This is a delighful book in everyway. It tells the story of a little Amish boy trying to act in a responsible way. ( )

I finally got a chance to read this, from WNC.?á It's a nice enough book, and it's valuable in that it teaches the reader something about Pennsylvania Amish, especially the dialect as spoken by Granny.?á And everyone either is or knows someone who is so curious that they must interrupt the task at hand to investigate what our family calls shiny butterflies."

But almost no credit is given here to the benefits of being curious, observant, enthusiastic about learning.?á Despite a long text in which space could have been given to temperance, the take-away message is that a narrow focus on the necessary work is the only thing of import - the message is not balanced.

And the fire... well, barns did catch fire often in the old days, but not so often that it would just happen to happen on the night that Pop (and, yes, parents were known as Mom and Pop) wasn't available to manage the crisis.?á Even when I was a child I didn't like implausible coincidences in realistic fiction; they belong in fairy tales." ( )

Seven-year-old Yonie is a wondernose because he can't keep his nose out of anything and is always getting into trouble. When his parents go away overnight, he's left as the man of the house and promised a special reward if he can keep himself and the farm out of trouble. But that night a bad storm brings trouble--the kind that not even a full-grown man could handle easily. A Caldecott Honor Book. Illustrations Ages 7-11. Pub: 7/97. .

Left home for a day, curious Yonie gets into a heap of trouble but everthing works out in the end. ( )

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