A beautiful story of love and understanding
Rating:
5 / 5
This story, set in Hungary just before World War I, is a delightful story of a young motherless girl who learns the meaning of love and family with her uncle and his family out in the country. It can be enjoyed on many levels - family story, historical novel, ethnic traditions from Hungary, etc. Be sure to follow it up with the sequel "The Singing Tree" which tells of the family's life during World War I. Enthusiastically recommended!
One of the Highlights of My Reading Life
Rating:
5 / 5
It seems I have always loved the Good Master. In fact, I first encountered it in the 5th grade. Set in pre-world War I Central Europe on a Hungarian ranch, its cast of characters, the sheperds, the old Jewish grocers, the Good Master, Janci, still inhabit my imagination. The main character, Kate, with her guts, compassion and funny bone became, along with Jo March, a personal hero and role model. This book takes a young reader completely away, visually and verbally, to another place in several other times, and sets his or her senses dancing. Unfortunately Seredy's art has fallen beneath editorial radar This book should be in the personal libary of all upper elementary students who love to read and adults who remember a child's delight in discovering a great read.
A beautiful, enriching book (and not just for kids).
Rating:
5 / 5
I first read this book when I was ten-years-old. My elementary school library had a copy of it, but I could never find another library with it after I left that school. I am now in college, and "The Good Master" recently resurfaced while I was browsing a used book store. I just finished it, and I still love it as much now as I did as a child.
Young Jancsi, living in a farm in Hungary with his parents, is a boy trying to find his place in the world of men when Kate, his spoiled cousin from Budapest, comes to live with the family. Though initially enemies, Kate and Jancsi soon become good friends, and their fun adventures will captivate any kid. Kate grows from a sickly city girl to a strong little farmer, and she teaches Jansci to notice and appreciate aspects of his hardworking rural life that he had always taken for granted. Though the book only covers about a year, both of them have changed greatly by its end, and Jancsi has become the man he longed to be. The wise, understanding presence of Jancsi's father Marton (the `Good Master' of the title) can be felt even in the scenes where he is not present. The book paints a colorful, detailed portrait of life in the Hungarian countryside, a culture that few Americans know anything about. Though it's aimed at 9- to 12-year-olds, I would definitely recommend "The Good Master" to adults, too.
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