The Winter Room
From School Library Journal
Grade 6-9-- Of the four rooms downstairs in the northern Minnesota farmhouse,
the one that might be called a living room is where Wayne and Eldon, their
parents and great-uncle, and old Norwegian Nels spend their winters. There the
family sits near the corner wood stove and listens, uninterrupting, as Uncle
David tells stories--of the old country, of old times, of a semi-mythical
lumberjack. Eldon, the younger son, begins his own story, in spring, when
everything is soft. While he describes for readers the farm activities of each
season and narrates memorable pranks and milestones of his boyhood, it is the
palpable awareness of place and character that is unforgettable. Paulsen, with a
simple intensity, brings to consciousness the texture, the smells, the light and
shadows of each distinct season. He has penned a mood poem in prose. Uncle
David's final story precipitates within the brothers a fuller understanding of
personal identity and integrity. For those special readers who find delight in
The Winter Room, it will become a part of their own identity and understanding.
Teachers who seek to illuminate the use of ordinary English words with
extraordinary descriptive power will find the introductory chapter, in
particular, to be a godsend. --Katharine Bruner, Brown Middle School, Harrison,
TN
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