Everybody has had happy moments and sad moments, and the book They Loved to Laugh by Kathryn Worth brings many of these different moments together. Published on 1942 by Random House Children’s Books, it came at just the time where people needed it – after war and a changing economy.
The 254 page book is about, to put it simply, being happy even when the times are not happy themselves. Martitia, an orphan girl, is lodging with Dr. David Gardner, who has five boys, three girls and women, and several dogs with him in the house. There, she starts out a life of disliking the boys, who on the outside are funny and do ridiculous things – to her. She does learn, with time, that the boys are actually grave souls on the inside, with humor to lighten the load of life. She also learns that working as a part of the family is good and, yet unbelievably, enjoyable. She becomes their weaver, and grows proud of her work. By the end, she is adopted into the family – mentally and legally. I like this book because it makes you think about happiness. We choose it, for we do not become happy when the body has a whim. The book brings this up through the grave Ruth, “’Tis we in our human weakness who manufacture the sadness,….(p. 139)” The book gives out the feeling of happiness, of joy, of living in the now, not the then or the later. The book has few things in it that some people would disagree with, however, and I want to point them out. People do not really care for others as much anymore, and that brings up that this was written in a different social time. People would give up time to help others, no questions asked. Some of the boys gave up field work to lug leaves for Martitia’s silkworms. They would give up alone time to show her something. The most stunning in our community – she herself became their weaver because of love and friendship. Some things in the book I dislike, however, are illustrations. Sure, the cover and title page illustrations by Marguerite de Angeli and Theodore Schluenderfritz respectively are good – but sometimes showing something a little confusing in a picture is really helpful. The only description I found hard to understand was about the silkworm table and how they would “nail wood in the middle.” Overall, I love this book, and I think that anyone with a wacky sense of humor would love it, as it has some interesting moments in the vein of humor. If you have trouble with being happy, this would bring lots of wisdom in – that is the stunning part of the book. I would recommend it to everyone of all ages, and I hope that you grab a copy soon!
0 Comments
Echo is a fictional set of three stories about a harmonica, with another story going on during the whole period. All of these stories converge on the same spot in Part 4 of the book, but you need to read the whole book before you get there (no peeking!).
The first part is about a boy named Freidrich and his family during WWII in Germany. The father just retired from the town's harmonica factory at the start of the story, and his son had to be pulled from school due to being bullied about a birthmark. He starts school and work at the factory. His sister and her friend try to get him to join Hitler Youth, but he and his father are resolute about not doing such. Part two is about two brothers who are foster children and "stick together." They are in a home waiting to get adopted, and several times they refuse adoption because they need to be with each other. Mike, the older brother, protects his younger brother Frankie through this period. Eventually a man adopted both boys for their musical talent and manners, but the lady he represented want one girl, not them. They still live with her however, but after finding out about a un-adoption, they, well,... The (second to last) third part is about a girl and her family. Ivy's brother is in the war, but they still have to move, including her having to leave her best friend and a harmonica radio show behind. They move onto the farm of Japanese owners who are in the camp, but one of their children is in the war, and much to Papa's relief, signs papers deeding them some land. Ivy has to join the dark-skinned school, much to everyone's surprise, to get "Americanized." They had already been there for several generations, but that did not help. Apart from that, she had a good time, and she even met a new friend which she teaches the harmonica and helps with homework. The fourth and final part I will leave you to explore for yourself. In 1849, Jack, a hard working, handsome, 12 year old boy, and his butler, Praiseworthy, left for California from Boston on a ship during the Gold Rush. They got on the ship in the first place because Jack’s aunt was losing her house, which they didn’t want. They were on a search for a fortune thousands were looking for but were leaving empty handed.
It just so happened that their money was stolen by a thief, so they went on as stowaways in two potato barrels. They reported themselves to the captain as stowaways and worked it out by shoveling fuel into the fire to keep the ship, The Lady Wilma, going so that it would move. The thing they did to catch the thief was putting a sow covered with coal dust in a dark room with all the passengers in a line. The passengers were each told to put their pointer finger on it, but that the sow would squeal at the touch of the thief. The thief didn’t touch the sow, getting a clean finger, which made him get caught. At the next port, Cut-Eye Higgins, the thief, got away in a boat with the sow, who the cook had chased a while, and a stolen map to a good place to find gold. After Jack and Praiseworthy were at California for a while, they found a fortune of gold. But when the were almost home, their ship sank and they lost their whole fortune. I would totally recommend this book because of the adventure and the lesson of not giving up even when times are rough and you are so tired of going through the trouble. Just push through the trouble, and the end will sometimes be better than it was before. My favorite part is when they catch the thief, but he gets away. This book makes it seem like you are there with them. I hope you read this book I reviewed, By The Great Horn Spoon!, by Sid Fleishman. |
This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies. Opt Out of CookiesMeet the Author
Name: Christopher About the Page
This page will include current events, fun stories, research papers, and even more!
Categories
All
|