Rueben and the Fire [With Four-Color Artwork]

This confusing, poorly told story attempts to provide a glimpse into the everyday life of an Old Order Amish family and the community that surrounds it. The overly elaborate plot concerns, among many other things, Reuben's quest to be seen as mature enough to drive his family's horse-drawn buggy, his difficulties with his bossy older sister and his participation in a barn-raising. Errors in punctuation (`` `Datt let's me drive, Annie,' he insisted'') along with sloppy dialogue (`` `Cleaning up after a fire is no place for a young boy,' Datt said'') are additional frustrations. In contrast to the graceful merger of action and information that characterizes the text of Candace Christiansen's The Ice Horse (see review, below), here potentially interesting tidbits of Amish lore are awkwardly superimposed onto the narrative. With their cool colors and sinuous black lines, Moss's folk art-style paintings are likely to give readers a far clearer sense of the Amish ways. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)