|
A book of magic in the midst of hard times -- that's what "A Green Horn Blowing" is. The first sentence tells readers that the story takes place in the Great Depression era and life is hard, but from that point on, it becomes a heartwarming tale about a wandering farm worker who plays the trumpet and the young boy he teaches to play.
The boy (we never know his name) lives on his Aunt Frita's berry farm. She employs migrant workers who work for a season and then move on, but one of them, John Cleveland Watts, stays on, doing odd jobs and sleeping in the barn where he plays the trumpet for the cats and the boy.
Soon the youngster is dreaming of owning a trumpet himself. In town on a Saturday, he begs John Potts to go into a pawn shop and look for a horn, but to no avail. As they walk home, John Potts spots a squash vine, follows it down a ditch, and finds a "trombolia" -- a gourd shaped like a trumpet with an extra curl in its neck, and that becomes the boy's trumpet.
All through the winter, John Potts teaches the boy to play, "trying to make a horn player out of me." When spring comes, the two of them play for the other men who help with planting the berries. As summer arrives, the boy plays the trombolia at every opportunity and becomes quite good.
But the days roll by toward fall and the green plant dries up, develops a "death rattle." The boy is both sad and angry at Mr. Potts for not telling him that the plant would die. Life moves on, the berry harvest is good and the boy goes to school. One day, he returns to the field where he had left his dying trombolia. What he finds there and what it leads him to make a perfect ending for "A Green Horn Blowing."
Author David Birchman grew up on a berry farm in the 1950s and the story has the feel of a memory, although that may be due more to Thomas Allen's illustrations. Done in his recognizable style, they nonetheless convey his special feeling for this story in the postures and eyes of the two characters. Only his art reveals that John Potts is a black man, which adds a new dimension to the poignant story. Birchman and Allen have combined their talents to give children an outstanding picture book.
Marilyn Alspaugh reviews children's books in Missoula, Montana.
©1998, ProMotion, inc.
Support your