Sunday, February 19, 2017

Schoolhouse in the Woods

Schoolhouse in the Woods. Rebecca Caudill. Illustrated by Decie Merwin. 1949. 129 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: It was Saturday morning, the last day in July. It seemed like an everyday sort of day.

Premise/plot: Bonnie is the youngest in her family. But she's a baby no longer! Come Monday, she'll be heading off for school along with Debby, Emmy, Chris and Althy. She'll be entering first grade! She'll own her very first book--a reader--her very own slate and slate pencil. There are three other first graders in this one room school house in Kentucky. The book follows the school term: August through December. The book closes with a Christmas play. The teacher is Miss Cora.

My thoughts: Schoolhouse in the Woods is the sequel to Happy Little Family. If you enjoy reading the Little House books OR watching the Little House series, then I'd consider this one a must. It focuses on the one-room school house experience: getting to and from school in all weather conditions, learning lessons and doing recitations, sharing lunches, recess games, school songs, having the teacher stay with them an ENTIRE week. There is a LOT of singing in this one. (Just as there is in Little House). Overall, it is a FUN book for historical fiction lovers of all ages.

Favorite quote:
School was like the biggest storybook in the world, and it would go on and on, story after story, until she had heard every story that had ever been told. (29)

© 2017 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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