91 books like The 1946 London Lectures

My husband and I agree that this is the best biography of Maria Montessori available. My husband relishes the historical context and I enjoy the personal stories, and the education details. The author brings this powerful woman to life, finely weaving Montessori’s story into the cultures and politics of Europe at the time. She presents an interesting and detailed perspective of not only an educator, but also a medical doctor, and crusader for social reform, including the rights of women and children.

I don’t usually care about signed books, but after hearing this author speak, I stood in line for just that! Montessori had many insights about children based on her observations, but not everyone believed them. In the years since her death, scientific studies have been conducted that confirm her conclusions. This book is rich in detail about how calls “the factory model” of education came about, and how following Montessori principles can turn this around for the good of children and of society. Professor Lillard, a skeptic until she began her own research to discover and assess authentic Montessori education, details the impact of the movement in learning, executive function, learning from peers, extrinsic rewards and motivation, the order in the environment and the mind, and much more.

What happens after a child finishes Montessori preschool?

That was the question for my own children. I was able to take the Montessori 6-12 training in order to keep up with them, but parents and teachers can learn a lot about this age here. Dr. Montessori examines the educational concerns of the older child, the adolescence, and even the university student. She considers each level on its own because human beings have different needs at different ages. She explores ways to support the physical, mental, social, and psychological needs of each age. It is in this book that we learn about the Erdkinder, or Farm School, where the need for real work, independence, and related research, and work-based academic study is being provided in several countries today.

A few years ago my granddaughter, who had already attended a Montessori school for two years, asked me, “Who is Montessori.” So my last selection is a book for children!

In just 26 pages, with few words and delightful illustrations, we learn how a young girl in Italy, who wanted to be a doctor when girls were not allowed to study science, had her choices respected by her parents. And how she discovered, from watching children, that learning was more fun when it occurs through toys and games and movement. They learn that her ideas are still helping improve the way children learn in many countries of the world. There is also a 2-page timeline with pictures for the adult to learn more

National Geographic Look & Learn Bears is a perfect introduction to bears for toddlers. As a former Montessori preschool teacher, I appreciate the simplicity of the text, photographs, and book design. The book shows five common types of bears (black, brown, polar, pandas, and sun bears). Each bear is shown over two-page spreads and gives one interesting fact that would appeal to the toddler crowd. I could just see my own son at that age enjoying this book.

Morris and Cozens have written a series of books that look at the history of East London. These books are a rich resource for historians and offer many points of interest for general readers. In this volume they look at Shadwell and Ratcliff, and chiefly focus on the period between 1700 and 1800, analysing hundreds of archives including land tax records and insurance policies. Their research allows them to up-end the traditional view of a deprived East London to show that actually the population in this period was mixed and included many wealthy families.

The Pyramids of London has the most ornate, baroque alternative-history setting of any novel in the entire history of fantasy novels. Seriously. To start with, every kind of mythology is true in whatever region that mythology developed. Also, the pharaohs of Egypt have been vampires for thousands of years. Plus, when they die, vampires might become stars. Which are also gods. Plus France is ruled by the Fae. At night, when the Fae Court of the Moon arises in Paris, gravity suddenly drops dramatically.

Insert a murder mystery into this wildly ornate setting, plus fully realized characters you both believe in and root for, and off you go, on a fantastic journey through a world that is like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

This gorgeous book has everything I want in a romance: hilarious accidents, steaming heat, and complex characters who you absolutely root to fall in love. There’s nothing more than I love than a hero underestimating his heroine! This is the first in a series of thirteen books (at the time of writing!), so if you love Sasha’s style, there’s plenty to dive into.

I had to read this book backwards, or rather check the end before I could read it at all, and spoiler alert, it has a happy ending. 

It’s the heart-rending story of how journalist Kate Spicer adopted the wonderful Wolfie, who became her beloved companion in everything that she did, and how, while staying with her brother he ran away.

It’s the story of her desperate search to find him and about how kind people can be as they helped her scour London for the missing Wolfie.

It’s an absolute nail-bailer, and I loved it.

My mother read Call of the Wild and White Fang to my brother and I whilst still children. Well, those tales stayed with me over the years despite forays into Science Fiction, Religious Dogma, psychology, historical fiction, and fantasy. As an older boy I returned to the works of Mr. London and read Martin Eden, The Sea Wolf, and many of his short tales. Tales of the Klondyke are perhaps the best of them and so take my prize as number one on my list. (Though I had an argument with myself over Voltaire’s Candide and Other Tales and Aeschylus' Tragedies) for the top spot.

Each tale in this collection whilst imagined strikes me as true in every way, sure a little drama is added but I suspect that those heroes just trying to survive existed. And so, in a way I have come full circle, and… show more.