Sugarbush Spring [Hardcover]

Marsha Wilson Chall (Author), Jim Daly (Illustrator)

Book Description

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

In the month of the Maple Sugar Moon, the snow's too wet for angel making, icicles rain from Grandpa's porch roof, and something is stirring in the woods. It's sugarbush spring--time to tap the trees, prepare the bottles, then gather round the cook fire to eat chicken and dumplings, roast marshmallows, and tell stories while the cold sap heats through, thickens, and boils to make syrup.

Chall's timeless story and Daly's glowing paintings invite children to share in the pleasure of making maple syrup--a process that's the same today as it was two hundred years ago.In the month of the Maple Sugar Moon, icicles rain from Grandpa's porch roof and something is stirring in the woods. It's sugarbush spring-time to tap the trees, then gather round the cook fire to roast marshmallows and tell stories while the cold sap thickens and boils to make maple syrup.In the month of the Maple Sugar Moon, icicles rain from Grandpa's porch roof and something is stirring in the woods. It's sugarbush spring-time to tap the trees, then gather round the cook fire to roast marshmallows and tell stories while the cold sap thickens and boils to make maple syrup.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This evocative tale illuminates life on a northern farm in early spring, when "the snow's too wet for angel making" and the sap's on the rise. The girl narrator rides with her grandfather on a horse-drawn sleigh filled with pails to hang on the taps they will soon place in the sugar maples. As the two search for prospects, Grandpa explains how to pick them: one tree is too old to tap ("She's given and given till she's nearly given out") and another is too young ("She needs all the sugar she makes this year. She'll be ready when she fills up your arms"). Chall (Up North at the Cabin) maintains this folksy yet informative tone throughout her account, marrying concrete information, such as the 219-degree boiling point of the sap, with more atmospheric descriptions of the sugarhouse itself. Rendered in oil on board, Daly's (Mother, I Love You) nearly photographic paintings endow the picturesque interior and outdoor settings with a feeling of timelessness. The artist's devotion to detailAthe gleam of light on freshly washed glass jars that will be filled with syrup and the distinct grain of the wood on the sugarhouse wallsAcontributes to the tactile quality of the volume. Ages 6-up. (Jan.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1-It is the month of the Maple Sugar Moon in Minnesota-time to collect the sap from the old family sugar bush, and Grandpa invites his youngest granddaughter to help him with this annual event. It is she who tells this warm, engaging story of how hundreds of gallons of sap are turned into the precious maple syrup. Grandpa continues to use the old bucket-drop method of gathering sap, not the modern vacuum-tube system. The girl also tells about the important traditions that surround this event: everyone pitching in to help, enjoying Grandma's chicken and dumplings in the sugarhouse, and playing games until the syrup is ready. The descriptive language draws readers into the scene effectively. One can almost feel the "maple steam" that fills the sugarhouse and experience the "cotton-candy sweet" smell in the air. The somewhat idealized, detailed, bright, double-page oil paintings are equally effective. This book is great as a read-aloud for introducing children anywhere to maple sugaring, or for young readers to enjoy on their own. There is a lot of similarity between this book and Jessie Haas's Sugaring (Greenwillow, 1996) and Margaret Carney's At Grandpa's Sugar Bush (Kids Can, 1998). Chall expands on these earlier titles by including more details.
Virginia Golodetz, Children's Literature New England, Burlington, VT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 24 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (January 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688149073
• ISBN-13: 978-0688149079
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #851,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born and raised in Minnesota as an only child, Marsha Wilson Chall amused herself in daydream and now sets those dreams in the storyscapes of lakes, woods, prairie, and beyond (even France). She hopes her books invite the reader to explore new destinations, both outward and inward.

Chall has published a children's chapter book and eight picture books, including Pick a Pup, One Pup's Up, Up North at the Cabin, and Bonaparte. Her books have received numerous awards: an International Reading Association Teacher's Choice Award, American Booksellers Pick of the Lists, Parents Choice, NAPPA Gold Award, and Smithsonian Notable recognition.

When she's not writing or sharing her love of good books at schools or conferences, she enjoys teaching in the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Hamline University. She has two grown children and lives on a small farm west of Minneapolis with her husband, dog, and barn cats.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Illistrations are wonderful, November 13, 2001

By 

BRENDA WESTCOM (Bakersfield, VT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sugarbush Spring (Hardcover)

Jim Daly is a wonderful illustrator. The pictures actually come alive on the page, you can visualize what the words are actually saying. Children, as well as adults, can learn about the trees; how big they have to be before you should tap them and why doesn't sap run all of the time, etc. The only thing that is not true is the temperature that the syrup is drawn off from the rig is not the same temperature you would need for sugar on snow. This picture gave my kids false ideas to try at our sugar house. Overall though this is a wonderful book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sugarbush Spring, February 3, 2000

By 

Darcy Bellinger (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sugarbush Spring (Hardcover)

My family has made maple syrup for years. Reading this book I felt like I was back in the woods gathering sap and could almost smell the syrup as it boiled in the pan and taste its sweetness. The pictures are beautiful and the information right on the mark. As syrup making is a family event I will have to buy copies for all of my family.

4.0 out of 5 stars Generations and community make syrup together, March 15, 2011

By 

Stephanie's Mommy Brain (Rhode Island, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sugarbush Spring (Hardcover)

A little girl goes to the sugarbush (stand of Maple trees) with her Grandpa to help tap the trees for sap. She later waits patiently for the sap to be boiled down into syrup and canned. As she waits, she enjoys a treat of hot syrup poured over snow.

I love the illustrations in this book! A note tells us that they are actually oil paintings. The details in each one are amazing; from the harnesses on the horses to the sunlight shining through the syrup!

I also love the family unity in this story. Three generations work together to turn the sap into syrup. Friends and neighbors also help. This kind of community involvement is hard to come by these days.