Here Comes Darrell [Hardcover]

Leda Schubert (Author), Mary Azarian (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

If he isn’t at the Barretts’ house, delivering firewood with his dump truck, you might find Darrell on his backhoe, digging a swimming hole for the Murphys, or, depending on the season, plowing the Harts’ steep driveway with his snowplow. Darrell makes sure each family has what they need for every season—which means he rarely has time for his own home. So when a fierce storm blows into town, how will Darrell, too, end up safe and sound?

Vibrant woodcuts accompany this warm, gentle story of neighbors helping neighbors in a small-town community set in the North.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 4–A delightful tale about seasonal life in northern New England. The story opens in winter as Darrell layers himself in long underwear, wool socks, and flannel shirts, readying himself to plow his neighbors' driveways. In springtime, the man and his dog deliver firewood in a dump truck, battling with mud season; in summertime, when the black flies are biting, he uses his backhoe on excavation jobs. Children will be captivated by the details of Darrell's labors, his machinery, and Schubert's imagery. When his truck is deep in the snow, the man rocks the truck back and forth, back and forth. The tires swirl, the engine whines, and the back end swings…. As he moves through the seasons and his chores, he procrastinates about fixing his own ailing barn. The book ends with a roof raising, initiated by the neighbors he has helped throughout the year. Distinguished, detailed woodcuts illustrate the book. This is a strong addition that will be a pleasure to pair with many other books on the seasons, neighbors, and communities.–Teresa Pfeifer, Alfred Zanetti Montessori Magnet School, Springfield, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. Many picture books feature children in starring roles, but Darrell is an adult, a handyman for all seasons. It's winter, and Darrell is up in the wee hours plowing driveways, his dog at his side and the promise of breakfast to keep him going. Come spring, he's chopping wood, helping some families who can't pay. In summer, he creates a backyard pond. By autumn, his wife is worrying about their barn, which Darrell has been too busy to repair. Sure enough, their roof blows away, but their grateful neighbors replace it at a roof raising. There are individually interesting, child-appealing moments (pushing through a blizzard, building a pond where frogs and birds will come), and kids fascinated by equipment will appreciate the pictures of the plows and earth movers Darrell uses, but the toil of a job and a worker's response to the seasons may not capture their attention. Azarian's woodcuts are pleasing as always, though the scenes with the vehicles are more appealing than those in which people stand together talking. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; First Printing edition (October 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618416056
• ISBN-13: 978-0618416059
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,437,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write books for children, read books for all ages, and teach at Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. I live in North Central Vermont with my husband two large dogs: Pogo (very good boy) and Pippa (slightly insane). Reading, dogs, and traditional music are my passions. I do not like to cook.

You can find out more about me and see assorted photographs and lots of book information on my website. www.ledaschubert.com

I also blog there on occasion. www.ledaschubert.com/blog.htm

Come visit!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 Good Trucks Make Good Neighbors, May 2, 2007

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Here Comes Darrell (Hardcover)

Some kids will think that "Darrell" refers to the hard-working truck In Leda Schubert's tribute to people and seasons of Vermont. While it's true that the real "Darrell" is the craggy faced construction worker/handyman/good neighbor who drives the old pickup, truck-loving kids can enjoy plenty of four-wheeled action. ALong with the pickup (which is red in one scene, and blue in all the others--where's the continuity?) Darrell's uses a big yellow backhoe to move dirt, make a swimming hole, and scoop up Buster, the family dog who chases a ball right into the big hole.

Schubert's sentences are economical yet imaginative: The backhoe is a large machine, but Darrell is an artist. If a hammer drops on the ground, he can pick it up as if he's using tweezers." The evocative writing allows us to imagine ourselves in Darell's big snowboots, rising at 4 am with Buster, and clearing 21 snow-covered driveways by 7 am. As he does so, "porch lights flash in thanks, and he blink his headlights back. HIs stomach growls as he glimpses a neighbor making breakfast.

SOme might call this book old-fashioned, even sentimental, and that's exactly why they might like it. Thematically, the book touches on being a good neighbor, the necessity of cooperation in harsh climates, and the gladly-given reciprocity that attends a good man doing a good job. (Women largely take a backseat here, they're shown making food and washing clothes, although they also help the men get the truck out of the pud ("the dirt roads are like chocolate pudding." During a storm, Darrell is so busy fixing the neighbors wind-shaken houses that he doesn't have time to heed his wife's warning about their own collapsing barn roof. In time-honored tradition, all the neighbors that Darrell helped come over for a "roof raising," and the crew all gets a hot supper of stew and pie.

Aside from the backhoe and a digital alarm clock, the pictures and story could have taken place anytime in at least the last 50 or 60 years. While this nebulous setting may unsettle some youngsters, it can also be adapted to many time periods. Mary Azarian's illustrations look like old woodcuts. Wait--they are woodcuts! Lined faces and wind-tossed jair are handsomely unglamorous, clothing and the Vermont countryside are authentic (the book covers four seasons, with a beautiful picture of vibrant autumn trees. THe only season that doesn't really get its due is Spring, but Ms. Schubert captures the hopeful feelings of the season (unless you're a T.S. Eliot fan) when Darrell tells a family unable to pay him that they can just do it later.

Without preaching, moralizing, or self-congratulation, the book shows both the necessity and the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards of doing work that serves others. ALthough there are some moments of excitement (those trucks!), it's mostly a quiet work, good for classroom reading and units on weather, as well as toddlers and young grade schoolers home snuggle time.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My son loved this book, July 25, 2006

By 

Tiffany the Birding Mom (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Here Comes Darrell (Hardcover)

My 3-year-old loved this book. He is very verbal for his age, and loves cars and trucks and machines. He thought Darrell's adventures were very exciting and loved his machines. I enjoyed this book more than most "machine" books because of the nice story of community service and the beautiful illustrations.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grammie, February 14, 2008

By 

Grammie (Essex Jct, VT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Here Comes Darrell (Hardcover)

This is a great book about seasons in Vermont. It is great for my grandson who loves trucks and construction equipment. This book about helping others has a pickup truck, a dump truck and a backhoe that is sure to please any young child.