Not So Very Long Ago: Life in a Small Country Village - Hardcover

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Grade 3-6-Through marvelously detailed half-and full-page paintings, Fix offers a re-creation of a European village "one hundred or so years ago." Back then, wooden clogs were weekday wear and leather shoes were saved for Sundays; gypsies and tinkers visited; and the people depended on the potter, the weaver, the apothecary, and the toymaker. The book's panoramic view of town and countryside is smoothly carried along by a description of the life of a single family. The houses, the people's dress, and the scenic views are surely German, though patterns of life like this were to be found from the Low Countries to Eastern Europe. There is no story line to speak of, but the informative text contains interesting facts and the splendid endpapers, showing "The Village" and "The Country," and the Brueghel-like paintings invite careful inspection. Fix's book was first published in Germany in 1987 and appears here with an "American text adaptation." It should appeal to readers whose ancestors came from central Europe, but also could be used with books like Donald Hall's Ox-Cart Man (Viking, 1979) in a study of pre-industrial societies.
Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.