The School at Crooked Creek

by Laurie Lawlor, Ronald Himler (Illustrator)

Living on the nineteenth-century Indiana frontier with his parents and irritable older sister Louise, six-year-old Beansie dreads his first day of school, but his resilience surprises even his sister.

Genres: Childrens, Historical Fiction

72 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Laurie Lawlor grew up in a family enamored with the theater. Along with her five brothers and sisters she spent summers in a summer stock repertory company in a small mountain town in Colorado that was run by their mother (costumer, cook, accountant, and resident psychiatrist) and their father (artistic director).

Reviews

[Natasha Gaudet]

This book was really cute and easy to read. I enjoyed it, even if it was a bit hard to get into. I’m glad I read this book. It did kind of end on an odd note I think but overall very enjoyable.

[Cheryl]

More of a short story than a book, but it has the distinction of containing some words I've used but never seen in a book before. The author says they are colloquial words from Indiana, but I've heard them here in Alabama too. Bumfuzzle. The author says it means crazy. We use it to indicate puzzled or confused. Aggrafret. That's annoy and bother. I'm sure I heard my grandmother say that one. Mulligrubs. A noun for being down and despondent. Oh--really nice art in the book--looks like soft pencil or charcoal.

[Professor]

We hoped this would be the next Blizzard for MicroMort, and he did love it after some coaxing, but I'm not sure all the messages were great and be warned it doesn't flinch at presenting the attitudes of the setting.

[Sherry Scheline]

We read this book for Indiana. Discussion will need to occur over the inappropriate word injun as a descriptive.

[Marné Hawkes Skelton Yates]

Fine story. Underdeveloped and fell flat for me at the end of the 80 pages.

[Anne Slater]

Going to school at all was not to be taken for granted in central Indiana in the 1820s (when central Indiana was on the frontier of our expanding nation).

Beansie, a busy 6 year old, learns that he will be going to school. He'd rather stay home and help his father. In this story Beansie and his sister learn that the smallest person is not always a drag, that sitting still and remembering what Pa said can be a lifesaver, and that the biggest baddest boys can be just as vulnerable as the littlest.

There is much of woodland lore in the telling of this story. The illustrations (including a map showing the routes from Beansie's house to the big scary boy Oliver's house to school) are sparse but charming, soft and evocative.

This is a perfect read-aloud book for 5 to 8 year olds, as well as for their grand patents and great-grands... Three days and several books later, I am ready to read this again.

[Kim Robbins]

Young Beansie lives in the Indiana Woods with his Ma, Pa, and sister Louisa. The time is the 1820's. Beansie and Louisa are going to start school soon but Beansie is scared. It's a mile to school through the dark woods. He is nervous about the walk and nervous about the stories he hears about school and the mean boys there such as Oliver Sweeny who can outrun, outlick, and outholler anybody. He discovers a lot on his first day about teachers, playing with other children, and bullies - or can they be friends?

This story was simple to read but had some "old-fashioned" words that fit the story and are defined in the back. I wouldn't give it too a kid who is afraid to go to school, however!

[Paula]

This was the type of story that you read with a cup of tea by a cozy fire. Beansie was used to being at home with his family. Now he and his sister Louisa have to go to the new log cabin school up the road. Beansie doesn't like this idea because he is worried about other kids bothering him and how they are going to find their way to the school. Eventually Beansie adjusts to his new situation and even becomes friends with the boys who used to bother him.

[Miss Amanda]

gr 2-5 80pgs


1800s, Indiana. 6 year old Beansie loves everything about his family's farm and can't understand why he must go to school. He doesn't like anything about school, especially the walk there through the spooky woods. His family reassures them that he can always rely on his older sister and his neighbor to help find the way, but what if they get lost too?


Good story with a happy ending.