Synopsis
Wandering through the Ozarks and bringing joy to people with his music, Fiddlin' Sam seeks the right person to take up his fiddle and carry on the practice.
Reviews
Dengler and Gerig, creators of The Worry Stone, team up for a poignant, ultimately uplifting tale of a wandering bard. Sam, a fiddler, travels contentedly from town to town, entertaining people with his music in exchange for bread and board. But he has another mission in life as well, as his father once told him, "This ain't a gift, Son. It's a loan. You gotta pass the music along." As the years pass and Sam grows older, he despairs of finding a worthy successor. Then one day a boy appears who can fill Sam's shoes and who takes the story full circle; the camera fades on a new fiddler walking the Ozark hills. Dengler depicts the cycle of the seasons, while creating a sense of timelessness, with poetic refrains ("He fiddled high, and he fiddled low. He fiddled fast, and he fiddled slow. His prancing bow kept the beat"). Gerig may dip her brush a bit too often in a sunrise palette of pinks and lavenders, but her realistic landscapes evoke the Ozark setting, and her sensitive portraits, particularly those of Sam, bring the fiddler as well as his heir apparent to life. Ages 5-8. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
In a family memoir of the most affecting kind, readers are invited to a long-ago time in the Ozark Mountains and the story of a musician who owned ``the clothes on his back and a fine old lionhead fiddle.'' Fiddlin' Sam is the inheritor of the peripatetic, minstrel's life of his father, who taught Sam his art, saying, ``This ain't a gift, Son. It's a loan. You gotta pass the music along.'' Sam accepts the food that appreciative people give him, but politely refuses their offer of a bed. When a rattler bites him, Sam fears he has failed his calling; the music will die with him. In the feverish time that follows, someone takes care of him, a young man whom Sam hopes will take up the gift and carry it alongbut the boy has other plans. In the years that follow, Sam meets another young man on the road who reminds him of the first one, and, indeed, is his son. Their path together lasts long enough for Sam to pass along his gift and its joys and burdens before he dies. An endpiece dedication allows readers to glimpse aspects of the story that are based in truth. A rhythmic refrain underscores the emotions of the story, and even acts as the vehicle of the ascension of Sam's soul at death. Gerig's watercolors deliver the scenic beauty of the region and carry their own version of a familial tribute. (Picture book. 4-9) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Grade 1-4-A lovely journey of balance and harmony from the creators of The Worry Stone (Rising Moon, 1996). For years on end, Fiddlin' Sam travels the back roads of the Ozarks, fiddling away the people's cares, their worries, and even the aching in their bones. However, one thought always hovers in his mind: he must find someone to whom he can pass along his gift of music. He roams for years, growing older and grayer, without ever meeting that someone. Then one day, a young boy joins him in the woods. Has Sam finally found The One? It is obvious that both the narrative and the illustrations were rendered by loving, nostalgic hands. The story glides along with a bittersweet rhythm and a gently repetitive structure. The simple, folksy prose is especially well suited to sharing aloud. The glowing watercolors are a mixture of sharply focused, hauntingly realistic anatomic details, such as the intricately patterned wrinkles on the old fiddler's face, and blurred, softened backgrounds, such as a blended yellow-pink-green sky. Despite the many visual details, the art is also perfect for group sharing. A fine-tuned, heartfelt tale that will strike a chord with young readers.
Denise E. Agosto, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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