Sugarbush Spring: A Timeless Story About Tapping Maple Trees for Kids (Ages 4-8) - Hardcover

Chall, Marsha Wilson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688149073 ISBN 13: 9780688149079

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2000

Synopsis

Marsha Wilson Chall's timeless story and Jim Daly's glowing paintings invite children to share in the pleasure of making maple syrup—a process that's the same today as it was two hundred years ago.

In the month of the Maple Sugar Moon, the snow's too wet for angel making, icicles rain from Grandpa's porch roof, and something is stirring in the woods. It's sugarbush spring—time to tap the trees, prepare the bottles, then gather round the cook fire to eat chicken and dumplings, roast marshmallows, and tell stories while the cold sap heats through, thickens, and boils to make syrup.

About this title

About the Authors

Marsha Wilson Chall grew up an only child in Minnesota, where her father told her the best stories. The author of many picture books, including Up North at the Cabin, One Pup's Up, and Pick a Pup, Marsha teaches writing at Hamline University's MFAC program in St. Paul, Minnesota. She lives on a small farm west of Minneapolis with her husband, dog, and barn cats.

Jim Daly lives in Eugene, Oregon.

From the Back Cover

In the month of the Maple Sugar Moon, the snow's too wet for angel making, icicles rain from Grandpa's porch roof, and something is stirring in the woods. It's sugarbush spring--time to tap the trees, prepare the bottles, then gather round the cook fire to eat chicken and dumplings, roast marshmallows, and tell stories while the cold sap heats through, thickens, and boils to make syrup.

Chall's timeless story and Daly's glowing paintings invite children to share in the pleasure of making maple syrup--a process that's the same today as it was two hundred years ago.In the month of the Maple Sugar Moon, icicles rain from Grandpa's porch roof and something is stirring in the woods. It's sugarbush spring-time to tap the trees, then gather round the cook fire to roast marshmallows and tell stories while the cold sap thickens and boils to make maple syrup.In the month of the Maple Sugar Moon, icicles rain from Grandpa's porch roof and something is stirring in the woods. It's sugarbush spring-time to tap the trees, then gather round the cook fire to roast marshmallows and tell stories while the cold sap thickens and boils to make maple syrup.

Chall's timeless story and Daly's glowing paintings invite children to share in the pleasure of making maple syrup -- a process that's the same today as it was two hundred years ago.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 1-It is the month of the Maple Sugar Moon in Minnesota-time to collect the sap from the old family sugar bush, and Grandpa invites his youngest granddaughter to help him with this annual event. It is she who tells this warm, engaging story of how hundreds of gallons of sap are turned into the precious maple syrup. Grandpa continues to use the old bucket-drop method of gathering sap, not the modern vacuum-tube system. The girl also tells about the important traditions that surround this event: everyone pitching in to help, enjoying Grandma's chicken and dumplings in the sugarhouse, and playing games until the syrup is ready. The descriptive language draws readers into the scene effectively. One can almost feel the "maple steam" that fills the sugarhouse and experience the "cotton-candy sweet" smell in the air. The somewhat idealized, detailed, bright, double-page oil paintings are equally effective. This book is great as a read-aloud for introducing children anywhere to maple sugaring, or for young readers to enjoy on their own. There is a lot of similarity between this book and Jessie Haas's Sugaring (Greenwillow, 1996) and Margaret Carney's At Grandpa's Sugar Bush (Kids Can, 1998). Chall expands on these earlier titles by including more details.
Virginia Golodetz, Children's Literature New England, Burlington, VT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This evocative tale illuminates life on a northern farm in early spring, when "the snow's too wet for angel making" and the sap's on the rise. The girl narrator rides with her grandfather on a horse-drawn sleigh filled with pails to hang on the taps they will soon place in the sugar maples. As the two search for prospects, Grandpa explains how to pick them: one tree is too old to tap ("She's given and given till she's nearly given out") and another is too young ("She needs all the sugar she makes this year. She'll be ready when she fills up your arms"). Chall (Up North at the Cabin) maintains this folksy yet informative tone throughout her account, marrying concrete information, such as the 219-degree boiling point of the sap, with more atmospheric descriptions of the sugarhouse itself. Rendered in oil on board, Daly's (Mother, I Love You) nearly photographic paintings endow the picturesque interior and outdoor settings with a feeling of timelessness. The artist's devotion to detailAthe gleam of light on freshly washed glass jars that will be filled with syrup and the distinct grain of the wood on the sugarhouse wallsAcontributes to the tactile quality of the volume. Ages 6-up. (Jan.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

PLB 0-688-14908-1 Chall (Up North at the Cabin, 1992, etc.) is extravagant with the atmospherics surrounding a sugaring session, but short on explanations for this old-fashioned version of the late-winter ritual. A young girl and her grandfather go out into the sugarbush to tap the maples. He gives her a few pointers on which to tap and which to let be, then offers her a taste of the first run. The next morning the flow is on and things are cracking in the sugarhouse. Along with Daly's lovely realistic paintings, this tale is as warm as toast, as sweet as the steam that pours from the sugar house ventsplus a good overview of the sugaring operation. Children will have questionswhat is first run and what is fancy grade, how can the girl drink the sap directly from the tree, what is behind the name Jack-wax, and how does a drop of cream placate a roiling pan of napalm-like syrup?so adults sharing this book may want to come prepared with a companion title, such as Kathryn Lasky's Sugaring Time (1983). (Picture book. 6-8) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0688149073
• ISBN 13: 9780688149079
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Daly Jim
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 24