Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-An overview of a special spring harvest in the Vermont woods. Seth and Ethan help their parents collect sap and make maple syrup. Seth is particularly excited about his chance to drive the small tractor that pulls the collecting tank to the sugar bush. From rising at dawn to eating fresh maple syrup drizzled on snow late in the evening, the boys pitch in with the tasks required to turn maple sap into a golden treat. The afterword summarizes a Native American legend about maple syrup and briefly describes current technology that simplifies sap collection. The illustrations of wildlife and the woods are clear and engaging. Each text block is accompanied by a close-up of a bird or animal, often enlarged from the scene on the facing page. However, the people have a static, somewhat idealized quality, as though posing for tableaux in an outdoor clothing catalog. Less nostalgic than Marsha Wilson Chall’s Sugarbush Spring (Lothrop, 2000) and Jessie Haas’s Sugaring (Greenwillow, 1996), Rossiter’s book demonstrates how a family can contribute to a process that generates its own sweet rewards.
Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
Nan Parson Rossiter is the author-illustrator of Rugby & Rosie and The Way Home.
