Cabin in the Snow

by Deborah Hopkinson, Patrick Faricy (Illustrator)

Overview

STORMS ARE BREWING
When Charlie and Papa arrive in Lawrence for supplies, they find the bustling Kansas town threatened by border ruffians from proslave Missouri. Papa decides to remain behind with other free-soil settlers to defend the town, so Charlie must drive the wagon back to the family's isolated claim by himself.
At home a different sort of storm is brewing — gray skies, bitter cold, and vicious winds warn that a prairie blizzard is coming. Charlie is always getting into trouble for daydreaming and forgetting his chores. Now he has to show he's grown-up enough to help Momma, his sisters, and his newborn baby brother survive in their tiny cabin in the snow.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689843518
Publisher:	Aladdin
Publication date:	09/01/2002
Series:	Prairie Skies , #2
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	80
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	580L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Deborah Hopkinson is the author of numerous award-winning children's books, including Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, winner of the International Literacy Association Award; Girl Wonder, winner of the Great Lakes Book Award; and Apples to Oregon, a Junior Library Guild Selection. She received the 2003 Washington State Book Award for Under the Quilt of Night. She lives in Oregon. Visit her online at DeborahHopkinson.com.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 2-4-In this second book in the series, Charlie Keller and his family forge a new life on the Kansas Prairie in the 1850s. The nine-year-old accompanies his father to town to buy supplies and, while shopping, Papa hears about a "free-state" man who has been killed by a pro-slavery man. An abolitionist, Mr. Keller decides to stay in town and help out when he hears that trouble's brewing, leaving Charlie to return to their cabin with the supplies. En route, his dog runs away and he encounters threatening men on horseback; once home, he finds that his mother is about to give birth and he runs for help. During a blizzard, he trudges out to tend to the animals, using a rope as a guide. Finally, Papa returns. Black-and-white drawings capture the drama of the tale. An exciting and well-paced adventure story for beginning chapter-book readers.-Be Astengo, Alachua County Library, Gainesville, FL Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

The Keller family, a free-soil Kansas family recently transplanted from Massachusetts, faces the struggle of their first winter in Hopkinson's second installment in the Prairie Skies trilogy that began with Pioneer Summer (p. 570). Mr. Keller and his son Charlie leave for a supply trip to Lawrence that ends up being anything but routine. They hear of the murder of a free-soil man and, on their trip home, end up in the middle of an argument between the 15 pro-slavery men and some free-soil farmers. Fearing that the town of Lawrence might be at risk, Mr. Keller agrees to join the men. Nine-year-old Charlie is left with the responsibility of driving the oxen team home and becoming the man of the family in his father's absence. With his mother about to give birth, his sisters to care for, and the worries about dwindling food supplies in the winter ahead, Charlie's plate is full. There is no time for his characteristic daydreaming and birdwatching. When Charlie runs into Mr. Morgan and his daughter Flory again, the Keller family is torn. On one hand, the Morgans are in need of a safe place to stay and the children remember them fondly from their time together on the steamboat. On the other hand, the Morgans, with their pro-slavery ideas, stand for everything the Kellers are opposed to. When Mama gives birth early, the Kellers have little choice but to trust and accept help from Flory and her father. The family must rely on each other, and the help of others, to make it through a terrible blizzard without Papa. Once again, Hopkinson tells a good story, steeped in rich history and research, and leaves her young readers satisfied, yet ready to know more, promised in the forthcoming Our KansasHome. (author's note, recipe, song lyrics) (Fiction. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews