The Middle Moffat [Hardcover]

Eleanor Estes (Author), Louis Slobodkin (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: An Odyssey/Harcourt Young Classic

Who is Jane Moffat, anyway? She isn't the youngest in the family, and she isn't the oldest-she is always just Jane. How boring. So Jane decides to become a figure of mystery ... the mysterious "Middle Moffat." But being in the middle is a lot harder than it looks.
In between not rescuing stray dogs, and losing and finding best friends, Jane must secretly look after the oldest inhabitant of Cranbury...so he can live to be one hundred. Between brushing her hair from her eyes and holding up her stockings, she has to help the girls' basketball team win the championship. And it falls to Jane-the only person in town with enough courage-to stand up to the frightful mechanical wizard, Wallie Bangs.
Jane is so busy keeping Cranbury in order that she barely has time to be plain old Jane. Sometimes the middle is the most exciting place of all....
Eleanor Estes's beloved Moffats stories are being published in new editions as Odyssey/Harcourt Young Classics. The original interior illustrations have been retained, but handsome new cover art by Tricia Tusa gives the books a fresh, timeless appeal for today's readers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Jane thinks "middle" things sound good, like the middle of the night or the Middle Ages, so she asks to be called the middle Moffat—or maybe even the mysterious middle Moffat. Jane's appealingly tenacious personality emerges as she attempts to read every book in the library, single-handedly win a basketball game the first time she plays, host an organ recital that is ruined by swarming moths, and do everything she can to help Mr. Buckle, the town's oldest inhabitant, reach his hundredth birthday. These stories and others reflect the simplicity of life in the 1940s, but readers will relate to problems that are timeless, like trying to stay awake to hear Santa Claus, or wanting to give your mother a store-bought handbag but having to settle for one you've made, or losing the head to your bear costume minutes before the curtain rises. Jane makes the middle child seem indispensable, not just to her family, but to everyone in town. The charm of these stories lies in their subtle humor and abundance of heart. Because each tale can stand alone, many selections would be excellent for reading aloud. It is part of the "Young Classics" series. 2001 (orig. 1942), Odyssey/Harcourt, Ages 7 to 10. Reviewer: Betty Hicks (Children's Literature ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

ELEANOR ESTES (1906-1988), a children's librarian for many years, launched her writing career with the publication of The Moffats in 1941.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152025235
• ISBN-13: 978-0152025236
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,334,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ELEANOR ESTES (1906-1988), a children's librarian for many years, launched her writing career with the publication of The Moffats in 1941. Two of her books about the Moffats are Newbery Honor books, as is The Hundred Dresses. She won the Newbery Medal for Ginger Pye in 1952.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Middle Moffat Not So Mysterious, March 1, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Middle Moffat (Paperback)

Okay, you know your average family, right? Well The Moffat's are anything but ordinary! I mean sure they have two sisters, two brothers, and a widowed mom. But do normal families have 10 year olds who are friends with 99 year olds? I think not, besides the fact of being a little weird, The Middle Moffat is a perfectly written book. The Middle Moffat is an excellent book by Eleanor Estes. Wonderful, adorable art for kids, that you will enjoy, drawn by Louis Slobodkin, The Middle Moffat is 234 pages packed of laughs and touching moments. The Middle Moffat won Horn Book Award and Newbery Honor Award. Some other books written by Eleanor Estes are: Alley, Ginger pye, Pinky pye, Hundred Dresses, The Moffats, Moffat Museum, Rufus M., Tunnel of Hugsey Goode, and The Witch Family. Most of these books have received awards such as ALA, Library Journal, NY book review, Newbery Honor, Publisher Weekly, and Horn book award. I loved reading about the adventures of Janey Moffat, in The Middle Moffat. I highly recommend you read it. Janey has kooky adventures in boring Cranbury CT. Janey will be remembered forever.
In Janey's first adventure she puts on an Organ Recital. Most of the people in Cranbury come; of course there is a twist. Then you can't forget when Janey spends a day with Mr. Buckle, or when she meets Nancy, her best friend. Along the way Wallie Bangs, a mechanical wizard moves in next door. But what did he do with her skates? Or the best adventure and heart warming of all, Christmas Eve, all Rufus wants is a pony! Rufus might not get what he wants, what'll Janey do this time to help her brother. Once Janey fixed Christmas she joins a play, the three little bears. But no, her head is gone! Nancy and Jane then set off for the eclipse in Cranbury. Guess who they meet he's furry too! "I'm no good..." sighed Janey. HA! Yeah right, Janey takes up Basketball and see what she does for the team. It can't be Janey and Nancy not friends! Nancy feels bad about hurting Janey and gives her a ring, ahhh friends again. And Janey can't soon be forgotten on Mr. Buckle's birthday, what a sweet gift she bought him.
Reading The Middle Moffat was like a chocolate cake baked to perfection, every layer of frosting perfectly smoothed on creamy and whipped. YUM! Go ahead and read up. Eleanor Estes adds humor to every page! I love reading this book, the characters are so fun! For instance in parts she used words a four year old would like ignoramus. Estes uses incredible wording only a kid would understand and an adult would laugh at. Like in a part Janey [Estes] thinks you save daylight in a box. Or when she waited up all night for Santa to come. Of course I can't stop laughing when she convinces the all the neighbor hood kids to run into Wallie Bang's basement and steal their stuff back.
I love the plot of this book too! I like how Janey is always trying to be mysterious. Or when Janey won the basketball game and her wish came true. Or when Nancy gave Jane her friendship ring I couldn't help but smile. I think the best part though is when she gave Mr. Buckle his birthday present. Throughout all the chapters of Janey's adventures each one making me smile. I think this book is well dissevering of all the awards it won. Eleanor Estes has the most creative, spunky, humorous, lovable, and fun way of writing.
Overall as you can tell I loved reading this book. There aren't enough hours in the day for me to say how much I like it, but I can try. If you read the book for your self you will understand the way Eleanor Estes writing flows and makes you want more. After each sentence you are begging to read a little more just to widen that smile. All her sentences just flow into one another making it so you can read for hours. I loved the way she wrote about a ten year old. Janey is just too young to understand what people mean. She has her own ideas about the way the world think and I think a lot of us can understand and relate to that. I recommend this to anyone who needs a good laugh and need to lighten up. Or someone who has just come home and has had a horrible day. I can guarantee that if kids or adults read this they will laugh, cry, and smile with Janey.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very funny, February 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Middle Moffat (Paperback)

I read this book to my three boys ages 9,6 and 3 and they could not stop laughing. Jane's imagination and simple ways of viewing life around her really capture what it is like to be a kid. We had to stop several times so that they could act out certain parts. I think Jane is a friend that we all would like to have. She's beyond nice and there is never a dull moment when she is around (whether it's in her mind or really happening). Now that we have read the book we really miss Jane.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Middle Moffat, November 27, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Middle Moffat (Paperback)

The Middle Moffat

Jane Moffat wants to help the oldest inhabitant of her town, reach the age of 100, and now he's 99. Jane tries to help him but he's always doing stuff that 99-year-old-men shouldn't do. She tries to look out for him without anyone noticing.
While Jane is looking out for the oldest inhabitant, she gets some problems herself. Her best friend has gotten angry at her because she didn't take her side at school. She finds out that she has a secret talent for basketball by helping the local team win. Jane also becomes the first one to stand up to the mechanical wizard, (a smart boy who knows a lot about mechanics) who gathers people's stuff, takes it apart, and leaves it in his basement.
I think Eleanor Estes did an okay job of writing this book. To me, it was a little boring because in some parts not much happened. I think if she summarized these parts in a few sentences, it would've been a much better book. This book is a decent fiction story, but I think it would be best for a younger girl like Jane.