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Books Reviewed in
2004
Here are the Book of the Month Selections
reviewed to-date in 2004. Interested in previous Book of the Month Selections? See our index by year since we started in 1997 or search on your own.
November 2004:
Silent Night
by Will Moses
World-renowned folk artist Will
Moses brings Christmas to a Vermont village in an original story that
the entire family can share. Using the lyrics of the Silent Night
carol as a springboard, he tells the story of the Miller family as they
eagerly prepare for the arrival of a new child on Christmas Eve. Perfect
for ages 4 - 8.
November 2004:
Father Fox's Christmas Rhymes by
Clyde Watson and Wendy Watson, illustrator
Over thirty years ago, Father
Fox's Pennyrhymes became an instant classic and was a National Book
Award Finalist. Now Father Fox returns with new rhymes especially for
yuletide. The verses feel like classic children's rhymes, and rich
paintings capture all the cheer and beauty of Christmas-time in the warm
and loving home of the Fox family. Perfect for ages 4 - 8.
Both of these children's books were given a
 by
Amazon.com reviewers.
October 2004:
The Soul of Vermont by Richard W. Brown
For more than thirty years Richard
Brown has been taking photographs of his beloved home state. Now, in
this ode to the land and its people, he brings together his favorite
images to share his own deeply personal vision of Vermont.
Richard Brown's Vermont has six
seasons, not four. The familiar glory of fall foliage, when the hills
are giddy with color, gives way to the austere "off-season," that brief
November transition before the snow flies, when the bones of the
landscape are revealed in fallow fields and the bare limbs of trees. In
deepest winter the ubiquity of snow renders even more vivid those few
colors that remain--the cobalt blue of a shadow on snow, the warm red of
a barn. "Mud and Maple" celebrates both the convivial season of flowing
sap and the perennial challenges of impassable dirt roads. In spring
lambs frolic in greened-up pastures, and all-too-fleeting summer months
bring a burst of industry to gardens and fields before September's
frost.
Throughout the seasons, Brown's
soulful images create a distinctive photographic portrait of Vermont's
landscape and its people. He chronicles with great affection the people
who live and work on the land, and without sentiment celebrates a
rapidly disappearing way of life.
Richard Brown moved to Vermont in
1968, where he taught in a small rural school before embarking on a
career in photography. He lives in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom.
This book was give a
by
Amazon.com reviewers. Here is what one reader wrote:
"I was born and raised in Vermont, have lived out
of the state for years, visiting annually. This book really did bring me
home to the Soul of Vermont. The photographs are wonderful. They just
take you in. If you want to spend some time in Vermont and can't make
the trip, this is THE book for you."
July 2004:
Happily After All by Laura C.
Stevenson; Hardcover
Laura Stevenson has written
a warm and wise story about a resentful ten-year-old and an embittered
mother who come to share a love of a Vermont farm, a homeless boy, and
-- eventually -- each other. Laura Stevenson, the author, lives in
Vermont, on the farm where Happily After All is set. This is her
first book for young readers. We believe she captures the hearts and
minds of the reader as well as the spirit of Vermont.
This book was give a
by
Amazon.com reviewers. Here is what one young reader wrote:
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Reviewer: An Amazon.com Customer |
This book has got to be the BEST book I've ever read about
horses! I love horses and read any book I can find about them.
It was nicely written and it's not only about horses but also
about family problems that probably some of us suffer from. When
Becca learned about her father betraying her, you could really
tell that she was deeply depressed about it. Her father; a man
she looked up to for most of her life, the man she went to when
she had problems, the man that healed her bruises, inside and
out betrayed her. When Laura C. Stevenson writes about going
back to her mother, a stranger, it feels almost as though Becca
is you and you're going back to a mother you never knew you had.
Becca learns to forgive her mother through the love of horses.
When Becca's mother gives her a pony, Becca not only learns to
take care of her pony but to respect it and love it and that's
exactly what she learns to do with her mother. This is a
definite 10 on the scale of best books! If you're a horse lover
and love books about horses but also many different things this
is a book for you!
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Amazon Readers rated this
well-written book
 Perfect for
ages 10 to 14
June 2004:
Walking to Vermont: From Times Square into the Green Mountains
--A Homeward Adventure
by Christopher S. Wren; Hardcover
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Reviewer
Brian P Rafferty from New York, NY gave this book
Here is what he had to say about the book: |
How
many of us have had fantasies of walking away from the life
we've known into a cleansing wilderness and emerging, at the end
of the ordeal, renewed? Christopher S. Wren, former New York
Times correspondent did just that. Upon retirement, he strode
out of New York City and made his way to his home in Vermont via
the meandering Appalachian Trail. Along the way, he kept company
with a motley crew of other travelers, ominous black SUVs,
mosquitoes and his memories. This isn't just a travelogue of
sights along the way, though, it's a layered story of a man's
life at a turning point, weaving remembrances (some harrowing)
from a long life lived in many foreign places into the new,
unfolding story of a man who is no longer what he was.
It's not to be confused with Travels
with Charley, John Steinbeck's wonderful tale of travel across
the country with his trusty poodle. Steinbeck was in search of
his country's identity, but Christopher Wren's goal is more
personal -- he's searching for his new self.
Wren's self-designed rite of passage
fulfills the requirement of all such rites: redefinition. He
begins his journey as a man at the end of a professional life,
graduating into a gray, undefined role as "retiree". He emerges
from the trail with a deep understanding of the meaninglessness
of such titles and the resilience of human character.
The editorial reviews above mention
that the book will be appreciated by hikers and lovers of "off
beat adventures", etc. I think the book will be appreciated by
anyone who wants to understand better how to be an adult and,
last time I checked, that was everybody.
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March 2004:
John and Tom by Willem Lange and Bert Dodson, hardcover
According to the folks at the
Vermont Folklife Center: "Popular yarnspinner Willem Lange
interprets the true tale of a young logger who is saved by his
remarkable Morgan horse after an accident in the woods. Luminous
watercolors beautifully convey the mutual bond of love and trust
between mane and animal, while the warmhearted narrative calls out
to armchair adventurers young and old."
Amazon Readers rated this
heartwarming tale
Perfect for
ages 4 to 8.
See our INDEX by year
since we started reviewing in 1997.
If you are interested in ordering this
book, it is available in our Country
Bookstore. Click on the link below to view more
descriptive information, pricing and/or order
John and Tom
from the Amazon.com catalog or search on your own.
If you would
like to review a Vermont book for us, send us email.
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