Jack Sheffield

On my continuing search for gentle reads, I came across this autobiographical novel set in a fictional village, and I settled into the feel-good nature of it.

The novel has got quirky small-town folks and some truly laugh-out-loud moments along with cozier ones, sprinkled with poignancy. For real, one of the most empathetic scenes had me blinking back tears. There's also a little thread of romance woven into Jack's school year.

Granted, not every minute here is full of warm fuzzies, including show more Jack's face-off with a bigoted parent who has a problem with a new international student who gets admitted into the school. On the lighter side, I might have done a bit of blushing at some (chuckle-worthy) potty-mouthing from one of the little schoolchildren, though Jack is obliged to bleep-out the child's choice word for the reader's sake.

There's a fortune-telling scene that I admittedly skipped—not my thing. And a brief moment that's meant to be a light one refers to two men looking like minstrels, due to their faces being blackened after they fix a boiler. The reference wasn't funny to me, but again, the moment was brief, and there's no actual blackface in the story.

Overall, I found this to be relaxing reading about a lead who enjoys his chosen, valuable vocation. And the ending of the story is downright beautiful.

As this is the first book in a series, I plan on checking out more of it. show less

When Jack Sheffield gets a job as a headmaster in the little village of Ragley in North Yorkshire he expects it to be quiet, and a little dull. He did not expect, overly opinionated parents, terrifying inspectors, resistant school governors and to be bullied into the cricket team.

This is a very funny book, but it has its profound moments. I found it very well written, with an easy flow to it. It’s not exactly great literature, but it is a pleasant, relaxing and amusing read, and it gave show more me a vivid picture of what life for a rural school master would have been like in the 70’s.

I have read and reviewed this book as part of the Transworld Book Group Reading Challenge. show less

In 1977, Jack Sheffield is appointed Headmaster of a small primary school in a village in North Yorkshire. Teacher, Teacher is his semi- autobiographical account of his first year in this tiny village, the events that occur during the school year and the interesting, strange and quirky characters that he encounters. Told in a mild, slighty tongue-in-cheek manner, this is a very readable and gently humorous story.

Each chapter starts with a brief entry from the school logbook and then goes on show more to enlarge upon the details and tells the story behind these entries. These stories often emphasize the importance of the village school to the sense of community, and although Jack tells interesting stories, it is the other characters that provide the color, humor and human interest. These stories range from insights about Ruby, the larger-than-life school janitor to the touching story of a Viet Nam refugee and are warm, funny and nostalgic.

I enjoyed Teacher, Teacher but found that it was a book that I had to put down often to give myself a break from the sweetness. While reading of the support, tolerance and understanding that Jack remembers as being the norm of the day, one should remember this is also the time period of the Yorkshire Ripper and that things were not as picture perfect as this book would have one believe. This was the first book in a series of four, and I will probably pick up the second book at some point when I need a warm, comfortable read. show less

Dear Teacher is the third book in author Jack Sheffield’s series of observations about his years as a head master at a small primary school in North Yorkshire. This book covers the school year of 1979 – 1980. Margaret Thatcher has come into power and the feeling in the staff room so far is quite mixed. This is the year that JR of the top television show Dallas got shot and Abba are the top hit-makers. Although Jack is seeing Laura Henderson, his thoughts and heart are yearning for her show more sister, Beth.

Other characters are experiencing life in different ways from newly wed bliss or a surprise pregnancy, to a marriage that needs some attention. The tone of the book is warm, safe and comforting much like life in the British village of Ragley-on-the-Forest. Filled with stories about the eccentric villagers or amusing tales about what the children said or wrote along with references to popular culture of the times, Dear Teacher is a nostalgic look back and a comfort read for someone who well remembers those times. show less