Shaker Lane

by Alice Provensen, Martin Provensen

When the town decides to build a reservoir on their land, the residents of Shaker Lane decide to move away rather than fight ot keep their homes

Genres: Picture Books, Family, Childrens, Historical Fiction

32 pages, Library Binding

First published November 1, 1987

About the author

Alice Provensen collaborated with her late husband, Martin, on numerous highly acclaimed picture books, including the Caldecott Medal-winning The Glorious Flight and Nancy Willard's Newbery Medal-winning A Visit to William Blake's Inn, which was also a Caldecott Honor Book. The Provensens have been on the New York Times list of the Ten Best Illustrated Books eight times.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a find! I don't believe I have ever seen a community of rural lower-class families portrayed in a picture book, let alone with such tenderness and grace. "In order to live, the Herkimer sister sold off pieces of the farm, a half-acre here, an acre there. They sold it cheap." The clarity of the language and images conveys the reality of the lives of the people on Shaker Lane with a complete absence of sentimentality, managing to portray a sense of community between the families and individuals who live there largely in the blank space and silence between pages and words: "People never knew if it was Jesse or Ben who weeded their gardens" and "When an enormous maple tree blew down in a storm, Big Jake cut up firewood for everyone". Thus the reader becomes part of the unspoken group of "people" who belong to Shaker Lane. Readers can fill in the gaps and appreciate the way the similarities in lifestyle, proximity, and isolation, render the set of people introduced from page to page a community, and it becomes at the same time a community that includes the book's readers, many of whom might otherwise dismiss the its constituents as "white trash". The ultimate powerlessness of the inhabitants of Shaker Lane to prevent the demolition of their homes rings true, but serves more to illustrate the lives of the people in the book than to provide a plot. Make no mistake, the book does not have a traditional plot. It reminds me of Roxaboxen in that way, a story of place and the people who live there, a snapshot of community many readers will have never seen before (or have never seen people like themselves in a book. Above all, it is a rare portrait of a place and time, both unique and ubiquitous, that one could easily imagine driving by without a second glance.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moving, poignant portrayal of people who don't have much of a voice in most books or in real life. I sure do hope they found good new places to settle... but it's also a good thing they're resourceful folks. When I picked it up I was hoping it had something to do with Shakers, but no. It would be a good companion to The 100 Dresses and Letting Swift River Go.

Thank you to Little Free Libraries for introducing me to books I'd not have seen otherwise. This was found in Monk Botanical Gardens in Wausau, Wisconsin, which is currently almost empty (I had nothing left to exchange, sorry... but I did drop it off further south in another LFL..).

[Mathew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent picturebook which celebrates so much about Americans living by simple means and living simple lives. Living on the land owned by a pair of elderly twin sisters who can no longer maintain the acres of farmland, Alice and Martin Provensen introduce us to a handful of residents who live there.
The words and the pictures say so much without saying anything explicitly and you feel that you are looking upon the rural lifestyles of real people. This alone could lead to a fruitful and rich discussion on comparative lifestyles. When the residents find out that their homes will be lost to a reservoir, they are forced to move yet we find that their spirit and adaptability shines a great hope on the future prospects. This is an America I have not seen in children's books and it's far richer than most.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shaker Lane is kind of an odd story, though I could see it really appealing to the Rachel Lynde sort. Just kidding! I’m sure other types would enjoy it too.

Two old sisters have to sell land off cheaply to pay for expenses. But the people that move in aren’t high class, to say the least. Then the government buys up the land (most likely to clean up the area) and the rest is history. You’ll learn about different families and their bits of gossip along the way.

Ages: 4 - 10

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the variety and artistry of the Provensens' work. This is a local history told through pictures and brief but pithy narrative. It's not flashy--the color scheme is dominated by browns and muted earthy tones, and there are no famous characters. But the story is compelling and the pictures lovely.

[Bvlmc Buchanan Verplanck Elementary School · Rating 2 out of 5]

A brief history land use along one stretch of road: a farm, selling off land by elderly farmers, makeshift houses on small lots, building a reservoir, renaming the area and subdividing lots for suburbs. This picture book walks readers through the history of a parcel of land and those who lived there in brief, spare prose and illustrations that evoke the same feeling as the text.

[superawesomekt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is refreshing in that it is presented as a tableau, not a sermon—the authors do not preach politics or morality. As a result there is much more to reflect and consider. I'll be interested to see what my kids think of this one.

[Awake at Midnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poignant. I can see a camera panning back, black and white like the Twilight Zone, taking in the facial features of each of the unique and beautiful characters of this town, bathed in sadness.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2 stars

[Karly J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delicious illustrations. I love this small story

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is kind of a rare story but I loved the uniqueness!
The pictures have many details to observe!

[Cheryl Leon Levy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book based upon the illustrations alone. Very folk-artsy and pleasing. When I got it home I read it to Atticus and could not stop laughing in shock and delight. It's basically the story of a farm owned by the Herkimer Sisters who sell off lots cheaply. So the little neighborhood is inhabited by kind of a rougher, blue collar crowd, but each person on the street is introduced and you realize that it was probably a nice place to live. Then a government man comes with a document saying that everyone has to move because they are building a reservoir in that area. The document is even one of the illustrations. It's so funny! Anyway, everyone moves out and the water rises. The only ones left are the Herkimer sisters — who now have an ugly view of a dam — and Old Man Van Sloop who now lives on a houseboat. It is one of the greatest stories I've ever read! :)

[SmarterLilac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific! One of the only children's books I have read in recent years to address the lifestyles of working class, even poor, citizens with dignity and style. The tone of this beautifully illustrated text is neither conceited nor simplistic, and managed to end in a satisfying manner despite its refusal to gloss over the realities of environmental and community destruction in the South.

[polly · Rating 4 out of 5]

We liked this book about a ragamuffin group of characters who lived their lives on now-destroyed Shaker Lane. We adore the Provensens' book on Bleriot, and this one wasn't quite as good, but we still all enjoyed it a lot. Something about the Provensens' characters is charming and endearing, even the least savory ones.

[Jason Das · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful.

[Maggie Hesseling · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting look at America and how it can change so radically. There were a couple things I really liked about this picture book. First of all, the illustrations. I love how it has such a rustic feel to it, almost like the inhabitants of Shaker Lane. With vivid blues and greens. But mostly browns. This makes the changes that happen at the end seem all the more contrasting.

I've actually had this book for years. Someone probably gave it to us when I was a kid, and in a recent spring cleaning i came across it. It almost went on the discard pile, but now having reread it, how could impart with it? It's a wonderful picture book that is so different to anything you see now. I only wish that at the end we found out about the sisters and their house. Does it still stand with all those changes? Or did the sisters run out of all their money and have to leave after all? So many questions unanswered...