Reading on Gutenberg, because children's series written around the turn of the century fascinate me (not their updated incarnations, with all their political-correctness). Just the fact that Mr Bobbsey calls his children fat (in an admiring way) is hilarious! But dated or no, these parents need to either up their skills or get some leashes for the younger kids. Exhibit A: On losing his children for the bajillionth time, Mr Bobbsey says, "Now, as I said, don't worry. In a city children are always quickly found." Unbelievable!

***

Post-reading, this book is as preposterous as its first chapters. Not that I expected anything else, but really? Parents? These are the people who, twenty years later, would be wondering what went wrong with little Freddie and Flossie as they waste their lives away in the Lost Generation. How perfect: their future selves are a perfect descriptor of their childhood selves!

Reading on Gutenberg, because children's series written around the turn of the century fascinate me (not their updated incarnations, with all their political-correctness). Just the fact that Mr Bobbsey calls his children fat (in an admiring way) is hilarious! But dated or no, these parents need to either up their skills or get some leashes for the younger kids. Exhibit A: On losing his children for the bajillionth time, Mr Bobbsey says, "Now, as I said, don't worry. In a city children are always quickly found." Unbelievable!***Post-reading, this book is as preposterous as its first chapters. Not that I expected anything else, but really? Parents? These are the people who, twenty years later, would be wondering what went wrong with little Freddie and Flossie as they waste their lives away in the Lost Generation. How perfect: their future selves are a perfect descriptor of their childhood selves!