manwithanagenda's review
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book was an absolute delight to me growing up. My mother had likely picked it up at a yardsale, she loves old illustrations and was always picking things up with no real intention that any of us should actually READ them. The difference with this one was how sturdy it was. Opposed to the other antiques with their loose covers and brittle, brown pages, this book was heavy with, bright, glossy pages. It was slightly wider and its blue and orange color palette was deeply appealing. The story itself was so foreign to my experience I read it again and again.
The story is simple. Bobby and Betty are being sent to spend the summer with relatives in the country. We follow them, from their giddiness at their shiny new trunks, to the the trip to the railroad station and all of their adventures on the farm. Bobby and Betty are city folk and are constantly amazed at the wonders of cheese making and romping with livestock in the meadows. Through their eyes, I was too. Even as a child I was aware that cows were milked by machine and that farm work was backbreaking and monotonous. Just helping my siblings care for our half acre garden and minding a single coop of chickens was dreariness itself. In this book, however, the work seems light and everyone was so quaintly genteel about everything.
I'm not sure what made me think of this book last night, but I suddenly had a vivid memory of a scene where Bobby and Betty have a bitter argument about what metaphor the moon is: "It's God's thumbnail!" "It's the Cheshire Cat's smile!" They were likely to never speak again, but some folksly wisdom or other from their country relation settled the matter. There may have been a third metaphor that beat out God's thumbnail.
The book is on my shelf of childhood books that I've saved or repurchased, but I don't think I'll be re-reading it anytime soon. Now that I've remembered it again I'd like to keep that fondness afloat.
The story is simple. Bobby and Betty are being sent to spend the summer with relatives in the country. We follow them, from their giddiness at their shiny new trunks, to the the trip to the railroad station and all of their adventures on the farm. Bobby and Betty are city folk and are constantly amazed at the wonders of cheese making and romping with livestock in the meadows. Through their eyes, I was too. Even as a child I was aware that cows were milked by machine and that farm work was backbreaking and monotonous. Just helping my siblings care for our half acre garden and minding a single coop of chickens was dreariness itself. In this book, however, the work seems light and everyone was so quaintly genteel about everything.
I'm not sure what made me think of this book last night, but I suddenly had a vivid memory of a scene where Bobby and Betty have a bitter argument about what metaphor the moon is: "It's God's thumbnail!" "It's the Cheshire Cat's smile!" They were likely to never speak again, but some folksly wisdom or other from their country relation settled the matter. There may have been a third metaphor that beat out God's thumbnail.
The book is on my shelf of childhood books that I've saved or repurchased, but I don't think I'll be re-reading it anytime soon. Now that I've remembered it again I'd like to keep that fondness afloat.
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