E-books & Kids

Middle Moffat: Old Fashioned Fun

One of the great things about the e-book revolution is the way it’s reviving interest in books written many years ago. Evelyn Estes first published The Middle Moffat in 1942. (No, that’s not a typo.) Now, kids are reading it again today on their Kindles and Nooks.

Do kids today actually like a book that their great-grandparents might have read? Well, The Middle Moffat is undeniably slow and long-winded compared with middle-grade books written today. This book, however, is good, old-fashioned storytelling and would probably be well tolerated by kids who like the Beverly Cleary series, you know, the Ramona books. (I wonder if Beverly, who was a generation older than Estes, was brought up on the Moffatt books... it's easy to see the influence there.) But anyone who's expecting a little edge, a little cheek, a little bit of the “Wimpy Kid” gestalt, had best steer clear.

For readers with a little patience, though, The Middle Moffat offers sweet stories and insights into a charming, quirky, safe neighborhood of days gone by.

The book is structured as short stories, different little adventures as seen through the eyes of Janie, the middle kid in the family (as noted in the book title). Another  tip: for families with bedtime reading rituals, this story is a great read-aloud.