Reuben and the Fire - Hardcover

Merle Good

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1561480916 ISBN 13: 9781561480913

Publisher: Good Books, 1993

Synopsis

Reuben, an Amish boy with five sisters, witnesses the burning of a neighbor's barn and experiences the excitement of the barnraising that follows.

About this title

About the Author

Merle Good has written numerous books and articles about the Amish. Good is the founder of the publishing house Good Books. He is a playwright and novelist and lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

P. Buckley Moss (Pat) first met the Amish in 1965 when she and her family moved to Waynesboro in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Admiring the family values and work ethic of her new neighbors, Pat began to include the Amish in many of her paintings. She lives in Mathews, Virginia.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 3-The distinctive folk paintings of P. Buckley Moss make their picture-book debut in a story about a young Amish boy. Reuben frets under the watchful eye of five bossy sisters, particularly Annie, who refuses to let him hold the reins of the pony cart. A visit with his friends is cut short by the appearance of a cloud of smoke from a nearby barn. The boys join neighbors and firefighters at the scene and lend a hand by rescuing five puppies. The fire is, of course, followed by a traditional Amish barn raising at which Reuben is given one of the puppies. On the way home, his father hands him the reins of the buggy. Warm pinks, blues, and greens contrast with somber blacks as the artist's skilled brushstrokes reveal the color and character of Amish life. The beautiful rural setting fairly bursts from the pages. Unfortunately, the text lacks the skill and appeal of the illustrations. A multitude of subplots-grandfather's lameness, visiting sick neighbors, the birth of eight rabbits, the naming of pets, the firefighter's tattoos-are interwoven with small details about Amish life and, as a result, the climatic act by which Reuben proves himself loses most of its impact. In fact, the main plot receives only slightly more development. The transition from idea to idea is sometimes awkward and confusing, often making readers think that they have somehow skipped a page. For fine artwork and a strong story, pick up Patricia Polacco's Just Plain Fancy (Bantam, 1990).
Jeanne Marie Clancy, Upper Merion Township Library, King of Prussia, PA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This confusing, poorly told story attempts to provide a glimpse into the everyday life of an Old Order Amish family and the community that surrounds it. The overly elaborate plot concerns, among many other things, Reuben's quest to be seen as mature enough to drive his family's horse-drawn buggy, his difficulties with his bossy older sister and his participation in a barn-raising. Errors in punctuation (" 'Datt let's me drive, Annie,' he insisted") along with sloppy dialogue (" 'Cleaning up after a fire is no place for a young boy,' Datt said") are additional frustrations. In contrast to the graceful merger of action and information that characterizes the text of Candace Christiansen's The Ice Horse (see review, below), here potentially interesting tidbits of Amish lore are awkwardly superimposed onto the narrative. With their cool colors and sinuous black lines, Moss's folk art-style paintings are likely to give readers a far clearer sense of the Amish ways. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Good Books
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1561480916
• ISBN 13: 9781561480913
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: P. Buckley Moss
• Number of pages: 32