The Little Governor in Fableland
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Authors
Jewett, John Howard
Issue Date
1907
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Type
Book, Whole
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Abstract
This sturdy book in excellent condition is extra tall (over 7½) and extra thin (less than 4). In its three chapters, we find a story strong in its sense of social contrasts. The two children of the governor up the cliffs have an encounter with two poorer children from among the clam-diggers along the shore. Earnest, one of the latter, saves Fortunato, the son of the governor. In the meantime, the well-to-do children go to school with the Kindly Hermit and hear songs of the Blithebird. These two, we learn, have been planning together new ways to teach old truths (10). In a second chapter, the Kindly Hermit tells a story to the two governor's children that turns out to be a fable pointing them the way to what to do. A young man urges his giant father to overcome the dragon that hinders some good gypsies from enjoying the good life. Fortunato becomes governor for a day and enacts the fable's program. He has a school built for the children of the clam-diggers and has their houses spruced up. My biggest surprise in all of this is the strong sense of social class; Fortunato and Gentilita need to become conscious of those poor clam-diggers and gypsies and be generous to them. The story, despite its ideology, centers really rather in Fortunato and Gentilita learning to be fellow human beings just like those clam-digger children -- and, God forbid, even like gypsies!
Description
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Publisher
Frederick A. Stokes Company
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DOI
Identifier
7807 (Access ID)