The Wheel on the School (1954)

Very charming story that read much like a fairytale. There weren't any surprises but the heartwarming bits came thick and fast. If I have a complaint, it's that the names are so similar it was hard to keep track: 2 Jans, a Jana, a Janus, and a Janka for instance. And in one family, Lena the mom, Lina and Linda the daughters. I was asea more than once due to name confusion. I wish I'd read this when I was 9, but I'm glad I read it at this late date. ( )

What a lovely little book. As the teacher says, "sometimes when we wonder, we can make things begin to happen." This small story of six children who wonder about storks and then begin to change their village life discover friends where there weren't any before and bring their village together. ( )

I had decided, at one point in time, that reading every Newbery Award Winning book was something I wanted to persue. The sad story was that I didn't have any books with the awarded title in my house. Well, I didn't have any that I had not yet read. While searching every book shelf in the house,(and we have many) I came across The Wheel on the School. The first thing that caught my eye was the cover which reminded me of something from back in my childhood. At that time I couldn't figure it out but I decided that since it was an award winning book and on my list, I should start with it anyways and figure out what was bothering me later. The book starts off slow but then again, does it? Looking back I would have to say no, it doesn't, it just starts off...differently.

Differently like the way A Tale of Two Cities starts out differently. Differently like the way Hamlet starts out differently. I guess the right way to say it would be to say that it is different, different due to the fact that the writing style has an old story telling feel to it.

And that is when it hit me...

The Wheel on the School is just that, a story tellers book, not one which is made to make a profit but one that is written just for the sake of telling a story. I suppose it lies in the style of writing or the tone and voice. Whichever it is,I was instantly reminded of Caddie Wood awn, Strawberry Girl and Miracle on Maple Hill. All three are Newbery Award Winners, all written about girls who ask questions and go into action and all three are written by story tellers, not authors. Some may say that there isn't much of a difference but there is, one writes a story for one to read to themselves and the other writes a story that is meant to be read--aloud. I remember the other three stories vividly. The cover of each book was old and ancient looking and I didn't think at all that I would care to read them. In fact, if it had not been for the school reading contest I would have put them all back. But, I didn't and I'm happy for that because when I put them down, each one of them, I sat back and reflected on each book. I read them all in elementary school so I was no more than 11 during this time of reflection but still, I did my thinking on what I had just read and in the end I decided that yes, I would add all three of these books into my favorite books of all time.

And here I am, more than 20 years later, adding another to that list of books. What amazed me about this book was the fact that it was able to take a simple problem and turn it into something adventurous. One child's question became an adventure for a whole school and it pulled together an entire community. All of this happens without being preachy and forced. In fact, that is the good part of a good story and in this one, you walk away not only learning something but also yearning for something.

I walked away learning that sometimes a simple question has a simple answer and yet it can all be so wonderful. And, in the end I found myself yearning for something simple in return; simple reading, simple writing, simple story telling and maybe, just a simple life with a bit of adventure in it, just for fun.

I feel that this book is something worth reading, not just for yourself but for others. Pick it up, read it to your children, grandchildren, niece and nephews, cousins and whom ever comes your way. I think you will find the joy in this book by becoming the storyteller. ( )

A marvelous book. Quiet. Wonderful illustrations. Won Newbery in 1995. ( )

This read aloud, published in 1954, took us forever to get through -- partly because we've been so busy, and party because it started so slow. I'm so glad we stuck with it, though, because we loved it. If it started slow, it picked up in a big way about halfway through, with breathless action! This is a charming portrait of a bygone era -- a tiny fishing village in Holland, where the six school-aged children attend the one-room school in their wooden shoes, and their fishermen fathers spend long weeks at sea. Young Lina is distracted from her studies because her aunt told her of storks who come every year to nest on her town's roofs. Lina wonders why storks never come to Shora, and her teacher challenges the children to find out. They learn, and decide to bring them back. The problem: the steep roofs of Shora are not hospitable to storks, and similar towns solve the problem by putting wagon wheels on their roofs. Thus begins a mission to find a wheel for their school's roof -- an unlikely and improbable task. The result, however, unites the tiny community like never before. This is a very moving read and terrific storytelling. I'm so glad we stuck with it!