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Lessons at Blackberry Inn: Adventures with the Gentle Art of Learning By Karen Andreola (Author) & (Illustrator) Our Price $ 11.86   Retail Value $ 16.95   You Save $ 5.09  (30%)   Item Number 598355   Buy New Item Quantity: Available on the Internet only.

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	Retreat in a Book  Feb 16, 2010
Just finished Lessons at Blackberry Inn and enjoyed it as much as Andreola's other work. You cannot imagine the soothing effect these living books have on a frayed heart at the end of the day! I appreciate the main character's (Carol's) transparency. I love the way Andreola allows us into Carol's thoughts, modeling for us the importance of discernment in how we act on what we feel. In regards to the lengthy negative comment above, I believe that while the author's intent was to show that home education is important, she also wanted to articulate that the mother who teaches at home also has a relationship with the Lord, with her husband, her family, and her friends. For a more "nuts and bolts" book on the Charlotte Mason approach, I highly recommend Andreola's Charlotte Mason Companion. In Lessons at Blackberry Inn, I especially enjoyed the "Author's Chatterbox" at the end of the book, a glimpse into the author's life. Ready for the next book in this series!
	Not "how to do it" but "what's it for?"  Jan 2, 2010
I have enjoyed Andreola's other books, Pocketful of Pinecones and the Charlotte Mason Companion, so was really looking forward to spending some time with her insights about homeschooling the Charlotte Mason way. Instead, I got a meandering, uneventful, poorly written piece of fiction with only the barest hint of homeschooling in practice. The focus of the book is on Carol, a 1930s woman and her young family who live with an elderly woman named Emma, helping her run a B&B. There is a flavor of Depression-Era issues, including an episode with a hobo and his search for his lost family, the hard work and simple food, growing and preserving and cooking food from the garden and woods. But don't think any of this is in-depth. Not even the few examples of how she teaches her children (and, at one point, all the village children) in the Charlotte Mason approach are presented with anything more than brief snatches -- the whole description of this could have been distilled into one or two pages of a blog. Since this is what I bought the book for, I was disappointed to say the least. Perhaps it will be argued that the book was supposed to be about "gentle living" more than gentle learning, but if that's the case, then were I to judge it on its merits as fiction, it would be sorely lacking. The dialogue is often stilted and uninteresting, the drive for the story is almost entirely missing (if there is any question at all, it's whether or not Carol will feel able to think of the house as partly her own rather than only Emma's, and I suppose this is sort of resolved at the end -- after the most gentle and, to my mind, unrealistic natural birthing experience on record), and the character of Carol is lacklustre. Sorry to be such a kill-joy. I wanted to like the book and wanted to enjoy reading about homeschooling in action, but this wasn't the forum for it. I persevered till the end, and I'm still wondering why I bothered. Definitely one to get from the library, if at all.
	A Real Treat for a Homeschool Mom  Sep 18, 2009
This is the sequel to Pocketful of Pinecones. I love them both. A fictional account of a home school mom in the early 1900s. She uses the Charlotte Mason approach and is not so different from many moms today. Lots of home school tips woven into the narrative and lots of inspiring quotes.
	simply delightful  Jul 9, 2009
If you've read Pocketful of Pinecones then you will thoroughly enjoy spending more time with Carol and her family! If you haven't read the first book, this one can definitely be enjoyed on it's own. This book explores the lives of several of the towns folk a bit more in depth then the first book did. I found the experience to be similar to the Mitford series. As a homeschooler, I enjoyed the way the book illustrates the Charlotte Mason method being applied to everyday life. As a bonus, the book includes several wonderful recipes and other useful information. Simply delightful!

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