The Matchlock Gun
It's weird - we're up to 1942 in "Read the Newberys", and it still feels like many of the books are written by people who have never written for children before, or in this case, who have a very weird sense of history and write based on assumptions with no actual research.
I did like the kids in this, but it was really kind of dumb, wasn't it? First? That kid should be deaf for life after firing that gun with all that crap the mom loaded it with. And was it the gun -- or the candle he used to light it -- that caused the fire? Or the dead indians?
Not to mention, the tomahawk in the mom's back might have been realistic, but who exactly wants to read that to their child without some preparation? If I had read this as a child, I'd have had nightmares for weeks about a tomahawk attack.
Here's hoping the 1943 Newbery Award winner is better.
I did like the kids in this, but it was really kind of dumb, wasn't it? First? That kid should be deaf for life after firing that gun with all that crap the mom loaded it with. And was it the gun -- or the candle he used to light it -- that caused the fire? Or the dead indians?
Not to mention, the tomahawk in the mom's back might have been realistic, but who exactly wants to read that to their child without some preparation? If I had read this as a child, I'd have had nightmares for weeks about a tomahawk attack.
Here's hoping the 1943 Newbery Award winner is better.