Customer Reviews

Rufus M.

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was given this book to read when I was 7 years old. I was ill at home and my mother dropped it on the bed as I had been pestering her for something to read. It looked unpromising. I liked books about war and dinosaurs and soccer. None of these seemed likely to feature in Rufus M.

Though I would not have used the word then, I was enchanted. Estes sketched out a world I wanted to leap straight into.

This is such good a book that it has stuck in my memory as a happy thought about a distant time. I found myself thinking about it as I sat at my desk this evening and googled my way here. I'm 37 tomorrow. 30 years on and it's still with me.

Sean

The story Rufus M. by Eleanor Estes is about a kid named Rufus Moffat. Rufus has some trouble sometimes, but he practices until he gets it right. Rufus writes his name like this: Rufus M. Sometimes Rufus gets trapped, but he finds his way out. Sometimes Rufus can get rough. Rufus M. is also clever. He also makes up imaginary friends. One time he makes up the invisible piano player. Rufus is almost unbeatable.

Rufus acts like a seven year old. That's why I think he's a seven year old. Rufus writes his name sloppy at first. Then he practices and practices and he gets better and better. He gets better at doing tasks that use to be hard. Rufus is a great kid, unlike any other (no offense). This is the story how Rufus became unbeatable.

The characters are Rufus, Sylvie, Jane, and Joe. Rufus has messy hair, he is seven, and he is rough. Sylvie is nice. She is also clever, and she is about nine. Janie is a girl who is clever, but not exactly as clever as Sylvie. She has a crush on a friend of hers. She is eight years old. Joey is Rufus's brother and he is nine years old. He likes to play with Rufus and he is rough like Rufus. I believe in the chacracters of the story and I am interested to find more about them. I can picture the individuals in my mind. They get on with one another by playing with each other. I like Rufus best because he is funny.

The author is a good writer. She uses words like "urge" and "dozing." Her writing would make me imagine the story even if there were no pictures. The author treats me like a big kid. It is like it is written by an expert. I think the book is great. The cover also looks great. It makes me want to read the book right away. It urges me to talk about it to my friends. The pictures are interesting and they make the story better. The printing is pretty small, but the words are easy to read.

The book is great in my opinion. I would suggest boys ages seven to nine and girls eight to eleven would enjoy it. I give this book five stars.

I liked "Rufus M." a lot it was probably the most adventurous books I have ever read. In a way that Eleanor Estes compares this book to her "The Moffats" book you can tell that Rufus Moffat is a completely different 7-year-old boy you would've thought he would be compared to athis book all about him and "The Moffats" which introduces our lively and fascinating family to begin with. I thought this book really made me so buried into it's pages because of the way the writer took the time to create more and more adventurous tale for Rufus to live through and be a part of. It really made this book something special. But I'd have to say his adventures would take you through some times that you would just not believe! One thing for sure, you would say his characteristics drive him into the pit of emotions and feeling.

"Rufus M." was a really incredible book about the smallest Moffat child, as we know as Rufus. I thought it was really interesting when you see how Eleanor Estes really pulls you into the life of an average 7-year-old boy going through life in thick and thin times. It really shows you the struggles of an energetic young boy growing in different ways that explain how he thinks and feels. I liked how Eleanor Estes focused on this one adventurous little Moffat unlike how in the "Moffats" she introduces the incredibly fascinating family. What also made me so hooked on to this book was the creative adventures the writer cooked up for Rufus to live in this book. She made it feel like Rufus was right there sharing all his emotions, expressions, and feelings all to the reader. This book was exciting and fun and no matter what any one has ever read they will look back at one particular book and this one and say that this book definitely showed them a whole new world as when the other book could never even shoed them an imagination as big as a tiny pond rock.

Rufus Moffat has been a part of me for going on 50 years. It's impossible to say just how greatly this book influenced my perceptions, reading, writing, play or work ethics, but Rufus undisputedly had a positive effect on them all.

I recently purchased this and the other Moffat books for my granddaughter, and when I began reading them to her, I was transported once again to another time...or two...it certainly brought back childhood memories, and, once again, I was swept into the reality of the US home front during World War II. And my granddaughter, born at the turn of the 21st century, was just as captivated by Rufus Moffat as I, born as history was drawing that chapter to a close.

It is probably a host of other protocols which fascinates my granddaughter rather than the ones which grabbed me as a child. She lives in a world where children seldom move about unsupervised in their neighborhoods, and the freedom which Rufus takes for granted is something she can only imagine. Yet there are enough similarities between her life and that of the Moffats to make the story engaging and believable. For instance, my granddaughter's parents repair antique pianos and often install Playmations in them, so the chapter, "The Invisible Piano Player" really amused her on a personal level. And her mother raises a garden every summer, so she knew firsthand about planting beans and then digging them up again to see if they had sprouted.

Some things span across time, regardless of whether they seem archaic. Kids need a window on other eras, other lifestyles, other socioeconomic strata. This book is a good bridge to some of those things.

It's warm. It's funny. It's full of human failings, triumphs, frustrations, joys, selfless acts, solid family values and good, old-fashioned imagination.

I highly recommend Rufus Moffat!

My earliest recollections of reading are when I got my first library card in grade school many, many, did I say many?, years ago. The books that stand out as my first are The Moffat series by Eleanor Estes. To this day I can remember reading about the Moffat family, especially young Rufus. Perhaps I identified with him. I love the drawings in the book and the stories. They are full of family fun and values. I just bought these for my new step-children (getting married Mar 30/10) for them to get the enjoyment that I remember. An excellent value and free shipping if you purchase all 4. I actually received one free because I purchased 4. Worked for me. Enjoy!!! Perhaps they are what inspired me to become an author myself.

Over 50 years ago an adopted aunt took me to the public library for the first time, helped me to get a library card and helped me to select "Rufus M" by Eleanor Estes as one of my first library books. I'm now 65, a retired teacher and widower and have a collection of "classics" which includes "Rufus M" and "The Moffats". I've read and re-read them and still love "Rufus M".
Estes books are a wonderful slice of life around the time of The Great War. In retrospect there's always something very sad in reading of the innocence and optimism of America before the two wars left us cynical and jaded. Rufus world was right at the tail end of "The Music Man" decade.
I can't think of a better book to read with 8-10 year olds. Eleanor Estes punctuates "Rufus M" with humor. You cannot not like the little whippersnapper. A grandparent would be a good choice to read these books with his or her grandchild because they just might be able to explain how things have changed since 1915 or so.
Along with Helen Fuller Orton's "Mysteries in The....... " series these are my fondest memories of a childhood long ago.

This is another great book in the extremely well written Moffat family series. You will love how Rufus looks at life. These are terrific stories for pre-schoolers through grade school.

I just finished reading this book to my 7 year old and 5 year old. We were absolutely enchanted by this book. It is our favorite of Estes's books so far. I found it to be so hilariously funny in spots that I had to stop reading because I was laughing so hard. Estes knows somehow knows how to perfectly capture the mind of a child all the while keeping the book interesting for adults by using larger vocabulary and sentences then most children's books. We find ourselves talking about Rufus a lot now that the book is done. "Remember when Rufus had the cardboard boy on his bike? Remember when Rufus wanted to be a ventriloquist?. The list goes on. I am so glad that we found this book it was such a bonding experience for us to read together.

I first encountered the Rufus M. story in grade school, when we read the part about Rufus knitting washcloths for soldiers, and making friends with Al.

Knitting washcloths? Who does such a thing? Now I know. Because the subject keeps coming up - in World War I history, World War II, and now it's a popular pastime for knitters. And every time I see a knitted washcloth, I think of Rufus M. Any story that sticks with you for so long has to be a good one.