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Title: Strawberry Girl 60th Anniversary Edition (Trophy Newbery)
ISBN: 0064405850
Author:
Publicate Date: 1995-06-03
Publish: 1995-06-03
List Price: $5.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $2.35
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.01
Amazon Merchant Price: $5.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: I want to grow strawberries...
This is a complete classic from a period children's literature that has pretty much been forgotten. It follows a rather hickish girl, Birdie, who lives in the backwoods of Florida with her farming family. She's a strong young girl who is proud of who she is and is always ready to do what is necessary for her family and their survival.
Mixed in with this is a rather warfarish story of their neighbors, with whom they develop an intriguing love/hate relationship.
For a children's book, this has an incredible insight into human relationships and a way of life that most people would rather ignore.
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2: Excellent Read Aloud!
This is a wonderful tale of life in rural Florida in the 1940s. It is the story of "Birdie" and her family after they move to a new home and start a farm.
The book gives a very interesting historical perspective. The plot is riveting and held my children's attention. I also found it entertaining, which is a plus.
Another reviewer mentioned the dialect used in the book - it does take some getting used to [even for myself, a born and bred southern gal :) ]. It is very distinctive of that time period and that particular locale, but once you get used to it, the book becomes much easier to read. The dialect is only used in the dialog, so the rest of the book is written in "plain english".
Parents should be aware however that there are scenes in this book that may be upsetting to younger or more sensitive older children. Birdie's neighbors "feud" with them from the moment they move in, and the father of the neighbor family is a mean drunk who does not take care of his family. He does some horrible things [and Birdie's father does some less than wise things as well]. In one scene, the family's mule is poisoned by the neighbor man. In another scene, he tries to burn their house down. There is also a scene where a boy tries to feed a live rabbit to a rattle snake [the rabbit is rescued in the end] - this could also upset the animal lovers in your home.
Why do I still recommend this book? Because it is an outstanding moral tale - all the bad things are clearly bad. The bad behaviors are clearly bad and they have very real [and realistic] consequences for everyone involved in this story. My kids [who have, thankfully, never been exposed to drunkenness] learned clearly WHY alcohol, when abused, is such a terrible thing. I think it is a lesson they will carry with them for life - this book led to my children having very clear and interesting discussions amongst themselves about drinking and drug abuse and why being a drunk is such a terrible thing. It gave them great clarity.
In the end, this is a moral tale and a tale of redemption - something the world needs more of in my opinion. Reading this book together was a great experience for my children [and me!].
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3: Strawberry Girl
I read "Strawberry Girl" when I was in 2nd grade and found it to be both compelling and disturbing. All of the characters, from the main protagonist, Birdie Sawyer, to the minor characters, exhibited complex emotions and thoughts, which I related to. For instance, Shoestring Slater's ambiguous existence: he felt extreme loyalty to his family and his father, even as he was filled with shame and embarrassment about his father's behavior. Birdie tended to be, at turns, resentful towards and understanding of the Slater's. When her strawberry plants were initially trampled by the Slater's cows, she was enraged and very judgmental. A short time later, when she realized that Shoestring, his mother and sisters had to return all of their new purchases because Mr. Slater squandered away the money he'd earned from selling an animal, she was extremely saddened and felt tremendous sympathy for the family.
Why is Strawberry Girl so readable? It's a simple story of the belief in hard work, the idea that all actions have consequences, and that all of us possess a degree of good and evil traits. At the story's turning point, Sam Slater finds God (with the help of the gluttonous preacher) stops drinking alcohol and is saved, thereby positively changing the lives of his entire family. It's a story of hope- even in harsh realities; sometimes people are rewarded, despite exhibiting a lack of hard work or honesty. Amidst all of this turmoil, both families were still able to behave "neighborly" towards one another. Did the families exhibit forgiveness and acceptance, or hypocrisy? That's for the reader to decide. Nonetheless, Lois Lensky offered up a picture of pioneer life in our nation that was uniquely brutal in its honesty and also comfortingly familiar.
This book is one of the few early childhood books I never forgot. In recent times, the category of 'children's books' has gone from being beneficial to being insulting. With the "dumbing down" of language and plot and the popularity of abridged versions of classic stories, the average child is being cheated out of a strong literary foundation. A story that challenges our children will only motivate thoughtful reflection, spark imagination, improve vocabulary and best of all, inculcate a love of reading that will help in every major area of their lives.
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4: Very hard book to understand and read-aloud
This book is difficult to understand and read-aloud unless if you're from the South. The slang and dialect can get to you after a while and it can be quite annoying. The story line is okay. I was rather disappointed overall. My children weren't crazy about this either. The illustrations are nice. Definitely not our favorite book. We're now loving Gooseberry Park instead.
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5: Strawberry Girl
Today I just finished reading a book called Strawberry Girl. It is a very good book. It is a John Newbery Medal book by Lois Lenski. Birdie Boyer is ten years old when she moves to Florida with her family. It is not easy to start a new farm especially when they have troubles like hard snow storms, terrible fires, and especially their horrid neighbors. I can't name a specific part that is my favorite because I really enjoyed it all.
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