The Courage of Sarah Noble

In this short novella for children, we meet Sarah Noble, a girl living in the early eighteenth century. She is preparing to move to Connecticut, in a time when people still built their own houses and developed their own land, food, and everything they need to survive. Sarah and her father are moving ahead of the rest of the family, including the new baby, to prepare everything for them. As such, Sarah has to take on a lot of responsibility and show courage in the face of all the challenges that moving brings. She's particularly frightened by rumors of the native tribes living in the area. However, once she actually meets some members of the Schaghticoke tribe, she realizes that they are people, just like her. They even help her and her show more father establish themselves in their new home.

It's a sweet story about survival, courage, and overcoming prejudices. It was published in 1954, and when I first started reading, I was worried that this awarded children's book would reflect upsetting biases common to its generation, particularly in its depiction of Native Americans. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The book has a positive message encouraging understanding. There are certainly issues surrounding the context of this book, such as the settlement of land that probably originally belonged to the Schaghticoke tribe. Yet within the reality of that past, it's an uplifting story about surviving, and about two cultures working together and learning from each other, and that's a nice message for kids to take away with them. show less

To a 21st century reader this is so insensitive and there is so much that is cringe-worthy. But it was written 70 years ago and set 300 years ago, so it's not fair to judge it based on modern sensibilities. She's afraid of the Indians until she meets them and makes friends with the children. But she never bothers to learn the name of the tribe, never learns a single word of their language, or even bothers to learn their names. She lives for months with "Tall John," "his squaw," "Small John," and "Mary" because she just assigned them English names for her own convenience. Presumably the woman who fed her everyday, sewed winter clothes for her, and cared for was never even assigned a name.

Sarah and her father travel together to build a new home for their family in early 18th century America. The house is built and it is time for Sarah’s father to collect the rest of the family and bring them to their new home. Sarah must remain near the new home, with a Native American family. It is a good experience for Sarah as she comes to care for the family almost as much as her own, as she sees the commonalities of the Native American family with her own. There is a general feeling of condescension, but that has to be placed in the context of the time in which this book was written. In addition, the experience of discovering the ways the families are alike makes the book worthy of reading despite the book’s flaws. Newbery Honor.

Sarah Noble, an eight year old girl, travels with her father through the wilderness to the recently purchased acre of land where her father will build their families new home. It is territory that Native Americans have lived for years, and she hears stories of unwarranted violence, wherein she constantly questions her courage. But upon meeting the native people, and even living with one of the tribe's families for a couple months, she finds they are not at all what everyone fears.

While it was a sweet story about a pioneer girl having the courage to be left alone with an Indian tribe, consideration has to be taking while reading the title. The Native Americans in the story are referred to as Indians and often white ideas (such as renaming the family so she could pronounce their names, the fact that they do not wear clothing like her and that they are meant to be feared) have influence over the story. However, the characters of the Robinsons who other reviewers do mentioned to voice their horrible attitudes towards the Indians ( "they will chop off your head", "they will skin you alive", etc), in the book's defense Sarah and her father do have a lot of respect towards Tall John and his family. Sarah also mentions show more that "there is no love in that [The Robinson's] house". Keep in mind to start conversations upon reading. show less

When Sarah Noble was eight years old she had her great adventure — going with her father into the wilds of Connecticut to cook for him while he built a house.

There were Indians — would they be friendly There were many times when Sarah had to say to herself, as her mother had said when she left home, "Keep up your courage, Sarah Noble. Keep up your courage."

This charming story is true. Tales of faith and courage and friendship are told over and over again and so kept alive. Here Sarah's adventure is told simply, with feeling and without unnecessary detail.

In 1707, young Sarah Noble and her father traveled through the wilderness to build a new for their family. "Keep up your courage, Sarah Noble", her mother had said, but Sarah found that it was not always easy to feel brave inside. The dark woods were full of animals and Indians, too, and Sarah was only eight!

The true story of Sarah's journey is inspiring. And as she cares for her father and befriends her Indian neighbors, she learns that to be afraid and to be brave is the greatest courage of all.