Customer Reviews

The Family Under the Bridge

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Armand is a hobo who lives in Paris, under a bridge. He begs and does odd jobs for money to take care of himself and buy food. One day he finds a mother and her three children in his "home", under the bridge. At first he is gruff and unhappy about sharing the bridge, but in time he begins to like and help care for this poor homeless family. As Christmas nears, the children ask for nothing except a home of their own and Armand comes up with a plan to make their wish come true. Natalie Savage Carlson has written a beautiful, sensitive story full of humor, insight and wisdom. With fast paced, interesting scenes, young readers will be able to identify with the characters of the children in the story and begin to understand the meaning of family and the rewards of giving and accepting help from others. Perfect for children aged 9-12, this is also a great read-aloud book the entire family can enjoy and discuss. The Family Under the Bridge is a thoughtful, heartwarming story and Ms Carlson deserved all the awards this book won.

Natalie Savage Carlson perfectly illustrates what it means to be a family in this heartwarming book. The book is set in Paris in the early 1900's. It explores the world of hoboes and homeless people, a topic which children usually have little experience with. Armand is a homeless man who lives a solitary life under a bridge over the Seine River. He faithfully avoids children, calling them starlings, and saying they will steal your heart if you aren't careful. One day he arrives back home under the bridge, only to find a group of starlings sleeping in his spot. He tries his best to keep them out of his heart, but they work their way in and call Armand their grandpa. The importance of family is the main theme of this book. Armand finds a family and in the end couldn't be happier about it.
Children will love this book. Homelessness isn't something that most children are very familiar with. This unique book will help children understand that even children their age can be homeless. Most homeless people are looked at as being lazy and worthless. This book will show children that some homeless people are just like them, but they are just down in their luck. This is a heartwarming book and deserves attention in the classroom.

The Family Under the Bridge is about an old crabby hobo named Armand who had nothing but the raged clothes on his back and a little baby buggy with his belongings. He lived in crowded corners and alleys and then in the winter he would live under a bridge. One winter, he was surprised to find three children living under his bridge, and to make matters worse, Armand absolutely hated children. He decided to find another bridge since there were many bridges in Paris, but the children begged him to stay. He softened his heart and decided to stay with the three children and their mother. Armand took the children along with him while he traveled around the streets. It was not long before Armand realized he had gotten himself a family- one he loved with all his heart. They stayed together and Armand soon found a job and got a house for the five of them to live in.

I enjoyed The Family Under the Bridge but it wasn't one of my all-time favorites. It was fairly entertaining. Many parts of the book were exciting and I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened next, but there were also some slow parts. Overall I thought it was a pretty good book.

This is the wonderfully illustrated story of a mother and three children that are homeless and find a spot underneath a bridge in Paris. Alas, the bridge belongs to a hobo, who seems grouchy at first. It doesn't take long for the hobo to take to the starlings, though, and this tale goes on with a series of adventures that finally leads to a home for all involved. It's a lovely tale with the moral of the story being man's humanity to man. I loved this book as a child, and it hasn't lost any of it's flavor with age.

I thought this book was great. Right from the start A gypsy tells Armand that he would have an adventure that day. That day he meet the Calcet family and his life was not the same. Even though he tried to guard his heart, the kids got through to him. It is a great book to read with your family because it offers hope and takes you though on an adventure through Paris, including Notre Dame Cathedral, and The Court of Miracles. Armand said "you should never give up hope," when the fisherman wound up the fishing pole and found the missing pair of his shoe. It it a great book for families that are homeless or having a hard time in life and for all ages.

What ever happened to the good old days when children and tramps could live under the bridges of Paris, France in peaceful harmony? Well now we can return once again those halcyon days with Natalie Savage Carlson's Newbery Honor winning little book, "The Family Under the Bridge". A simple remarkably upbeat little tale, it defines what it means to be a family while telling the tale of an adorable homeless man and his unwilling adoption by three fatherless children. As storybooks go, this one has aged a bit poorly in light of its child abandonment and transient issues. But it has a good heart and a fine little story. I'm not going to put it on a pedestal or say that in 200 years it should be remembered as one of the top 100 children's books of the 20th century. But it's cute and probably has legions of fans who remember it from their own youth.

Hobos may come and hobos may go, but Armand of Paris isn't going anywhere. He loves his beautiful French city with its history and ample bridges to sleep under. With winter fast approaching, Armand's just on his way to put his ever moving home under his favorite bridge when he receives a nasty shock. There, camped out under a thin blanket, are three red-haired children. Armand doesn't trust children as a rule. His greatest fear is that he'll grow to love them and then no longer be the freewheeling king of the road that he currently is. These fears prove to be well founded when the kids adopt Armand as an unofficial grandfatherly figure and go with him all around and about the city. Their dream is to someday have a home of their own, and with Armand's help and a little gumption, that dream starts to look a little more possible every day.

The story's cute enough, with Armand as a roly-poly harmless figure leading the kids hither and thither throughout Paris. There are some wonderful sequences with a traveling band of gypsies (who, remarkably, are exempt from that stereotypical magic-creature label they've acquired in hundreds of other children's books). The gypsies are presented as regular folks, which I appreciated hugely. Also, the book has a satisfying ending that all children hearing it will appreciate. Carlson's narrative voice is affecting and Garth Williams's illustrations (you may best remember him as the illustrator of the "Little House" books as well as "The Cricket In Times Square") are striking.

But then there are the problems that a book written in 1958 must face. Now in this story, the mother character regularly abandons her children, without food, under a bridge in busy Paris. She does this, rather than put them in a home where they could get (oh, I dunno) warm clothes and food, because of a fanatical instinct to keep the family together. I can understand this on some level. No one likes to be separated from their relations. However, even after the mother makes the acquaintance of Armand (who she does not trust for a number of reasons), she still leaves her children with him all day. She does not give them any food (they have to eat Armand's), or toys, or really anything to do but follow a fellow they don't even know around and about. When he feeds them during the day by urging them to sing and then collecting money from strangers, she's incensed. Better that her kids go hungry than (gasp, shudder) SING! If the bad parenting going on in this story weren't enough, the idea that people are homeless simply because they are lazy is a bit worn as well. Pretty much every tramp in this book is homeless because he or she wants to be. Plenty get work at a drop of a hat, and at the end of the tale Armand goes from a fellow with zero job experience to the superintendent of a building. And all because he's finally decided to get a job. So when your kids walk down the street and see homeless people asking for food or money, you can bet they'll rest assured that those people are there because they're just too lazy to get hired somewhere. What a lovely lesson to learn from a book.

Ugh. So there's that. It's a nice tale, don't get me wrong. But since I didn't grow up with it myself, I haven't a nostalgia for it that so many others do. I can see its charms and I can see its flaws. I prefer its charms, but I can't help but point out where it goes awry. All in all, it's a fine little story and I don't mean to imply that by reading it your kids will suddenly become callous towards those in need. Just bear in mind what the book is saying.

by Freya Jamison

Have you ever wondered about homeless people? If you have, then you should read The Family Under the Bridge! In the story, a hobo named Armand goes back to his winter home (under a bridge in Paris, France) and finds three small children there. Armand never liked kids so he tried to get them out but they wouldn't budge and after a while he came to love them. During the next few days he took them wherever he went during the day and he bought them food. About a week after that, two ladies came and threatened to take the children to a boarding school so Armand brought them to the gypsies. So if you like books about love, friendship and caring you should read The Family Under the Bridge!

I picked this book up at the library thinking that it might help me in my own writing process and found it to be a good story with a wholesome underlying message.

Armand is a friendly hobo in Paris who is entering the holiday season. At these coldest of times, he makes his way to his usual dwelling under a bridge. This year he finds three young children and their mangy dog occupying his normal spot.

What Armand comes to find out is that these children and their mother are homeless because they can't afford rent. Armand is firm about moving on because he doesn't want the "starlings" to steal his heart. Yet, the children eventually soften his heart enough that he feels compelled to stay and help.

This story helped me realize why we actually go to work. Most people would probably not go to work if they didn't have bills or a family that needed their care. Honestly, it would be very intriguing to pack a small bag and travel around the country. Oh, you might have to humble yourself and ask for a few things on the way, but it sounds fun. I probably wouldn't mind sleeping outside on occasion. You figure, everyone needs a breath of fresh air and the outdoor sounds could become peaceful. Yet, I suppose there would come a time that you would have to move on.

Armand put it best about begging when he said, "It takes away a man's self-respect." There comes a time in a man's life where he has to decide whether he's a bum or whether he is willing to work. We all know work is not fun. That's why it's called work. You do your job not because you like it (even though that might be the case), but because you must for your family's sake. It is for the love of your family that you move on and face a job full of hardship.

I pray that more people change their ways like Armand and decide to love and care for other people besides themselves.

I volunteer in a reading program in a local elementary school and in the media center. This will be the fourth year we will be reading this book aloud in the fourth grade. I made a word list for each student. We locate all place named in the book on a posted map in the classroom. I also consult other sources and copy to show the students that there are suce things as the Louvre, the market place, the bridges. The children make friends with the children in the book and feel as they feel living wthout a home or father. They watch the transformation of Armand and their mother realizing that one can accept help from another gracefully. They also like Jojo and how he turns white after his bath, to say nothing of Armand's improved appearance! We'll keep this book in our collection. We schedule reading it around Christmas.

Once there was an old hobo named. The hobo lived under a bridge in Paris,France. One day the hobo went to the brige and he found three children and their dog. Then the hobo left the bridge. When he was leaving he saw the children cring.They wanted him to stay.He left but,soon came back.He realize thathe loved the children.Then the hobo got a job and a home for his family. The End... I give this book 5 stars. I really enjoyed this book. I recommend this book to be read to young children. The End...