The Good Master
Kate Seredy
Hardcover
(Viking Press, Jan. 1, 1956)
A story about the boy Jancsi who lives with his mother and his father, the "Good Master," on a farm in Hungary; about his cousin Kate who comes from the city to live with them, and whose headstrong ways and tempers are set right by the kindly understanding of the Good Master; about Kate's and Jancsi's races on horseback across the. plains, their fun at the fair, their trouble with the gypsies; about the shepherd who made wood carvings, and whose tales kept the children listening till sundown-a colorful story of the customs and people of the great Hungarian plains. "In both appearance and content The Good Master is a genuinely joyous and beautiful book. Miss Seredy was born in Budapest and knows the country of which she writes. She knows people, too, and can make them so real and so alive that jancsi, mischievous Kate, jancsi's father, the lovable 'Good Master,' and Jancsi's mother, hospitable and protective, remain with us after the book is closed. The illustrations have beauty and vitality, the horses seem in motion and the children ready to speak. It's a story that nine- to twelve-year old kids should not miss, and a lovely and distinguished piece of bookmaking." - ANN E THAXTER EATON, New York Times
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