A look at lesser known period of history in Rachel Field's CALICO BUSH

In the year 1754, the French and English are officially at it again.

In North America, it's called the French-Indian War (1754 - 1763).

 In Europe, the ultimate event (1756 - 1763) is referred to as the Seven Years War. 

Wherever one is, sides are being taken, strategies tested, and people are dying. The English will eventually prevail and the French concede, the terms set by the Treaty of Paris in 1763. France ceded its northern, Canadian, possessions to Britain, and surrendered any claims to land east of the Mississippi River. France also surrendered French Louisiana to its ally Spain, as compensation for their losses. Great Britain was now the dominant colonial power in North America.

Twenty years earlier, and eleven years prior to the official outbreak of hostilities in North America, relations between the French and English were far from cordial, and that is the year that the story of Calico Bush begins.

Marguerite Ledoux, a few months shy of her thirteenth birthday, is a Bound-out girl to the Sargent family; father Joel, his son Caleb by his first wife, Joel's second wife Dolly, and five young children, the six-year old twins Becky and Susan, four year-old Patty, three-year old Jacob, and the baby, eight-month old Deborah. Joel's brother Ira also lives with the family.

Nearly a year previous, Marguerite, Grand'mère, and her Oncle Pierre had sailed from the port of New Havre in France with the intention of settling in the French colonial city of New Orleans. But, Pierre died of sickness during the ocean crossing, and was buried at sea along with all his possessions, including his fiddle. When the ship landed in Marblehead, Marguerite and her grandmother survived on the little money that they had, but when that ran out, they were consigned to the Poor Farm. The ladies there were kind to them, and admired Marguerite's fine sewing, a skill she had been taught by the sisters at the convent school she attended in Le Havre. They also tutored Marguerite in English. But when her grandmother died, she was told that to earn her "board and keep", she would be bound-out to work for a family for a set number of years.

Despite the need for extra hands, many families declined to take her on because she was French, and considered flighty and even a possible enemy, what with the poor relations back in Europe between the English and the French.

However, the Sargent's need for help was so severe that they took her in spite of her being French. She would be bound to the family until her eighteenth birthday, and henceforth be known as Maggie.

And that is how Marguerite, now Maggie, found herself on the  Isabelle B., sailing north along the coast to the with the Sargent family, en route to a claim purchased by Joel Sargent from the previous owner, Flint, located on the coast of northern Maine, a wild, unsettled area claimed by both the British as York county and the French as Acadia. It was also the ancestral home of the Wolastokuk. Put any combination of the three together, and nobody's singing Kumbaya.

It's tense.

The voyage is difficult. Multiple islands dot the coast, and even when the weather is fair, it's difficult sailing. When a violent storm breaks out, Marguerite, despite being ordered below by Captain Hunt, fights her way over to the livestock pen, where Caleb is engaged in a losing fight with the waves to keep the animals from being swept away. She keeps a grip on one of the sheep, and never lets go, despite the pain in her arms and the pounding of the waves. When the squall suddenly stops, she and Caleb have managed to save a few of the animals. The captain and others compliment her on her "grit"  -  despite how she was raised.

The Sargents lost half of their household goods, and most of their hens, and the ship suffered the partial loss of its front railing, but, as Joel reminds his wife, no one lost their life.

When they reach Falmouth, Caleb remarks on the fort's cannon, and Ira says the fort's there to keep a sharp watch out for French and Indians. Caleb teases Marguerite that it might be fired at her. When young Jacob get upset at his remark, Dolly tells him not to get worried, that they'll be no shooting, and it's "... only Injuns and the wicked French in Canada they're after."

This remark, and many others like it, are difficult for Marguerite to hear, and leave a constant sore spot in her heart. 

Later, when Caleb, Maggie, and the children go ashore to gather grass for the livestock for the rest of the voyage, Caleb goes off on his own. Marguerite and the children set about gathering wild strawberries. They encounter a stray dog and tall man with a musket, who asks them where they're from, where they're going, after which the man leaves them to speak to Caleb. When the man departs, he remarks under his breath that, "...might's well know what they're in for now, 'fore there's any scalps lost."

Marguerite over hears some of their conversation. The man is warning Caleb that the woods are full of Indians, and says that just men had been killed plowing their fields, and another family was carried away into captivity, after the father was shot in the doorway of his own house. 

It's a subdued group, plus dog, that return to the ship, carrying tales of the tall man's account, and even the fresh food from Falmouth for dinner after weeks of eating cod did little to raise anyone's spirits. There was much discussion amongst the adults, Dolly expressing the most concern, but Joel was determined to carry on as planned. He assures Dolly that the house on the claim is well-built, and plenty of other people raise families there just fine.

When the ship arrives at the final destination, the Sargents are greeted by the site of a burnt down house, and the news that in the face of renewed and more frequent attacks by the Indians, the Tarratines, the previous owner Flint had made the decision to sell his claim and leave. All of this information comes from the Sargent's nearest neighbors, spread across the small islands along the coast.

The first neighbors to appear were Seth Jordan and his son Ethan, from nearby Sunday Island. They were the ones who informed the Sargents of the Indian attacks, as well as the fact that the land of Joel's claim was regarded by the Indians as a place for ghosts and spirits, or Passageewakeag.  They urge Joel to settle on one of the nearby islands, but Joel is adamant to work his claim. The Jordan's remind him that it isn't only his and his family's safety to consider, but the safety of his neighbors as well. They then invite the Sargents to their island, where they can meet Seth's Aunt Hespa.

The visit takes place, but not before another event that could have ended in tragedy. Since the house was gone, the family again spent the night on board. The next day, the men are already chopping down trees to build a new one. The issue of getting the remaining livestock off the ship and onto the claim was discussed. The decision was made to dump them overboard and let them swim to shore. While everyone else rowed to shore, It was left to Caleb and Ira to land the cattle. 

At first, the plan worked. The sheep were thrown overboard, and swam to shore, where Marguerite and the children caught hold, and thethered them. The problem was the cow and her calf. The cow resisted, so the men threw the calf overboard first, on the assumption the cow would then follow the calf and the two would swim to shore. 

But the calf swam into the direction of the open channel, and its mother followed. Seeing this, Marguerite jumped into the skiff, rowed out to the two animals, and guided them over to Sunday Island, the closest land and home to the Jordans. Aching and exhausted, she was taken to the Jordan home by Aunt Hespa. There, Marguerite's spirits are lifted by the sight of a flower garden by the dooryard.

The Jordan's homestead consists of a well-built house and outbuildings for the animals and Aunt Hespa's loom and spinning wheel. Aunt Hespa,  84 years old, feeds Marguerite in the kitchen and tells her of her own history and that of the nearest neighbors, who live on the other islands: the Stanleys, the Morses, and the Welleses, the youngest is a year-old baby. Abigail Welles is eighteen, and Aunt Hespa informs Marguerite that Ethan is over there to visit her every chance he gets.

Aunt Hespa insists that Marguerite spend the night, and Ira makes no objection. Marguerite is able to bathe properly, after which she and Aunt Hespa gathered medicinal plants from the pasture and woods. She tells Marguerite that the Injuns learned more from growing plants than most doctors and apothecaries she's ever known. One of the plants was sheep laurel, also called Calico Bush. Aunt Hespa says that there is a ballad about the plant, and later that night, sings it to Marguerite with Seth Jordan accompanying on his fiddle.

The next day, Marguerite returns to the Sargents, and the story turns from Spring to Fall.  

The log house is nearly finished, and the cornfield prepared. The neighbors arrive for a Raising, an all day event when the neighbors arrive to raise the roof on the house and celebrate with food and visiting. Captain Hunt will be leaving right after, and several of the islanders will accompany him to bring back supplies from Portsmouth. Dolly and Marguerite have been busy preparing foodstuffs to store for the winter, including the dried cod from Caleb's many fishing expeditions.

When the neighbors arrive, Aunt Hespa gives Marguerite a pair of knit grey stockings. Marguerite, embarrassed by her worn and too short dress, a feeling brought home by the appearance of a well dressed Abigail, feels a rush of gratitude. 

Marguerite is charged with watching the children. After the feast she takes them on a walk, where they come face-to-face with a great black bear. Marguerite's quick action scares the bear into a retreat, and her quick action wins her praise from the others. Then young Jacob is hit by a falling hammer, and it is up to Marguerite and Aunt Vespa to stitch the wound. Some of those gathered remarked that a bloodletting on a new house bode ill for the inhabitants, but not within earshot of the Sargents. At the end of the day, the Isabelle B. set sail.

The rest of autumn is spent completing the house and preparing for winter. Aunt Hespa often calls upon Marguerite for company, and with her guidance Marguerite learns how to spin and weave patterns with the loom. Aunt Hespa possesses a great deal of useful advice, most often followed, but not always. Aunt Hespa tells Dolly Sargent that she must let the baby, Deborah, burn herself at the fireplace once, so she will learn not to ever approach the flames again. Dolly cannot bring herself to do it, resulting in a family tragedy.

One day, Marguerite, Caleb, and the children venture into the woods to gather witch hazel, a medicinal plant. While out gathering, Caleb goes off to hunt squirrels, but when he fails to return on time, Marguerite takes the children and begins to retrace their steps back home. It starts to rain, and they take shelter in a cave. Marguerite tells the children to wait by the opening, while she explores further. But the cave is an evil place, with unfamiliar markings, a strange smell, and piles of bones. When Marguerite picks up a a shiny object, a belt buckle, she also picks up a long stand of human hair that is stiff and dark at its roots.

She grabs the children and leaves the cave, refusing to answer their questions as to her hurry or her ashen complexion. They meet up again with Caleb, and return home. That night, after the children are asleep, Marguerite tells the Sargents what happened, and gives the buckle and hair to Joel. Joel tells everyone to not say a word to anyone of the discovery. He doesn't want the neighbors to increase their disapproval of his settling there, because despite their recent friendliness, the disapproval is still evident.

When they later go to find the cave's location, they are unsuccessful. Later on, Marguerite and the twins head over to Aunt Hespa's to help with the weaving, and while there, witness the Aurora Borealis. Seth tells her the Indian's believe that it's a sign or war and famine, But Aunt Hespa's hushes him and says it's a sign of a cold winter coming.

The story now turns from Fall to Winter. The family attends a corn-shelling bee at the Jordans, along with the other neighbors. After the feast, Seth broke out his fiddle for music and dancing. Marguerite, moved by the music, performed a dance, the pavane. much to Dolly's and  Hannah Welles (Abigail's mother) dismay, but to the encouragement of Aunt Hespa. When others also expressed their disapproval, in derogatory terms of the French, Aunt Hespa put an end to it, but Marguerite, after reveling in the dance, became tired and low-spirited.

Staring out the window to avoid facing the others, she sees a wisp of smoke in the direction of Sargent's point. Alerting Caleb, the others were soon made aware, and the verdict was Indians. Five men went over to investigate, and three stayed behind as guards. When the men returned the next day, the house was intact, but the cow and her calf had been taken, along with a sack of meal. The dog was also missing.

The Sargent family returned to their home, as did the others, under the threat of a storm. When the winds and rains came, the house was filled with smoke from the fireplace due to rain coming in through the chimney. the one happy note was the return of Pumpkin, the dog, whose jaws had been bound by leather thongs, and who suffered an open gash on his side.

The cold made visiting more difficult. Marguerite learns, much to her dismay, that the Sargents did not celebrate Christmas, and she yearns for the Christmases of her childhood. When Dolly overheard her telling the children about them, she told her to keep her Popishness to herself.

On Christmas Eve day, Marguerite leaves late in the afternoon to collect cones for the fire, singing French carols to herself as she works. An Indian appears and repeats one of the words of the carol, Noël.  She makes out from his words and signs that he had lived with the French in Quebec. Le Péres Gris had cured him, he told her, pointing to a deep scar that ran across his cheek, and making the sign of the cross.

Marguerite took the button that came from her Oncle Pierre's coat and offered it to the Indian. Pour un souvenir de Noël, she told him, the turned and heading back to the house. She said nothing to the Sargents of the encounter.

It was one of the harshest winters of memory that year. In February the channel froze solid over, and everyone had lost weight due to the careful rationing of supplies.

One particularly bitter cold night, the family slept in a semi-circle in front of the fireplace. That night, Debby crawled away from her sleeping mother to the fire, and was quickly covered in flames. The dog attempted to tear off the burning cloth, Dolly beat the flames with her bare hands, Joel smothered the flames with a blanket and Ira doused the child with a bucket of water. Despite the cold, Marguerite on her own decides to make for Aunt Hespa's, and Caleb comes with her. When they tumble, frostbitten and windblown, on the Jordan's doorstep, the two could have passed for ghosts, themselves. 

Aunt Hespa, Seth, and Ethan go to the point using the Jordan's wood sled, leaving Marguerite behind in bed and Caleb by the fire. But the child's burns are too severe, and she dies before they even arrive.

The story now turns from Winter to Spring. After the last of the big storms, the family goes tapping the sugar maples for their sap, which they turn into syrup and molasses. Ira then takes Marguerite with him to the Welles place, telling her that Abigail would like to be taught some of the fancy stitching at which Marguerite excels.

Ira brings along a bucket of syrup, and that, combined with the long visitor-less winter, helped to warm Mrs. Welles to their presence. Later, Abagail brings out material for the new dresses she'll be sewing, and Marguerite demonstrates some fancy embroidery stitches. When Marguerite and Ira leave, Abigail gives Marguerite materials for doll dresses and a hood for herself.

By mid-April, the frost was still not fully out of the ground, so the families focused on replenishing supplies before the planting season began. Ammunition was low, and the harsh winter had depleted all of their corn and potatoes, with none left for planting. When a ship entered the channel - the Fortunate Star - the captain informed them that they were looking for a man to replace their injured mate on their voyage to Boston. In the end, both Ira and Caleb sailed with them to Boston.

The days pass, and Marguerite tells the children of the May Day celebration back in France. She and all of the children are pressing into helping with the early planting. When Caleb and Ira returned with supplies, there would be an additional planting, but for now, it was just them, and Joel works from sun-up to sun-down. One day, a tree he was cutting down fell on him. His leg was injured  - crushed and broken - and his head sustained a nasty bruise. Dolly and Marguerite fashioned splints, and brewed a tea that might help him sleep.

After Debby's fatal encounter with fire, it was agreed that a white sheet hung on a pole would be a sign to the Jordon's on Sunday Island that their help was needed. But the next day, the fog was so heavy that there was no visibility, and neither Marguerite nor Dolly had the navigational skills to make it to Sunday Island in those conditions.

After two days with no clearing, and Joel, in a state of delirium, Marguerite remembered that Aunt Hespa told her that there were healing properties in the brown kelp by the shore. She and the children set off to collect some, but were alerted by the actions of the dog that they were not alone. Telling the children to wait, Marguerite went on ahead and saw several canoes full of Indians landing in the cove.

Returning to the house, Marguerite comes up with the plan to offer the Indians food, to forstall any possible violence. Dolly thinks the idea is insane, but Marguerite takes control of the situation, placing all of the food outside the house. When the Indians arrive, it is Marguerite who distributes the food until it is all gone. The eight or so men still don't leave, and Marguerite can tell that there is dissent among them as to their next step, so she decides to make a Maypole. 

Calling the children outside, they help her assemble the pole, and they all being to dance, Marguerite instructing both the children and the Indians on the dance. When the pole collapsed, she gathered the children and ran towards the house. At all figure stood in her path, and they stopped. The figure spoke. Noël. Smiled, and then gestured for them to go back to the house.

The children told Dolly what happened, but Marguerite was too spent to say a word, collapsing in a corner. When Seth and Ethan Jordan appeared, the fog had lifted during the morning and they had come over, they were amazed at what she had done. Dolly told them that Marguerite had saved them all.

Aunt Hespa and the Jordan's were over every day, aiding with chores and the healing of Joel's leg. It was on one of those days that Marguerite told Dolly and them about her Christmas encounter with the Indian, impressing them all favorably.

In June, the Fortunate Son returned, with Caleb and Ira bringing presents for all. Caleb had picked out a box with a painted bird on the lid, just for her.

The neighbors, seeing the ship in the channel, began to make their way ove.r to the Sargents. When Ira and Caleb took the children over to visit the ship, Joel Sargent tells Marguerite that, in view of all she's done, that they are freeing her to return to her own people, either in Quebec or France, once the chance arises. He is having the mate on the ship draw up the official termination of her contract. 

Marguerite decides to stay.

***

This book is wonderful. If you don't have a copy in your collections, I recommend that you use some of the precious few dollars in your budget and purchase a copy. It is that good.

My opinion is that the hardest of all genres to write for children (and adults) is historical fiction. It's difficult not to veer off into textbook land when attempting to combine the recreation of a bygone age with an interesting plot. I'm not saying that there is a lot of bad historical fiction out there, but there is a fair amount of less than compelling attempts. I name no names, and offer no titles. Everyone is trying their best. As I said before, it's a hard genre to write.

But Rachel Field does a masterful job in Calico Bush, and this was not her first attempt. Calico Bush was published in 1931, and was a Newbery Honor Book. Two years prior, another of her books, Hitty: Her First Hundred Years, won the Newbery Medal.

There is absolutely nothing textbook about Calico Bush. Field draws you in immediately with well-written characters, realistic action, and a presentation of the mindset of the people of the time without an overlay of present-day judgement. Field skillfully introduces by example the skills necessary for survival in the mid-eighteenth century without overloading the technical details. Weaving, fishing, syrup-making, the practice of medicine, all are integral to the story as it flows through the four seasons. Enjoy!

Rachel Field was born in 1894 in New York City, and died in 1942 after complications from surgery. She was buried in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the ancestral home of the Field family. She attended Radcliffe College from 1914 - 1918, and held a number of editorial positions before focusing on writing full-time. According to Something About the Author, she wrote over twenty-one books for children, numerous plays, six adult novels, including All This and Heaven Too in 1938,  books of poetry, and screenplays.

From an early age, she had a love of islands. "There's something about islands. I don't know what it is, but I simply cannot keep them out of things I write." (SATA, Volume 15, page 107)

Lucky for us.

***

The book's illustrations are four wood prints by artist Allen Lewis. Here is a link to his biography and samples of his work.

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I'm running a Goodreads Giveaway for my (not children's) novel Four Dogs and a Small Town from September 1st through October 1st.  Set in 1965, it combines historical fiction, magical realism, and a touch of romance. Click here to enter, or go to my website at www.carolmaticbooks.com.  Good luck!

I've recently embarked on the journey of self-publication. It's been an education. If you're interested in the process, check out my other blog On the Trail of Rogue Lits ...

Twelve Years after the March sisters, Jack and Jill and the Allegorical Hill

It's New England, it's winter, and there's snow on the ground. 

Sound familiar? I'm sure it does, but we're not about to visit the March sisters. The Civil War is over, and in the small town of Harmony Village, a group of friends on the cusp between childhood and youth are about to experience a year of life, love, loss, and moral lessons. Lots and lots of moral lessons.

Louisa May Alcott's Jack and Jill was first published as a serial in the youth magazine St. Nicholas beginning in 1879, before being published as a book in 1880. 

The story opens at the bottom of the hill, literally. It is the first good snow of the season, and the boys and girls in the story are introduced as they take their turns sledding down one of three runs (coasts). 

The easiest was the smooth run that led into the meadow, that was for the little folk. The second swept across the frozen pond, and the sledders had to navigate around the skaters. The third ran from the very top a steep hill, and ended at a rail fence on the high bank on the opposite side of the road.

First to appear is sixteen year old Frank Minot, older brother of the title character Jack, then Molly Loo, a friend and contemporary of title character, Jill, and her baby brother Boo, followed by Gus Burton, Frank's friend, then Ed Devlin, the slightly older pal of all, Joe Flint, another contemporary of Frank's, and Merry Grant. friend of Jill.

Finally, we meet Jack (John Minot) and Jill (Janey Pecq), best friends, poised at the top of the third run.

Let's pause for a moment and examine the attributes of the gang before going further on. Alcott took pains to include a wide variety of personalities/social standings/economic class into this little group. Here's the breakdown:

Frank and Jack Minot come from a wealthy family, led by Mrs. Minot (there is no mention of any Mr. Minot). Frank is bookish, a member of a boy's temperance club, and looks forward to starting college. Jack is athletic, not a great fan of academics, and very sweet natured. The boys are close, but brotherly teasing is evident. Both strive to be good in their mother's eyes.

Molly Loo and Boo are comfortably economically, but their widowed father is obsessed with work and only occasionally seems to remember that he has children. The housekeeper, Mrs. Bat, does the bare minimum, and Molly lacks a reliable female mentor. She basically acts as a mother to Boo, but knows that her efforts are not enough.

Gus Burton is a good friend to Frank and relatively well-off. He is also going to college in a year. His younger sisters are Laura and Lotty.

Ed Devlin is a model to all. Making his way alone in the world, he works at a business in town and has the respect of everyone who knows him.

Joe Flint prefers to take the easy way out and looks down on others who lack money and social standing, but has occasional stabs at good behavior. The other boys call him out when he strays.

Merry Grant is the only daughter of a hard working farmer and his wife, who longs for beauty in everyday life. She has three older brothers, is well-loved, but misses the "little touches" that would make her clean but Spartan house more homey.

Not immediately present at the sledding hill was nineteen year old Ralph Evans,  a budding sculptor who dreams of traveling to Europe, and is also held in high regard for his hard work and honest living.

Finally, there is Jill. 

Jill, like so many of Alcott's heroines, is a tomboy, always the top of her class, and in contrast to her best friend Jack's large frame and blond good looks, is small, with black eyes and hair, and a merry disposition, but possesses a strong will that in Mrs. Minot's opinion, needs a bit of tempering. Jill and her mother are poor, Mrs. Pecq being a widow who struggles to get enough work to support them, and they live in a small cottage next to the Minot's large home.

As far as her friendship with Jill, "... Jill goes wherever Jack does, and he lets her. He is such a good-natured chap, he can't say 'No.'"

Back to the story ...

On Jack and Jill's final run down the hill, disaster strikes. The sled crashes. Jack has a massive lump and a cut on his forehead, and a broken leg. Jill is stunned, and lies immobile in the snow.

Both Jack and Jill try to take the blame for the accident while they're still lying in the snow. Merry says blame can wait for later, right now the two need help. 

Transported back home, Dr. Whiting sets Jack's broken leg, and delivers the bad news to the active boy that he won't be up and about for at least three weeks. 

Over at the Pecq's, Dr. Whiting fears that Jill's injuries are much more severe, a broken back, and advises Mrs. Pecq to keep her as quiet as possible. Jill is overcome with remorse and says that she'll be the best girl in the world once she gets out of bed. Her mother tells her that will be a long while, then sings her to sleep. She worries for her daughter's future, but reminds herself that her good friend yonder - Mrs. Minot - will never let Jill want for care.

Jack will not tell his mother that it was by Jill's urging that they took the last run, but Mrs. Minot knows, because Jill, herself, told her. Mrs. Minot tells Jack that in the future, he must help Jill control her headstrong will, that ,"..when you learn to yield less and she more, there will be no scrapes like this to try us all."

All the boys and girls come round to check on the two invalids. Frank devises a sort of telegraph devise between the two houses so the two friends can communicate while their friends are in school. That alleviates the boredom of recuperation for a while, but the novelty eventually wears off.

Jill has the worst time of it, for she too, loves beauty, and the small, poor house where she lies captive has ugly wall paper and poor furnishings. When Mrs. Pecq informs Mrs. Minot of Jill's unhappiness, Mrs. Minot takes to decorating the walls with pictures and bric-a-brac. When Jill asks where they came from, Mrs. Pecq says the good fairly that never comes empty-handed, meaning Mrs. Minot.

Mrs. Minot continues to give Mrs. Pecq sewing jobs so the widow can earn money.  

One day, while all the girls are over and Mrs. Minot is there, the girls discuss how much they'd like to become missionaries. Mrs. Minot says that it is not necessary to travel to faraway lands to do missionary work, that work can be done right here, in their own homes. She tells Merry that she can help out more at home, Molly Loo can step up with little brother Boo, and, although she does not say this aloud, that Jill can have a positive effect on Frank and Jack, just by her presence, making the two boys more thoughtful and considerate.

The girls sally forth with high aspirations, and it's a rocky road at first, but success follows hard work and effort. By the end of the story, all have achieved their goals.

The boys, meanwhile, have their own set of goals and ambitions, and struggle, as the girls do, to achieve them, some more successfully than others. 

At one point in the story, Jill and her mother come to live at the Minot's. Mrs. Pecq will serve as housekeeper, leaving Mrs. Minot to her other projects. When summer arrives, Jill, Jack, Frank and Mrs. Minot all take a summer holiday. Mrs. Pecq stays back at the house. (I'm sure that I'm not the only person uncomfortable with the fact that Mrs. Minot basically usurps Mrs. Pecq's role as Jill's mother.) There is drama, when Jill, left alone in a boat, is pulled out to sea, but she is rescued by the very remorseful Frank and Jack.

Because this is a story for young folk written during Victorian America, there is a death. It is poor Ed Devlin who shakes his mortal coil, after a short, undefined illness. His funeral is attended by all, and there is much discussion on why the young die before their time.

When the new school year rolls around, Mrs. Minot announces that neither Frank - who was to start college - or Jack will be returning. After much consideration, she has decided that both would be better off with a more balanced education involving lessons and outdoor activities, along with, of course, healthy eating and no alcohol. Jill is included in this effort, and at the conclusion it bears fruit, Frank is healthier, Jack more comfortable with his academics, and Jill, having learned patience through her ordeal, has acquired a few more of the traditional womanly skills, while still retaining her lively spirit.

If you have students who loved Little Women or Eight Cousins, this book is an easy recommend. Otherwise, it's a tough sell for the following reasons. 

First is its age. Jack and Jill is nearly 150 years old, and the vocabulary is going to be unfamiliar to students today. 

Second is the sheer profusion of moral lessons crammed into each and every chapter. As I wrote above, Jack and Jill was originally a serial in St. Nicholas magazine, so Alcott had the requirement of inserting a moral lesson into each one, no exceptions.

Third is the delivery of said lessons, which have all the delicacy of a sledgehammer wielded by a circus strongman with anger issues. Poor Mrs. Minot bears the burden of being the deliverer of the bulk of them, and halfway through the book I cringed whenever she made an appearance. This was pretty shabby treatment for the well-meaning matron.

Fourth is the discussion around Ed Devlin's death. The young man's demise is viewed as part of God's plan that is beyond the understanding of man. Many people hold this to be true, however, others do not. If you have a student who suffered a loss of a loved one, this might or might not be upsetting for them to read.

Despite all of the above, I enjoyed the book. Reading it as an adult with a strong background knowledge of the times and the author, it was easy enough for me to skip over the preaching and appreciate the portrayal of a time and place where people interacted with each other instead of screens, kept themselves busy with lots of group activities, and take in how artfully Alcott wove in her educational and life views into the plot.

Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1932, the second daughter of four born to  Amos Bronson Alcott, transcendentalist philosopher and educator, and Abagail May Alcott, feminist and abolitionist.  

Growing up, Alcott knew periods of extreme poverty, due to her father's inability/refusal to earn money to support his family in a manner that did not go against his ideals. It was left to Louisa's mother to earn money anyway she could, but earning opportunities were limited for women, so as soon as Louisa could, she took on whatever work to could to support the family, at times working as a domestic, a companion, and as a nurse in the Civil War.

The Alcott's were part of the Underground Railroad, harboring runaway enslaved people on their journeys to Canada. The family believed in equality of the sexes and races, women's suffrage, and were part of the Transcendentalist movement. As a child, Louisa took lessons in botany from Henry David Thoreau, and had access to the Emerson's library. Nathanial Hawthorne and his family were neighbors, although Hawthorne himself preferred to limit his exposure to Louisa's father. I don't blame him.

Louisa was determined to get rich and support her family, and she succeeded through her writing. Hospital  Sketches, an account of her experience as a nurse in the Civil War, (she contacted typhoid after six weeks and nearly died, her health never recovered) was her first major success, followed later by the semi-autobiographical Little Women in 1868, and a number of other books for young people. She also made money writing adult novels and "scandalous" stories, sometime under a pseudonym of A.M. Barnard. 

Louisa May Alcott never married, and died at the age of 55 in 1888 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Louisa May Alcott is a fascinating individual who lived, and lived fully, at a fascinating time in history. there are a wealth of books about her, and the times she lived in that merit reading. I will recommend the last one I read, written by Samantha Seiple titled Louisa on the Front Lines: Louisa May Alcott in the Civil War. 

An article on Little Women from Humanities magazine.

Louisa May Alcott's obituary from the New York Times, dated March 7, 1888.

                                ***************************************************

I've had to hold off on the audiobooks the past two weeks, but I am hoping to get back into The Phantom of the Opera before the week is out.

I've recently embarked on the journey of self-publication. It's been an education. If you're interested in the process, check out my other blog On the Trail of Rogue Lits ...

I've also just created a bare bones website (the topic of my next blogpost at OTTORL) at www.carolmaticbooks.com

I'm running a Goodreads Giveaway for my novel Four Dogs and a Small Town from September 1st through October 1st.  Click here to enter. Good luck!

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Two for the Price of One: A Tale of Silver Skates and a Travel Guide with a Brief History

 Why or and not and?

The title of Mary Mapes Dodge's 1858 novel, Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates  has always been a bit problematic to me. The story of Hans Brinker is inextricably intertwined with the race for the silver skates, so why the or? 

If you wanted to reflect the very real division of the book, I would opt for something along the lines of Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates, and, A Brief History and Travelogue of Holland. A little cumbersome, true, but an accurate reflection of what you get when you open the cover. Also, an accurate description of Dodge's intended achievement in writing the book.

So, first the story, then a bit about the remarkable woman who wrote it.

Hans Brinker tells the tale of Hans Brinker, a fifteen-year-old boy who lives in Broek, Holland, in a poor cottage facing a canal with his younger sister, Gretel, his mother, Meitje, and his father, Raff. Ten years earlier, Raff Brinker suffered a horrible accident on the dikes, that left him badly brain damaged. As a result, the family has struggled to survive, getting by on Meitje's knitting and piecework and whatever work Hans can procure. Their hardship is worsened by Raff's erratic behavior, which can at times pose physical danger, and the disdain of many of the townspeople who refer to their home as "the Idiot's cottage".

Social class plays a major role for the characters in the story.

Despite all this, the Brinkers are a close-knit family, who continue to nurse the hope that Raff will someday be well. The Brinkers also live with a mystery, two actually. Before Raff left on that fateful night to  work on the dikes, he gave his wife a silver watch with the engraved initials of LJB to hold and told her to take care of it. He also told her that, due to some suspicious behavior on the part of one of his co-workers, that he had hid their savings of 1000 guilders. He intended to explain both when he returned, but that was not to be. 

Though they searched, Hans and his mother could not find the money, and had come to the conclusion that the father's suspicious co-worker must have stolen it. As far as the watch, Dame Brinker held fast to her promise to her husband and never sold it, despite at times of extreme hardship being sorely tempted.

The background now set, Dodge introduces the rest of the characters. A group of boys and girls, their ages about the same as Hans and Gretel, are skating on the canal in view of the Brinker's cottage. Economically, they fall into middle-class to wealthy. The boys are Peter van Holp and his brother, Ludwig, Lambert van Mounen, Carl Schummel, Jacob Poot and his English cousin Benjamin Dobbs, and a little fellow with the big name of Voostenwalbert Schimmelpenninck. The girls are Hilda van Gleck, Annie Bouman (Gretel's friend), Richie Korbes, and Katrinka Flack. They run the gamut from kind-hearted and honorable (Peter and Hilda), to smug and spoiled (Carl and Katrinka), and come to in what is essentially a the moral tale of Hans Brinker all the expected fates. 

*You might notice that some of the names above (as well as others in the book) are not purely Dutch and leaving towards the German. The names appear differently in different editions of the book, but I am using the names as they appear in the 1985 paperback edition from Dell Publishing Co.

All of the children are excited at the prospect of the upcoming skating race on the canal, where the winners - one boy, one girl - will be awarded a pair of silver skates. Both Hans and Gretel are excellent skaters, but any dreams of winning the race are just that. Neither own a pair of real skates, just wooden versions that Hans - very skilled at woodcarving - has fashioned for them. 

This changes when the kind-hearted Hilda notices the pair on the canal and asks them if they, too, will be joining the race. When she discovers the reason  - no skates - she has Hans crave her a wooden necklace like the one Gretel is wearing, and with that money, he will be able to buy at least one pair of skates.Hans uses the money to buy skates for his sister. When Hilda's friend and admirer Peter hears of it, he commissions Hans for a second necklace, the money then paying for a pair of skates for himself.

It is while Hans is on his way to Amsterdam, using his wooden skates on the canal,  to buy his skates that he comes upon the Dr. Boekman, the famous physician and surgeon. Mustering up all his courage, he approaches the doctor -  a dour sort with a reputation to match - about his father's case. The doctor, though gruff, agrees to visit the Brinker household in a weeks time.

Hans and his mother are elated, but their joy is cut short when Raff experiences a violent episode and falls into a deep fever. Hans once again goes for the doctor, but on his way he encounters Peter van Kolp and his group of friends on the canal. The boys are on a skating holiday of several days duration, to see the sights and visit Peter's married sister during the Feast of St. Nicholas celebration. Seeing how concerned Hans is over being away from his family, Peter tells Hans that he will find Dr. Boekman and give him the message to please come at once. Hans gratefully accepts, then heads back home.

This is where the second book, the one I dub A Brief History and Travelogue of Holland, appears. Over the next several chapters, we will see nothing of Hans or the Brinker household, but a great deal of the boys, the English cousin, and an enormous amount of detail on Dutch history, prominent Dutchmen in politics, the military, and the arts, and detailed descriptions of Dutch architecture, engineering, and cityscapes. Dodge does flesh out the characters of the individual boys, but it can be some dense reading.

We do learn, during this time, that Dr. Boekman has received the message Peter left for him regarding Raff Brinker, and has departed for Broek.

Once the boys return home, the story refocuses on the Brinkers. 

Dr. Boekman is there with his assistant. The doctor believes that he can operate successfully on Raff, and is given permission to do so by Dame Brinker. The doctor needs Hans to assist, so no one notices when a terrified Gretel rushes from the house. Outside, over a period of some hours, Gretel feels herself falling asleep to beautiful visions and it roughly awoke by Hilda, shaking her and forcing her to move. Hilda had noticed was appeared to be a pile of rags along the canal, but upon closer inspection had discovered that it was Gretel.

The two then return to the Brinker cottage, and learn that the operation has been successful. Word spreads that Raff Brinker is now back from the dead - some of those words were quite fanciful indeed - and the town is amazed. Dr.Boekman warns Hans and Dame Brinker that Raff is not be be overexcited, needs plenty of rest, and fine foods that the Brinkers cannot afford. Hans is resolved to sell his skates to raise money, and he does, but it is Annie Bouman, who convinces the boy that she will sell them for him. While Annie goes off to that purpose, Hans searches for work, but is unable to find any. When Annie returns, she delivers money from the sale to Hans, an amount well above what the skates are worth, and insists that Hans take every cent, despite his protest.

Also upon his return, he sees that a fairy godmother has delivered just the type and quantity of food that Raff needs for his recovery. 

Raff's memory returns slowly, and piecemeal. The realization that he has lost ten years of his and his family's lives is difficult, but he insists that he will be back to work in a short while. Initially, Raff believes that his family had access to the hidden money and knew the story of the silver watch. There is a false alarm when Hans coaxes the location of the hidden money from him, that it is buried by the south side of the willow tree. Hans and Dame Brinker dig for hours, but the money isn't there. Turns out, it was the wrong tree. The tree Raff remembered had been cut down earlier, and when Hans dug there, the money was found.

There was still the mystery of the watch. As it turns out, the watch belonged to Dr. Boekman's son, who left in a hurry after believing that he had killed one of his father's patients. He gave it to Raff, who he encountered on his way leaving the country, and left with him a message that if his father ever wanted to contact him, he should look for a Thomas Higgs in Birmingham, England. When Dr. Boekman sees the watch, and hears the message, he rushes to find his son. Dr. Boekman had labored under the mistaken belief that his son had abandoned him to live a dissolute life. The doctor had caught his son's mistake - the wrong medicine prescribed that could have killed his patient - but never realized at the time that his son believed himself a murderer.

As Thomas Hicks, the son owned a successful leather goods company in England, which, upon reconciliation with his father, he moved to Amsterdam. Raff Brinker became the manager. Hans is taken under the wing of Dr. Boekman, educated, and goes on to study medicine.

And the race? It took place on a fine, sunny day. Gretel won the girl's skates, and Peter van Holp won the boy's race, with an assist from Hans. Peter's leather strap had broken, and Hans, who had a good chance of winning himself, gave his strap to Peter. 

The last chapter takes place years later, and Dodge recounts the fate of the various characters. Hans is the famous surgeon, Dr. Brinker, and married to Annie. There are children, and grandchildren, and a good life, well-deserved, is had by all the Brinkers.

This is not a suitable read-aloud, but it is an excellent book for the advanced reader in intermediate grades and middle school readers who enjoy the classics. Dodge's style is very much 19th century, and will take some getting used to, but the story hooks you in from the beginning and (with some judicious section jumping), keeps you hooked until the end. 

I remember reading Hans Brinker as a grade-schooler, and I'm pretty sure that I did a fair amount of skipping over the history and travelogue chapters. When I reread it as an adult, I did read the whole thing, and found it interesting, if just a little bit too fawnish at times. 

The only disturbing element I found as a modern reader was Dodge's description of the Jewish Quarter in Amsterdam. After the English cousin Ben visited the Marine school, he, "... he peeped into the Jew's Quarter of the city, where the rich diamond cutters and squalid old-clothes men dwell, and wisely resolved to keep away from it;..."

For all of Dodge's expansiveness is describing  Dutch history and famous Dutch men (they are all men, no individual woman is mentioned amongst the notables), the negative connotation attached to the sentence and the lack of the history behind the existence and evolution of a Jewish Quarter is disappointing. 

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And now about the author.

Mary Mapes Dodge was one of the most important figures in 19th century children's literature as both an author, editor, and proponent for other writers.

Born in 1831 to a prominent NYC family, she was educated at home along with her sisters, studying literature, French, Latin, music and drawing. In 1851, she married a business associate of her father, the NYC lawyer William Dodge. They had two sons, but in 1858 William abandoned his family, and was later found drowned. He had been dealing with financial difficulties and his son's illness. In the norm for the times, the newspaper obituary stated that he died suddenly.

Widowed with two boys to support, Mary moved back in with her family, where they had relocated to New Jersey. It was there that she began to write. In 1861 she was asked by her father to edit a section of his periodical, The Working Farmer. Dodge then branched out into writing short stories, and in 1864 her collection of Civil War themed stories, The Irvington Stories, was published. The book was a moderate success, and her publisher asked for a follow-up. Dodge had recently become fascinated with Holland, and after copious research and multiple interviews with Dutch friends, published Hans Brinker, or, the Silver Skates in 1865.

Before writing the book, Dodge had never visited the Netherlands, but the book was a huge success, translated into many languages, and won a prize from the French Academy. 

Dodge went on to become an editor and founder of the magazines Hearth and Home, and later in 1873, of St. Nicholas Magazine (a name she chose), for close to thirty years, where through her efforts nearly all the the notable and upcoming authors, including Mark Twain and Rudyard Kipling, contributed. She also continued to write, and contributed adult articles to the likes of Harper's Magazine and The Atlantic Monthly.

Mary Mapes Dodge died in 1905.

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Mary Mapes Dodge obituary in the New York Times here.

A tribute to Mary Mapes Dodge written by William Fayal Clarke appeared in Volume 32 of St. Nicholas magazine in 1905. You can read it here.

Thomas Nast contributed to the original illustrations of Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates. See an example here.

                                                   

Update on audiobooks: I finally finished The Woman in White. It was quite a journey but worth the time. I just started Gaston LeRoux's The Phantom of the Opera, narrated by B.J. Harrison, so I'll let you know how it goes. After TWIW nearly 25 hours, its nine hours should feel like a walk in the park.

                                                                            ***

I've recently embarked on the journey of self-publication. It's been an education. If you're interested in the process, check out my other blog On the Trail of Rogue Lits ...

I've also just created a bare bones website (the topic of my next blogpost at OTTORL) at www.carolmaticbooks.com

I'm running a Goodreads Giveaway for my novel Four Dogs and a Small Town from September 1st through October 1st.  Click here to enter. Good luck!

Everybody's Favorite Redhead, and, no, I don't mean Lucy (but God bless her, she gave us Star Trek )

 Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking and Pippi Goes on Board, books one and two of The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking

A little girl with a big heart and a horse on her porch...

Near the end of Pippi Goes on Board, a group of children and townspeople gather together to bid Pippi farewell as she is about to sail off with her father, Captain Ephraim, to become a South Sea Islands princess.

"Three cheers for Pippi Longstocking!" they cried.

I agree. Three cheers for Pippi Longstocking, one of the most wonderful of children's literary characters you will ever come across. I read her as a child and loved her, and now, I'm reading her as an adult and love her still.

Pippi is nine years old and lives all by herself in an old house called Villa Villekulla, surrounded by a gloriously untended garden at the edge of a very small Swedish town. Well, not all alone. Mr. Nilsson, a monkey who was a present from her father, and her pet horse, who stays on the porch, live with her. Her father was a sea captain who had been blown overboard and disappeared, (Pippi believes that he is now a South Sea Islands king) and her mother had died when Pippi was just a baby, and was even now, Pippi knew, watching her little girl through a peephole in the sky.

"Don't you worry about me." Pippi tells her mother, looking up at the sky. "I'll always come out on top."

And Pippi always does.

Pippi's hair is the color of carrots, woven into two tight braids that stick straight out, and she is dotted all over with freckles. She wears a dress that she made herself, blue with red patches, and a pair of stocking with one leg green and the other brown. On her feet, but twice as long, were a pair of black shoes that her father had bought her, with plenty of room to grow into.

Something else about Pippi, she is very, very strong. She can, and does, lift her horse onto the porch when the horse is tired. She also had a suitcase full of gold coins, and is happy to share.

Pippi's two best friends live next door. Tommy and Annika are very well-behaved children, and both enjoy their adventures with their new neighbor. Things happen when Pippi is around, wonderful things, and adventures are an everyday occurrence. 

There is the time when Pippi takes on a group of bullies picking on a younger boy, and when Pippi intercedes, they make fun of her hair and freckles. Well, Pippi is quite fond of both, their taunts don't hurt her, but she teaches them a lesson - tossing them in the air, hanging them across a big tree branch - that they never forget. And don't even think about whipping a horse, Pippi will make sure that you know exactly what that feels like.

Then there is the time that Pippi goes to school. Pippi doesn't have a lot of use for school, but she goes at her friends urging and, while she and the teacher do like each other (it was a process), both decide that perhaps school is not for Pippi, at least just then. 

The adventures just keep on coming with each new chapter, and Pippi always, as she puts it, comes out on top. That Pippi Longstocking appeals to children is no great mystery, she is the embodiment of many a child's fantasy. She lives all by herself, is entirely self-sufficient, and does exactly what she wants. True, she does regret some of her actions, but she learns from her mistakes, and her intentions are always good. She's a happy-go-lucky little girls who is generous, kind, a loyal friend, fearless, and willing to share her joy with all. 

Pippi isn't perfect, and she is always willing to self-improve, if, this is a big if, if the so-called improvement makes sense to her. She has a huge imagination - although a lot of it is based on things that really happened - but her stories are often preposterous. She says she needs to stop lying, but she has, as kids often do, an imagination that makes the borders between fact and fiction more than a little fuzzy at times.

Pippi is never boring.

Pippi Longstocking books are perfect for read-aloud in the elementary classroom. Every chapter is a separate adventure, and the chapters are only around five to seven pages each. 

Astrid Lindgren was Swedish, and there are references sprinkled about in both books that highlight this fact. I now know there is actually something called fruit soup (Fruktsoppa). If you're interested, recipes abound on the internet.

One caveat using Pippi as a read-aloud. Make sure that you use a recent edition, such as translator Susan Beard's 2020 edition, from Penguin Young Readers Group. Lindgren penned her first Pippi Longstocking in the 1940s, and used terms that are not acceptable today.  I have Viking's 1997 edition of the books, where Pippi refers to her father as a "cannibal king" and uses the word Hottentots, a pejorative used in the past to describe peoples of Africa. Beard's translation substitutes South Sea Islands for cannibals and removes any reference to Hottentots.

Astrid Ericsson Lindgren was born in 1907 on a farm outside of Vimmerby, Sweden and died in 2002 in Stockholm. Her first children's book was published in 1944, followed by the first Pippi Longstocking book. Pippi's story began in 1941 when Lindgren's seven-year-old daughter Karin was ill and bed-bound with pneumonia. She demanded a story, and when Lindgren asked her what she should tell, Karin replied Pippi Longstocking, a name the seven-year-old conjured all by herself. Lindgren began telling, and in 1944 wrote down all the stories as a book to give to Karin on her tenth birthday. Afterwards, she sent the manuscript to a publisher, got no results, then entered another publisher's contest, and won first prize, along with a book contract. 

Pippi was popular in Sweden, and in 1950 Viking published an American version. Lindgren went on to a distinguished career as a children's author, and won numerous awards, including the Hans Christian Andersen award in 1958.

Lindgren created a series of diaries - seventeen in all - chronicling the war years from 1939 to 1945. She also worked for the Swedish government during that time in a classified position in the secret services.

Lindgren was an animal rights activist her entire life, and in 1980 the government enacted a new Swedish Animal Protection Act that came to be known as Lex Lindgren, or Lindgren's Law.

Astrid Lindgren's official website can be accessed here.  It is definitely worth checking out.

Coming up next: Still deciding. So many choices!

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An aside that has nothing to do with children's books...

One of my other projects, in addition to this blog, is to go back and reread (and in all honesty, read for the first time) adult literary classics. Due to a combination of circumstances, I can no long read the printed page for the same length of time that I used to, so, I turned to audiobooks.

I know many people listen to audiobooks while occupied by another activity - knitting, cooking, etc. - but multitasking is not my forte. When I listen, that is all I do. So far, it's working out rather well.

These are several of the audiobooks I've completed so far, if you're interested.

Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, read by Tim Curry.  Tim Curry's narration saved this book. Tim Curry's narration would save any book. I recommend any audiobook in which he is involved. While Journey was groundbreaking for its time, and Verne is often referred to as the father of science fiction, the book is very wordy as are most books of that time (1864), and a great portion of the story is centered on rocks. Lots and lots of rocks.

Dracula by Bram Stoker, read by Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, Katherine Kellgren, and five others. Dracula is one of my favorite books, and I really enjoyed this audiobook version. Even Van Helsing's long-winded discourses and horrendous Dutch (at least, Stoker's version of Dutch) accent was tolerable.

Currently listening to: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, narrated by Roger Rees, Rosalyn Landor, John Lee, and Judy Gleeson. I've never read this one. The book is totally engrossing and the performances excellent. Fifteen more hours to go!

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I've recently embarked on the journey of self-publication. It's been an education. If you're interested in the process, check out my other blog On the Trail of Rogue Lits ...

I've also just created a bare bones website (the topic of my next blogpost at OTTORL) at www.carolmaticbooks.com

I'm running a Goodreads Giveaway for my novel Four Dogs and a Small Town from September 1st through October 1st.  Click here to enter. Good luck!