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The Robber and Me by Josef Holub
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From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Tue, 03 Mar 1998 14:10:41 -0600
Here's a brief summary of The Robber and Me, the book by Josef Holub singled out through the Batchelder Award process. Henry Holt published the U.S. edition translated by Elizabeth D. Crawford. Our CCBC-NET guest commentaor is Marc Aronson, the U.S. editor of The Robber and Me.
Boniface Schroll is slowly adjusting to life with his uncle in Graab, a small German town in the Black Forest. His uncle, the town mayor, is kind enough, and he runs an amusingly efficient household, but he's not the sort of man who easily expresses his feelings. The boy is also making a friend, Christian, an unusual lad who draws the schoolmaster's wrath with his quiet defiance of authority. Boniface discovers that Christian is the son of Robber Knapp, whose nefarious reputation among many in the village far outweighs the severity of the crime that earned him his name: he was accused of stealing to feed his family. Boniface, whose own father died a year-and-a-half before, is intrigued by the warm, respectful relationship he witnesses between Robber Knapp and Christian. Is this man really a criminal? When Robber Knapp is accused of stealing yet again, Boniface realizes that he alone can prove the man innocent. Boniface starts a chain of events that impact life for the entire village, his own most certainly of all, in a novel set in 19th century Germany. Author Josef Holub's skillful, witty characterizations of villagers and village life, as well as the sweet tenor of a narrative that unfolds entirely through Boniface's naive eyes, distinguishes this story told with humor and poignancy about a young boy's longing for a place to belong, a family.
That is only one perspective on The Robber and Me, as written by my CCBC colleague Megan Schliesman for CCBC Choices 1997. Please expand upon these comments about The Robber and Me, as well as posting queries for and responses to Marc Aronson's remarks.
....Ginny
*************************************************************** Ginny Moore Kruse (gmkruse at ccbc.soemadison.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) A Library of the School of Education University of Wisconsin - Madison
Received on Tue 03 Mar 1998 02:10:41 PM CST
Date: Tue, 03 Mar 1998 14:10:41 -0600
Here's a brief summary of The Robber and Me, the book by Josef Holub singled out through the Batchelder Award process. Henry Holt published the U.S. edition translated by Elizabeth D. Crawford. Our CCBC-NET guest commentaor is Marc Aronson, the U.S. editor of The Robber and Me.
Boniface Schroll is slowly adjusting to life with his uncle in Graab, a small German town in the Black Forest. His uncle, the town mayor, is kind enough, and he runs an amusingly efficient household, but he's not the sort of man who easily expresses his feelings. The boy is also making a friend, Christian, an unusual lad who draws the schoolmaster's wrath with his quiet defiance of authority. Boniface discovers that Christian is the son of Robber Knapp, whose nefarious reputation among many in the village far outweighs the severity of the crime that earned him his name: he was accused of stealing to feed his family. Boniface, whose own father died a year-and-a-half before, is intrigued by the warm, respectful relationship he witnesses between Robber Knapp and Christian. Is this man really a criminal? When Robber Knapp is accused of stealing yet again, Boniface realizes that he alone can prove the man innocent. Boniface starts a chain of events that impact life for the entire village, his own most certainly of all, in a novel set in 19th century Germany. Author Josef Holub's skillful, witty characterizations of villagers and village life, as well as the sweet tenor of a narrative that unfolds entirely through Boniface's naive eyes, distinguishes this story told with humor and poignancy about a young boy's longing for a place to belong, a family.
That is only one perspective on The Robber and Me, as written by my CCBC colleague Megan Schliesman for CCBC Choices 1997. Please expand upon these comments about The Robber and Me, as well as posting queries for and responses to Marc Aronson's remarks.
....Ginny
*************************************************************** Ginny Moore Kruse (gmkruse at ccbc.soemadison.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) A Library of the School of Education University of Wisconsin - Madison
Received on Tue 03 Mar 1998 02:10:41 PM CST
