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Growing Up Before Screens: Free Range Girl & the Power of Reading Aloud with Meghan Cox Gurdon (E248)
Description
What was childhood like before screens, constant supervision, and endless distractions? In this episode of Bookish Flights, I'm joined by Meghan Cox Gurdon, longtime Wall Street Journal book critic and author of Free Range Girl, a memoir about her unconventional childhood in rural Maine during the 1970s. We talk about the process of writing a memoir, the freedom of growing up in a different era, and what we can learn from looking back at our own stories. We also discuss her previous book, The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction, exploring the challenges of deep reading in today's distracted world and the importance of reading aloud to foster connection and a lifelong love of books.
Episode Highlights:
- Meghan's experience writing a memoir and why she encourages everyone to write down their memories
- Growing up in rural Maine without modern conveniences and how childhood has changed
- What Meghan learned about herself and the importance of extending grace to the people we love
- Why deep reading has become increasingly difficult, even for devoted readers
- The power of reading aloud and how it helps children develop a love of literature
- How reading aloud is even being used to help socialize traumatized animals at the ASPCA (and why dogs aren't picky about their literature!)
- Meghan's childhood reading habits and why she still considers herself an indiscriminate reader
- A Book Flight featuring memoirs written with tenderness of heart and a deep appreciation for those we love
Connect with Meghan:
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Books and authors mentioned in the episode:
- The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
- The Aeneid by Virgil
- Reading Magic by Mem Fox
- Edith Wharton books
- A Perfect Coincidence by Jim Rasenberger
- The Watch Tower by Elizabeth Harrower
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- True Grit by Charles Portis
- Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
Book Flight
- Growing Up by Russell Baker
- Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The BFF Book Club is becoming a family affair! ❤️ This our FREE virtual book club, where we read together each month and have live author chats.
Each Family Book Flight pairs our BFF Book Club pick with:
- One chapter book for growing readers
- One picture book for our littlest readers
- A few family conversation starters + a simple activity
Three books. One common theme.
→ Join us here: https://bookishflights.kit.com/bfffamily
Be sure to join the