't immediately think of the amazing works of Beatrix Potter. I think all of the Walton children loving her books. Also "National Velvet" by Enid Bagnold was published in 1935. I could see Elizabeth and Erin reading that book.

[JessicaGirlSpy]

I have never read this classic in children's literature- but I can see the Walton's girls reading "Heidi" since it is about a girl who lives in the mountains. And it just seems like something children in the 1930s would read and probably be available in most libraries and schools. 

[jatg]

Love this idea for a thread!  I think everyone's suggestions are spot on! 

Elizabeth loved mystery stories and novels, and we know she read Nancy Drew books, so why not the Hardy Boys books too? Most of the girls I knew as a child who read Nancy Drew also read Hardy Boys. As she got older, the Poirot and Miss Marple stories of Agatha Christie might've interested her. What about Sherlock Holmes?

I can easily envision a young Elizabeth reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll; Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery; Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink; and maybe The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum.

Elizabeth was curious and inquisitive with an interest in science, so she might have also read biographies of scientists such as Madame Marie Curie and naturalists such as Henry David Thoreau and former President Theodore Roosevelt (the latter, especially considering her grandpa's fondness for and connection to Theodore Roosevelt).

Erin would've read some of the same books as Elizabeth when younger, particularly Anne of Green Gables; an adolescent Erin would've read poetry from Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Burns, John Keats, and Emily Dickinson, among others; the Jane Austen novels; Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell; an almost adult Erin might've read The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton, and the controversial novels The Rainbow/Women in Love, by D.H. Lawrence.

Mary Ellen would've read biographies of baseball greats Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Lou Gehrig as a young girl. Later, of course, she read the biography of Florence Nightingale, and I think she would've been interested in any non-fiction books relating to medicine; in fiction, Mary Ellen read Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell, and I can envision her liking Mark Twain's novels and essays.

All of the Walton girls would've read Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. In fact, they might've read it aloud to each other, just as the March family read aloud to each other.

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, might've been a family favorite.

[Easton]

Feb 26, 2021 9:48:24 GMT -5 JessicaGirlSpy said:

I have never read this classic in children's literature- but I can see the Walton's girls reading "Heidi" since it is about a girl who lives in the mountains. And it just seems like something children in the 1930s would read and probably be available in most libraries and schools. 

Good one. And the movie with Shirley Temple came out in the late 30s so they could have read the book and then watched the movie. That would have been quite the novelty for them.

Hans Brinker would have been good. Unfortunately, by the time Pippi Longstocking and Madeline came out, the girls would have been to old to read them. But who knows?

[goodnight]

Feb 26, 2021 9:48:24 GMT -5 JessicaGirlSpy said:

I have never read this classic in children's literature- but I can see the Walton's girls reading "Heidi" since it is about a girl who lives in the mountains. And it just seems like something children in the 1930s would read and probably be available in most libraries and schools. 

I'm almost sure it was mentioned that Elizabeth read Heidi. Do you recall the episode where Mary Ellen as county nurse takes a girl in who her dying grandfather wanted her to marry a 30+ year old man even though the girl herself was probably younger than Elizabeth. And later on the man kidnaps Elizabeth to force them to give the girl back. But anyway, before that happens, Elizabeth is talking to the girl and the girl says that someone read her part of a story once about a little girl that lived in the mountains with her grandfather. Elizabeth tells her the title of the book is Heidi.