Skippack School

Poor kid - it's not just that he prefers to be active and out-of-doors, and not just that he prefers to make things, but he also has poor impulse control, and these days would probably have been diagnosed and given Ritalin. And of course many adults would just assume that he's naughty and wilful. But wise Master Christopher, the teacher, knows how to bring out the best in the boy.

As always, de Angeli's art is even better than the story.

It's barely a hundred years after the Plymouth Colony was founded. Eli's family has left Germany and come to America to enjoy the religious freedom that is here. Having recently converted, they intend to join a small community of "plain" people - Mennonites - on the Skippack Creek, northwest of Phildelphia. Eli is excited about the move and all that it means. Except for one thing. School.

Hardcover