Purple House Press

08/08/2024

Available from our website in a few weeks, and elsewhere in October! 💜

The Thanksgiving Door by Debby Atwell
The Story of Good Queen Bess by Alida Sims Malkus
Pharaoh's Boat by David Weitzman
A Triumph for Flavius by Caroline Dale Snedeker -- just got the cover painting today 🥰

Link in bio to Upcoming Books if you'd like more info

26/07/2024

Look what's coming back in time for Thanksgiving this year... Yes it's the Thanksgiving Door by Debby Atwell! Over the past two years I've gotten numerous requests to publish this book, which is a FIAR mini unit :)

When Ed and Ann’s turkey dinner burns, they think their Thanksgiving is ruined. But what appears to be a disaster becomes a blessing in disguise when Ed and Ann unknowingly intrude on an immigrant family’s own Thanksgiving celebration at their new restaurant, the New World Café. Once Grandmother silences her despairing family and invites the unexpected customers to join them, they all share an evening of friendship, good food, and lots of dancing—reminding everyone that Thanksgiving is about opening one’s heart in welcome to the strangers who become friends and the disappointments that bring unexpected joys 💜

22/07/2024

Happy birthday Mr. Pine! Mrs. Pine reminds the forgetful Mr. Pine that today, July 22, is his birthday in Mrs. Pine Takes a Trip. How old do you think the intrepid Mr. Pine is now? Could he and his creator—the incomparable Leonard Kessler—share the same birth year? They've both meant so much to us at Purple House Press over the years. Happy birthday Leonardo Pine 💜💜💜

15/07/2024

The Alaska Bush Pilot proof arrived today! It looks great and I'm releasing it early on our site as of now, it'll be available elsewhere in September. If you'd like to get this book or any of our 12 other new releases, they are 10% off until tomorrow at midnight eastern time.

I'm finishing up two books this week, A Triumph for Flavius by Caroline Dale Snedeker and The Story of Good Queen Bess by Alida Sims Malkus. You can read more about them in our Upcoming Titles section, there are previews of each book on its page. I'll do cover reveals once I get the paintings from our artists :) They should be ready in August or September, depending on how long the art takes.

Both of these titles are in the Living Heritage curriculum. Link in bio to our New Releases and Upcoming Books 💜

08/07/2024

Look what arrived an hour ago, the illustration for the cover of Alaska Bush Pilot by Charles Coombs. (This cover is a quick draft!) The book is a biography of Carl Ben Eielson, also known as the father of Alaskan aviation. Growing up in North Dakota, Ben moved to Alaska in his twenties and one of the first places he landed has now been named Mt. Eielson to honor him. It's also the mountain in the background here. (Eielson Air Force Base is named after him too.)

In 1923, when he lived in Fairbanks, the plane he first flew was this Curtiss JN-4 Jenny. You can learn all about the Jenny airplane in our book by David Weitzman. In an amazing feat, he later went on to fly from Alaska over the North Pole to Spitsbergen, Norway. (Now called Svalbard.)

Link in bio to our upcoming books; there is now a preview of the book's first chapter on its page!

If you and your family enjoyed Sabre Jet Ace, by the same author, you'll find this biography entrancing as well. Both books were written in the 1950s-60s as part of the American Adventure series.

It took a few months to get this finished illustration, which means the book should be ready in a few weeks. It's been typeset and proofread, all I have to do upload the final files. Be on the lookout for pictures after the proof arrives 💜

Thank you to the nice homeschool mom who sent me her copy so that I could share this book with the world. Alaska Bush Pilot used to be a rare book costing $50 and up. Our mission, as a print-on-demand publisher, is to produce the best, affordable books we can for homeschooling families. My personal area of interest is living history and I hope you'll appreciate having easy access to this bit of history soon 🥰

Illustrated by Raymon Naylor, maps by Paul Hazelrigg.

06/07/2024

Understood Betsy arrived today, the proof looks great! I'd heard that people wanted an edition of this wholesome classic with a pretty cover and I added 14 vintage illustrations from the 1940s to go along with it.

A sale wasn't planned for July, but why not? I'm really pleased with this book, so all of the books on our New Releases page (link in bio) are automatically 10% off for 10 days until midnight eastern on July 16th. The sale price shows up once you put the book in your cart.

There are 11 other new releases, including our bestsellers Mr. Pine's Purple House, Miss Twiggley's Tree and The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher, because these three are in both paperback and hardcover now.

Journey with Elizabeth Ann, a delicate, timid 9-year-old girl, as she discovers the wonders of independence and responsibility on a rural Vermont farm. Forced to leave her sheltered life with Aunt Frances and live with her Putney cousins, she blossoms into Betsy as she learns to make friends, do chores, and embrace a hearty way of living. An uplifting story celebrating growth and family bonds. Originally published in 1917, this unabridged edition stays true to the classic story.

Understood Betsy is available on our site now, it's being released to the rest of the world on August 16th 💜

ETA: Thanks to Eli Evans of Exodus Books we now know that the illustrator (who is unnamed in the book I used from 1946!) is Catherine Barnes. The title page has been updated to mention her :)

03/07/2024

I'm working on Birds and their Nests by Olive Earle, this morning I came across this cool bird and now I have to share how social weavers live in a thatched community house which encompasses up to 300 individual nests!

The book should be ready for release in September along with Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher and There was Once a Slave by Shirley Graham DuBois.

Ruby-throated hummingbird cover illustration by Edwin Sheppard, 1882. Link in bio to our site 💜

21/06/2024

Copper-Toed Boots is available on our site now! Link in bio to new releases 💜

I stayed as close to the first edition as possible, it's unabridged, and I kept the charming details on the front cover as Marguerite drew them. I adore her hand drawn title lettering, the borders, and the penciled background. The title page is in color, not b&w as in later editions! Ok on to the story....

Ever since she was a little girl, Marguerite de Angeli loved her father's descriptions of the red leather-topped copper-toed boots he prized when he was a young boy in Lapeer, Michigan. She also treasured his tales of tradin' at the store and with his schoolmates, of a mischievous episode with a calf in the school house belfry, of carrying water for the elephants on circus day, of picnicking during blackberry time—the quaint happenings of a small American town during the 1870s.

And finally—almost as though the copper-toed boots had led the way—the story of Shad, his best friend Ash Tomlinson, the little dog Sammy, and their good times and mishaps through a Michigan summer just had to be written so that girls and boys of today could share in it with them.

19/06/2024

Happy Juneteenth!

Today's a good day to announce an upcoming book which I'm so happy to be able to do. There Was Once a Slave by Shirley Graham. It was once a Messner. Tentatively, it'll be available this fall in both paperback and hardcover.

As a bonus, our new edition will feature an intro by someone you all know and love! More info coming soon 💜🥰

01/06/2024

Five fun facts to go along with Down, Down the Mountain from Five in a Row !

31/05/2024

Today is the last day of our biggest sale of 2024! It ends at midnight PACIFIC time. 50 books at 40% off, 15 more at 25% off 🎉🎉🎉

ETA: Copper-Toed Boots will be available soon!

I've been on vacation and got home yesterday to these lovely proofs. I'm so pleased with how they turned out and I believe you all will be too, so I'm releasing them right now a few days early 🥰 You all have been patiently waiting for Who Lives at the Seashore? by Glenn Blough and Jeanne Bendick. We were pleased to recently find out it's part of a new homeschool curriculum, Living Heritage from G3 Ministries. Here are a few shots of the inside, and you can read previews of all the new releases on each book's page on our site. Link in bio to new releases and sale books 💜

12/05/2024

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, hope you're enjoying a wonderful day with your families. We appreciate you and the work you do!

Enjoy these scenes Marguerite de Angeli drew of her grandmother in Copper-Toed Boots, which takes place during the 1870s 💜

07/05/2024

A few updates: Copper-Toed Boots is done (in paperback) and will be released in June! Now I'll finish up on the hardcover.

From our website chat I received an interesting question today: “This is just a for-fun question but, do you have a favorite character/group of Mistmantle animals? And if so, who is it/are they?”

Who is/are your favorite(s)? We need to know 💜🥰

Aside from Urchin, in book one my favorite was Padra because he's such a kind, father figure for Urchin, Cedar is so strong and compassionate in book two, and Crispin is my fave in book five, but no details or spoilers!

Don't forget our big May sale is ON for the entire month. Link in bio to books that are 40% off and books that are 25% off, to US addresses.

01/05/2024

ETA: On our site make sure the flag up top is set to the US flag, otherwise you won't be able to see the books. You can use the country flags from Canada and the UK to order our Worldwide books.

Our May sale started today with a bang! These are our best prices for 2024, many of you have picked up a selection of 50 great books at 40% off and another 15 at 25% off. A few of the highlights include nine Five in a Row hardcovers (including Night of the Moonjellies) at 40% off. Before we reprinted these FIAR titles they sold for ridiculous prices. Also 40% off are The Ark and Rowan Farm by Margot Benary-Isbert, The Lost Queen of Egypt by Lucile Morrison, Down Cut Shin Creek about the packhorse librarians in Kentucky during the 1930s-40s by Kathy Appelt, and so many more wonderful books.

The Elizabeth Ripley artist bio series: Botticelli, Rembrandt, Rubens, Winslow Homer, van Gogh and Raphael which this lovely young girl is reading, are marked down to $15 including a set of 8 sturdy prints for picture study. Mistmantle books 1 – 3 are 25% off. You can browse the complete sale lists from the links in our bio. Sale books are to the US only. Our worldwide book collection is available for shipping to Canada and the UK.

Please share so more people are aware of these great prices!

Don't forget our bargain page, most are half off or more. This sale runs through May 31 at 11:59 pm 💜 We appreciate your support over the past 24 years!

25/04/2024

If you're not familiar with our two Shy Stegosaurus books (which are on sale right now!) Plumfield Moms just released their reviews of both books! Take a look 💜 Thanks Plumfield Moms!

What child wouldn’t love to discover a living dinosaur in the backyard? What if that dinosaur could talk? That’s what happens to Joey and Joan Brown, freckled, red-headed twelve-year-old twins.&nbs…

11/04/2024

These two books are ready to go on sale this Sunday! Sabre Jet Ace and The John Bull will both be 15% off from April 14th-30th. Also included in the sale is The Home Ranch and Mary Emma & Company by Ralph Moody, The Shy Stegosaurs of Cricket Creek and Indian Springs by Evelyn Sibley Lampman, Theras and his Town by Caroline Dale Snedeker and Mr. Emerson's Cook by Judy Schachner.

We hope you enjoy adding these books to your family libraries 💜

05/04/2024

Exciting news—good things come in threes! We just got the final agreement back for Copper-Toed Boots by Marguerite de Angeli an hour ago. This is the cover I'm using, the picture isn't cropped to be narrower like it was on later editions and it has one of the illustrations in color instead of b&w. Plus, to me, it looks charming with the hand drawn border and backgrounds, and the hand lettered text. I'm keeping them all. And don't worry I've already fixed the tears and scratches, so that it looks new again. There will be an inexpensive b&w paperback and a color hardcover for you to choose from.

Ever since she was a little girl, Marguerite de Angeli loved her father's descriptions of the red leather-topped copper-toed boots he prized more than sixty years ago when he was a little boy in Northern Michigan. She treasured also his tale of "tradin" at the store and with his schoolmates, of a mischievous and never-to-be-forgotten episode of a calf in the school house belfry, of carrying water for the elephants on circus day, of picnicking during blackberry time—indeed all the friendly, folk happenings of a little American town in the 1870s.

More good news! Alaska Bush Pilot arrived this week, it was donated to us by another homeschool mom who felt fortunate to have this book on her shelves and wanted us to be able to share it with you all. I can't thank her enough 🥰

Many years ago when aviation was still young, few people believed that the airplane was here to stay. The planes were covered with cloth and held together with bailing wire. They were weak and flimsy craft. But the men who flew them were strong and brave. One of the bravest of these was Carl Ben Eielson. Not only did Ben fly these clumsy early-day airplanes, but he flew them in one of the most dangerous and untamed parts of the world—Alaska. Alaska Bush Pilot is the true story of Carl Ben Eielson's exciting life as a pioneer flier in the cold, stormy, and always treacherous Land of the Midnight Sun.

And the final piece of good news to share, today I started working on Jenny by David Weitzman. I'm using the same color scheme as The John Bull so they match, and FYI, after I finish up Jenny, we also have the rights to Weitzman's Model T and Old Ironsides. All four books will be the same size and have matching covers, which they didn't have in the past because they had different publishers. Also FYI Carl Ben Eielson, in Alaska Bush Pilot, flies a Jenny in the book.

Barely 40 years separate the Wright brothers' flight and those of the first jet aircraft. The World War II pilots who were the first to fly those jets and who would later become the first airline pilots, learned to fly in little cloth and wooden biplanes, the aircraft of the 1920s and 1930s. One such airplane was the Curtiss JN4 "Jenny," known as the "Model T of airplanes" because it was the first aircraft to be mass-produced. The Jenny was built in large numbers during the First World War; after the war, surplus Jennys flooded the market, becoming the airplane of choice for barnstormers and early airmail pilots—and the one in which famous aviation pioneers, from Charles Lindbergh to Amelia Earhart to Bessie Coleman learned to fly. Jenny is the story of this remarkable airplane.

The goal is to have these three books done this summer, possibly fall or winter for the other two Weitzman titles. I need to get working on the Mistmantle kickstarter soon, so much good news there to share with you at a later date 💜

02/04/2024

ETA: Link in Bio to the books in the May sale at 40% off! There are also some pod books that we warehouse which are 25% off in May, link in bio to those too, so you can start planning! :)

Heads up on upcoming sales! Our next sale is April 14-30 on all of our new releases. Here are pictures from a few and I'll be posting more pictures of the rest soon.

New releases will be 15% off: Home Ranch, Mary Emma & Company, Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek, Shy Stegosaurus of Indian Springs, Combat Nurses of WWII: Photo Edition, Theras and His Town, Mr. Emerson's Cook, The John Bull, Sabre Jet Ace, and two that are new to paperback, Cranberry Thanksgiving and Little Old Man Who Could Not Read.

We're tentatively having our big spring sale during the entire month of May with most of our warehouse books being 40% off. If a book is listed under Worldwide Books then it is not a warehouse book, with a couple exceptions! I'll be creating a collection soon, so you can browse the books that will be 40% off in May. We expect a lot of orders during this time and ask for your patience waiting on your books to arrive, we're estimating it will take up to eight weeks to ship them all out.

The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek was one of our first books, way back in 2001. Since that time people have been asking for us to reprint the sequel too. It's finally happened! The Shy Stegosaurus of Indian Springs is back again after being out of print for many, many decades. We hope you enjoy the new covers, I wanted them to match this time around. They are both unabridged and contain all of the original illustrations by Hubert Buel and Paul Galdone.

31/03/2024

Happy Easter! 🌷

Photo courtesy of the Van Gogh Museum

27/03/2024

ETA: I looked up the history of this plane using its serial number. It was built in 1952 and used to train pilots before they went to Korea. Maybe that's why it survived the war.

Amazing! This is the plane on our cover. Restored and painted to match that of Capt Joseph McConnell, Jr.

26/03/2024

Update on Sabre Jet Ace—I enjoyed reading the book so much that it was sent to our proofreader today ahead of schedule. What an exciting, well-written story, and superbly illustrated with more than 60 original b&w drawings! We plan be to release it toward the end of April or early May in both paperback and hardcover. Take a look on our site (link in bio to upcoming books!) to read the first chapter.

After I tallied up the numbers, it was close. Thank you all for sharing your opinions. The cover on the right is what people preferred by nearly 55%. What I thought was interesting is that several people thought it had a more vintage look, and the cover on the left had a more mass-market appearance. I further aged the photo by adding some scratches and modifying the color. We'll see how it looks when it's printed and possibly revise it again if needed. Here's the updated cover, and of course it's a draft and may be tweaked several more times!

Have you heard of Carl Ben Eielson? I'm completely intrigued with his life story now and need to find a copy of Alaska Bush Pilot to work from. It was written by Charles Coombs in 1963. Eielson is called the father of aviation, and piloted the first Alaskan airmail route in 1924. He was later introduced to Captain George Wilkins and together they earned international acclaim for their non-stop, 2,200 mile flight over the North Pole, taking 20 1/2 hrs on April 15-16, 1928.

19/03/2024

Thank you all for your opinions of Sabre Jet Ace, keep them coming! I read every single comment and was overwhelmed at the response to the book. Your feedback is invaluable and you kindly brought up points for me to consider. Plus I'm now looking into offering Alaska Bush Pilot and Balloon Buster, both by Charles Coombs 💜

This week I'm finishing up on The John Bull by David Weitzman and making final revisions to Theras and His Town by Caroline Dale Snedaker—I need to be done by Friday when my granddaughter arrives for a visit!

I'll tally up your opinions and post here soon with the updated cover(s).

18/03/2024

ETA: several people mentioned vintage, so I'm adding a layer to give it a vintage look. The plane is smaller, it doesn't cover the title and the author's name has been moved in the cover to the right. Good ideas!

We're in the process of republishing this super rare book! I need your opinions on which cover you prefer. I prefer one, but my daughter likes the other so I thought where better to ask than facebook, to get opinions from you lovely people 💜

If you've wanted to get your hands on Sabre Jet Ace by Charles Coombs, it'll be available later this spring/early summer. There usually aren't copies online, but there is one now with a silly asking price of $940 on ebay! Fortunately we didn't have to break the bank to acquire a copy, we were approached by a nice homeschool mom who introduced me to Capt Joseph McConnell's story and then donated her copy for us to use to create the new edition. She and her son love the book and wanted others to have the chance to read it. We can't thank her enough 🥰

This book was originally part of The American Adventure series published in the 1940s-60s. If there are any others in the series you'd like to see reprinted then give me a shout.

Here's the intro from the author and editor: SABRE JET ACE is a story based upon the military records and flying deeds of the world's first triple jet ace—Captain Joseph McConnell, Jr. This is Mac's story. But it is also the story of daring young airmen, fighting their battles high in the sky—of blazing machine guns—of planes falling in flames. SABRE JET ACE is more than a war story of men and planes. It is a story of all brave men fighting for what is right and good—freedom.

The cover photo (c) by Mike Killian, is a restored F-86F Sabre jet which was flown during the Korean war. It recently was restored and painted to match the plane in this book flown by McConnell, who was the top flying ace for the USAF during the Korean War.

The red, white, and blue bars on the cover echo the design of the USAF roundel painted on the plane's wing.

15/03/2024

Are you familiar with Five in a Row (FIAR)? It was our first introduction to homeschooling back in 2001. We're quite pleased they use 18 of our books in their curriculum! Here's a video from Michelle Howard and her Living Learning Libraries, explaining what FIAR is and how it's used with our book Another Celebrated Dancing Bear 💜 Enjoy!

16/02/2024

Plumfield Moms podcasts are always a delight, and in this one they share their unwavering support for small publishers 💜 it was a joy speaking with Living Book Press and Smidgen Press !

Join us as we sit down with Anthony Coafield of Living Book Press, Jill Morgan of Purple House Press, and Jody Skinner of Smidgen Press to talk about 2023 and some of the very exciting projects they have in the works for 2024!

https://plumfieldandpaideia.com/show-notes-small-publishers-purple-house-press-living-book-press-smidgen-press/

18/01/2024

We're so fortunate to be the new publisher of Mr. Emerson's Cook, 25th Anniversary Edition! Judy Schachner wrote about her great-grandmother, Annie Burns, who really was Ralph Waldo Emerson's cook. Annie had to use her imagination when cooking for him, Emerson was not interested everyday, mundane food! This book is 15% off now and will be when we release more new books later this month if you want to get them all together: The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek, The Shy Stegosaurus of Indian Springs, The Home Ranch and Mary Emma & Company.

Your work should be in praise of what you love. —Ralph Waldo Emerson December 30, 2023. When Annie Burns, newly arrived from Ireland, takes a job as cook to Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson, it is almost more than she can manage. For the brilliant Mr. Emerson is not interested at all in the food she makes....

01/01/2024

Happy new year everyone! We hope 2024 is a great year for you all. If you're looking for books about new year's day, we suggest this list put together from Biblioguides ! 💜

May we suggest reading a book or two to ring in the new year? We've put together a list of our favorites to make it really easy for you to choose a book to pick up at your local library.
https://www.biblioguides.com/pub/list/best-books-to-ring-in-the-new-year

25/12/2023

This cozy picture features Mr. Whiskers from Cranberry Christmas, beautifully written and illustrated by Wende and Harry Devlin 💜🎄❄️ Happy holidays!

05/12/2023

If you're looking for a fun Christmas book to read with a young child, look no further than That's Not Santa by the incomparable Leonard Kessler 💜 We have them in stock in our warehouse, they will ship the next day after placing your order.

“In this whimsical and lighthearted tale, Santa finds himself in a merry mix-up when he misplaces his iconic red suit. In a humorous quest for an alternative outfit, he rummages through a chest of costumes, leading to a series of playful and amusing encounters.” — Reshelving Alexandria

And of course there is a very happy ending! Take a look at a few of the costumes Santa considers, I'm partial to the cowboy 🥰🤣

We have Mr. Pine's Purple House in stock in hardcover too!

11/08/2023

EXCITING NEWS: Advance copies of the kickstarter books are here! Yes the Ralph Moody and Elizabeth Ripley advances are here, along with the stoneware mugs 💜 I'm super happy with the quality. What do you think?

We know you're anxious to get your books, the remainder of them are due in our warehouse about September 5th and we'll get them out to you all asap.

Many, many people have asked about buying the sets after the kickstarter ended. We will have a few leftover that I'll put on our website after all the pledges have been mailed. Fulfilling approximately 800 pledges will take 8-10 weeks, our goal is to have them shipped before Thanksgiving. After that I'll announce on facebook, instagram, and from our newsletter that extra sets are available on our website.

Once they are gone, they're gone for good and they'll be rare books or collector's items. However you see it!