Ragsale - Hardcover

Bates, Artie Ann

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0395700302 ISBN 13: 9780395700303

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1995

Synopsis

A warm and welcoming Saturday finds Jessann and her family spending the day going from ragsale to ragsale in their Appalachian town.

About this title

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-4?A Kentucky author and illustrator team up to provide an evocative picture of a family's day spent searching for "finds" among bundles of used clothes, jewelry, books, and furniture at a series of ragsales. A young girl describes some of the things she and her sister might come home with?some red mittens, a pearl necklace, "a painting that might be by a famous artist...," or a collection of Emily Dickinson's poetry. Surprise bundles await the girls at the end of the day. Their mother sums up ragsale philosophy when she says, "Why pay a lot for clothes when I can fix these up...?" Bates's descriptive prose is reminiscent of George Ella Lyon's, and she is equally adept at portraying Appalachia neither romantically nor pejoratively. There is no stimga attached to buying second-hand goods, and the children in the story think of the outing as a treasure hunt. Chapman-Crane's paintings are slightly dark, much like the inside of an antique store, and although his setting has an old-fashioned ambiance, the characters and events are timeless. His details will be recognizable to anyone familiar with flea markets and similar places, even down to the pattern on a china bowl. Use this title to spark imaginations and possibly to change feelings about dreaded hand-me-downs!?Cheri Estes, Dorchester Road Regional Library, Charleston, SC
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

Nearly photographic in their precision and clarity, the arresting paintings that newcomer Chapman-Crane contributes to this tale set in Appalachia transmit memorable images of small-town America during a simpler era. However accomplished, the art seems likelier to strike a chord in adults than to engage children. Nor is the plot high in kid-oriented action: a girl tells of accompanying her mother, sister, grandmother, aunt and cousin on a one-day tour of three "ragsales," where they pore over second-hand clothing, books and furnishings and make a few purchases before returning home. Youngsters may stumble over first-time author Bates's period setting ("These stockings with a line up the back look like Elizabeth Taylor") and the occasionally mannered writing ("We carry our treasures to the car, tired legs and thinking of supper"). The warmth of both the art and the text show that Kentucky natives Bates and Chapman-Crane create from the heart; this book is narrow in its appeal, but future collaborations are worth watching for. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0395700302
• ISBN 13: 9780395700303
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Chapman-Crane Jeff