There's an Albert Einstein quote that [all right, rather embarrassingly] I think of almost daily:

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."

Of course I love that the great physicist Einstein prioritized language and literature. But what strikes me repeatedly is that he understood that intelligence about LIFE is more important than an ability to solve an equation follow a set of rules. While modern research backs up the idea that reading and being read to improves children's academic abilities across the board, I don't think that was what Einstein was talking about. He realized, I think, that there was a danger in becoming so "educated" in career-focused skills that we would forget how to be human. Being human, and being the best humans we can be, is something that has been taught through fairy tales since stories were first uttered, I imagine. (Even Jesus taught through parables!)

When I began reading ​Mio, My Son, by Astrid Lindgren, all I knew about it was that one of my favorite authors had written it, and one of my best-book-loving-friends (it's a whole category, you all know that) loved it. In fact, after my friend Liz wrote about it for Plough magazine back in 2021, the book's popularity took off so quickly that I literally could not find a copy anywhere. Liz came to my rescue and sent me a copy for Christmas, so I'm finally just getting on the Mio bandwagon. Start searching book sales and eBay, friends, because you're going to want to join me.

Briefly, Mio is an unloved orphan boy who finds himself carried away to Farawayland, where he discovers he is in fact the beloved son of the great King. He walks in the garden with his father, rides through the fields with his magnificent horse, plays in the forest with his best friend. His life is everything he only ever dreamed of—until he becomes aware of an evil that has sidled its way into Farawayland, stealing children and turning their hearts to stone. He realizes he is the one destined to fight this evil, but he doesn't know how one little boy could conquer so strong an enemy.

In many ways, Mio is vastly unlike the Astrid Lindgren books I've read thus far. Even with its madcap and unrealistic adventures, Pippi Longstocking and Ronia, the Robber's Daughter are very concretely set in the real world. More so with The Children of Noisy Village. My recent favorite, Seacrow Island, reads much like much-loved vintage stories of realistic children by Noel Streatfeild or even Beverly Cleary. Mio, on the the other hand, takes all of one chapter to let you know that you have been whisked away to fairyland just like Mio was. In that sense, it immediately brings to mind the works of Tolkien and Lewis and MacDonald (especially MacDonald in tone, and especially Tolkien in theme). With a genie in a bottle and a magic sword and children whisked away by an evil knight, it's as fairy tale as fairy tales get.

And yet. The Astrid-Lindgren-ness of Astrid Lindgren can't help itself. Because where ​Mio shines is its portrayal of a very real, very human child. Mio, in his normal longing for a father and for a friend and for a pet, is every bit as concretely (and sometimes hilariously) human as Pippi or Tommy and Annika.

Like every great fairy tale (and, again, this is what I think Einstein was talking about), Mio asks important—human—questions: How do we handle the loss of ones we love? How can we do the hard things that have to be done? Is there someone who could ever love us unconditionally? It answers these questions, not directly, but by inference, and perhaps that's what makes them stick all the better. The most striking feeling I came away with after closing the cover was this: "I am loved. And that love will give me the strength to do any hard thing that needs to be done."

I highly recommend Liz's article for a more thoughtfully intellectual take on this story; I'm not sure if it was a mistake or a wise move, but I read her article right before sitting down to write this, and I found that she had already articulated 90% of my thoughts so perfectly that it was futile to reiterate them!

Have you read Mio ​already? I'd love to know your thoughts!
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For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, check out Always in the Middle!

Happy Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, and happy Middle Grade March! I've got such a fun line up of books I hope to read this month, share with my kids, and share with all of you (you can check out my hopefuls on Instagram), and today I'm starting with a new middle grade ghost story: The Girl in the Window, by Lindsey Hobson, published by Monarch Books.

Here's the publisher's description:

When Izzy breaks a window in the creepy house next door, her summer plans suddenly go from playing baseball in the backyard to doing yard work for mysterious Mr. Johnson to pay for the damage. Just when she thinks it can't get any worse, she encounters a ghost girl with a cryptic HELP ME. As Izzy begins to unravel the mystery surrounding the girl's death, she discovers a whole new meaning to being friends... forever.

What I liked:

I always enjoy sibling stories, and the sibling dynamic in this was realistic and a lot of fun.

It's been a while since I read a good kids-playing-baseball-in-the-backyard book, and I loved that element! (Anyone have any good recommendations of other books that fit that bill?)

One of my favorite story tropes, no matter how often it may be done, is that of misjudging someone and learning you were wrong. It's such an important lesson, isn't it? One I need to be reminded of, over and over and over. I hope it's not too much of a spoiler, but that theme features heavily in The Girl in the Window.

There were a few things that kept this from being a five-star read for me: I know, I know, my husband is an artist and I'm extremely picky. But I wish the publishers had gone with a different direction with the cover, which I felt didn't express the overall feel of the story very well. I also felt that the shift from not-as-spooky-as-you'd-think to very-spooky was very jarring. I'm all for fun twists, but the editor in me wanted to see more foreshadowing throughout. Overall, however, I found this to be a fun and interesting story that middle grade fans of Nancy Drew, who like a taste of the suspenseful and scary, will very much enjoy!

For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendation, check out Always in the Middle.