Tag Archives: Christoph von Schmid

Basket of Flowers: A Recap

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A week ago Thursday we met to discuss “The Basket of Flowers.”

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Funny Story Interlude: I accidentally read “A Flower Basket” which is a story about a fairy with a flower basket. I realized I was reading the wrong book when the previous blog posts said nothing about fairies. oops.

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We had a lovely chat. Drank warm drinks. And smiled at the baby that came along.

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We realized during the discussion that the electronic version had a different ending than the book version. However, each of us seemed happy with the ending that read and would have been disappointed if the version we read had ended the other way.

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The general consensus was that we liked the book, which is why I’m not ruining either ending 🙂 It’s short; go read it for yourself!

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Our next book is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
Speaking of little women…

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Discussion Questions: The Basket of Flowers

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I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this month’s book, The Basket of Flowers. This sweet story is full of morals and lessons that ring true for readers of any age.

Since a Google search didn’t pull up many discussion questions for this book, I decided to put together a few of my own for us to consider as we get ready for our next book club gathering:

  1. What did you enjoy most about this book?
  2. Was there anything you didn’t like about this book?
  3. What lessons does Mary’s father teach her using the flowers of the garden?
  4. What gift does Mary give her friend Amelia? How do the other characters respond to Mary’s gift?
  5. How does Mary respond when she is accused of her crime? Is it consistent with the lessons her father taught her?
  6. What happens to Mary and her father after they leave their home? How do they respond to their hardships?
  7. What news does Amelia bring to Mary when she is in her darkest hour?
  8. What happens to Juliette in the end?
  9. What do you think about the resolution of the story? Is it realistic or unrealistic, fair or unfair?
  10. What are your lasting impressions of this book?

Do you have any questions of your own or any personal reflections about the book you’d like to share? Bring them to our discussion this Thursday at 7 p.m. at Paradise Bakery and CafĂ©. Hope to see you there!

Christoph von Schmid

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image I think I would have loved to have been a kid and had this man read me a story.  In fact, he probably didn’t even read his students stories . . . he made them up in real time. 

To be that creative. . .

Christoph von Schmid was a children’s author.  His stories were written for “children, among whom the author daily moved, and were not at first meant for publication.  Usually a story or a chapter was read to the children after school hours as a reward, on condition that they should write it down at home. He thus became familiar with the range of thought and the speech of children, and was careful to speak their language rather than that of books. He was able to observe with his own eyes what it was that impressed the minds and hearts of children both of tender and of riper years.” (From the Lamplighter website)

His writings have been translated into 24 different languages.  How many languages have your words been translated into?  Me?  I’m not sure.  At least one other than English – my blog shows up on my Google Alert in Japanese quite frequently.  Hmmm . . .

The children’s literary champion died of cholera.  He was 87 years old.

The Basket of Flowers

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The Basket of Flowers: An Introduction

A wonderful and short story for this month of Thanksgiving! The subtitle says, “A Tale for the Young” but I’d say this is a story for ALL ages. I can’t wait to read this aloud to Lydia (and Aaron too!)

I don’t want to give away too much of the story, Lamplighter sums it up like this:

James, the king’s gardener, teaches his 15-year-old daughter Mary all the principles of godliness through his flowers. She is falsely accused of stealing, and the penalty is death. Mary remembers her father had taught her: that it is better to die for the truth than to live for a lie, and that the worst pillow to sleep on is the pillow of a guilty conscience! This story will change your life forever!

inspirational.
character building.
full of Biblical truths.
priceless moral lessons.
first published in the 1800’s, it has stood the test of time.


This book is staying in my permanent collection.
This is a book I WILL read again.

We’re meeting to discuss this book two weeks from today.
November 18th.
7:00pm.
Paradise at Hamilton Town Center.

Buy it here from Amazon.
Buy it here from Lamplighter.
Read it free as an ebook here.
Read it free here too.