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Kate and Jancsi #2
Singing Tree
Life on the Hungarian plains is changing quickly for Jancsi and his cousin Kate. Father has given Jancsi permission to be in charge of his own herd, and Kate has begun to think about going to dances. Jancsi hardly even recognizes Kate when she appears at Peter and Mari's wedding wearing nearly as many petticoats as the older girls wear. And Jancsi himself, astride his prized horse, doesn't seem to Kate to be quite so boyish anymore. Then, when Hungary must send troops to fight in the Great War and Jancsi's father is called to battle, the two cousins must grow up all the sooner in order to take care of the farm and all the relatives, Russian soldiers, and German war orphans who take refuge there.
247 pages, Library Binding
First published October 1, 1940
40 people are currently reading
2007 people want to read
About the author
Kate Seredy
75 books93 followersSeredy (Serédy Kató) was a gifted writer and illustrator, born in Hungary, who moved to the United States in 1922.
Seredy received a diploma to teach art from the Academy of Arts in Budapest. During World War I Seredy travelled to Paris and worked as a combat nurse. After the war she illustrated several books in Hungary.
She is best known for The Good Master, written in 1935, and for the Newbery Award winner, The White Stag.
Seredy received a diploma to teach art from the Academy of Arts in Budapest. During World War I Seredy travelled to Paris and worked as a combat nurse. After the war she illustrated several books in Hungary.
She is best known for The Good Master, written in 1935, and for the Newbery Award winner, The White Stag.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 227 reviews
April 8, 2018
This 1939 Newbery Honor book is a sequel to The Good Master, one of my childhood favorites, about two cousins and their wonderful adventures in the Hungarian countryside in the early part of the 1900s. In The Singing Tree, Kate's and Jansci's fathers go off to war (WWI), and the two cousins, who are now teenagers, take care of the family farm in the Hungarian steppes, as well as their grandparents, some neighbors who need a place to stay, six Russian POWs, and six German children who are refugees.
My reaction to this book as a teenager was "meh"; I didn't care for the more serious tone of this book. I decided I needed to read it again to give it a more fair assessment. I found much more to love this time around: there are more of the lovely stories of country life in Hungary in the early 1900's than I had remembered (the first third of the book is pre-war), and the wartime stories are more touching.
Both The Good Master and The Singing Tree are Newbery Honor books.
My reaction to this book as a teenager was "meh"; I didn't care for the more serious tone of this book. I decided I needed to read it again to give it a more fair assessment. I found much more to love this time around: there are more of the lovely stories of country life in Hungary in the early 1900's than I had remembered (the first third of the book is pre-war), and the wartime stories are more touching.
Father never spoke of the war and soon they all learned not to ask about it, because then his face would darken as if he were in pain. Once in a while he told small, poignant stories, but there were no cannon belching death or wounded screaming for mercy in the memories he shared with his family. He spoke of the small bird with the broken wing one of the men had picked up, and how the little bird had become tame during the weeks its wing was healing; how they had let it go on a September morning and how it sang to them before it soared away. About lone dogs guarding ruins of homes, and of cats waiting for a door to open that had no walls around it.There's quite a bit of narrative editorializing about the depredations of war, and I get the impression Kate Seredy was quite the peacenik and had strong opinions about America staying out of WWII (this book was written in 1939; it would be interesting to know if her opinions had changed at all five or six years later). Overall it's a worthwhile middle grade-level story, a strong sequel to The Good Master, and an interesting, different POV about the effects of WWI on the people left behind when soldiers go off to war, and how those soldiers are changed by their experiences. Seredy's illustrations, as always, are gorgeous.
Both The Good Master and The Singing Tree are Newbery Honor books.
November 11, 2016
Own.
Wow! I expected fantastic things after reading The Good Master and A Tree for Peter, but I didn't really expect this. We read this as our "fun readaloud" at the end of Whatchamacallit (Morning Time) and it was a hit with the children often begging for more into their break time.
The book shows a family, small at first, that expands and opens it's home in love during very troubled times. It is a place of shelter, peace, and joy. Friendships and hard work forge beautiful bonds and Seredy describes this beautifully.
The Singing Tree is a metaphor for beauty in the midst of chaos and is a poignant reminder in these difficult days. Father, Uncle Marton, Master Nagy is a bastion of strength and wisdom throughout the book - even when he is gone. Mother is a source of love and comfort, strength in a different way, always willing to open her home to more people - from extended family to Russian POWs to German children to others in need - and creatures alike.
I have rarely read more beautiful descriptive language - certainly not sustained throughout a book as Seredy's. Her metaphors and similies are spot on, her ideas are deep yet clear to the children being read to. The current action of the story is mirrored in the writing whether speedy, emphatic horse races or dreary, dark, unending nights. The darkness of war is clear, the joy of family was clear, the universality of mankind was clear. If there is a more needed message these days, I'm not sure what it is. Many chapters - and not only the final chapters - caused me to tear up or outright cry.
Highly, highly, highly recommended. I do recommend going through The Good Master first, although it isn't entirely necessary.
Wow! I expected fantastic things after reading The Good Master and A Tree for Peter, but I didn't really expect this. We read this as our "fun readaloud" at the end of Whatchamacallit (Morning Time) and it was a hit with the children often begging for more into their break time.
The book shows a family, small at first, that expands and opens it's home in love during very troubled times. It is a place of shelter, peace, and joy. Friendships and hard work forge beautiful bonds and Seredy describes this beautifully.
The Singing Tree is a metaphor for beauty in the midst of chaos and is a poignant reminder in these difficult days. Father, Uncle Marton, Master Nagy is a bastion of strength and wisdom throughout the book - even when he is gone. Mother is a source of love and comfort, strength in a different way, always willing to open her home to more people - from extended family to Russian POWs to German children to others in need - and creatures alike.
I have rarely read more beautiful descriptive language - certainly not sustained throughout a book as Seredy's. Her metaphors and similies are spot on, her ideas are deep yet clear to the children being read to. The current action of the story is mirrored in the writing whether speedy, emphatic horse races or dreary, dark, unending nights. The darkness of war is clear, the joy of family was clear, the universality of mankind was clear. If there is a more needed message these days, I'm not sure what it is. Many chapters - and not only the final chapters - caused me to tear up or outright cry.
Highly, highly, highly recommended. I do recommend going through The Good Master first, although it isn't entirely necessary.
January 21, 2016
This book blew me away! I thought it could never be as good as The Good Master, but I was wrong. It's better!
Usually I hate when war comes in books because everything's better without war, right? But here Kate Seredy managed to show us so much beauty that could be found in life even in the midst of hardship during WWI (and she did not ignore the hardship).
One thing I loved about the book was the running theme that people are alike: Hungarians, Germans, Russians. Country kids and snobby city kids. Daddies and soldiers.
Another thing I enjoyed is that while our main characters Jancsi and Kate were teen-aged, they were still very much innocent and child-like. Although there is much talk of the children growing up and becoming men and women, there doesn't seem to be any concept of "teenagers," and I found that refreshing.
And one last thing that made me want to cry: I loved the discussions of the treatment of Jews and their history in the village. It ended on such a beautiful, positive note. This book was published in 1939, right before WWII started. Had the author heard of the persecutions beginning at that time? Did she somehow know what was to come?
After I read The Good Master I concluded that more people should be reading it, and I'm going to say the same about this sequel. It kills me that books like this are crowded off the shelves of school libraries by whatever is cheap and popular and heavily marketed.
Usually I hate when war comes in books because everything's better without war, right? But here Kate Seredy managed to show us so much beauty that could be found in life even in the midst of hardship during WWI (and she did not ignore the hardship).
One thing I loved about the book was the running theme that people are alike: Hungarians, Germans, Russians. Country kids and snobby city kids. Daddies and soldiers.
Another thing I enjoyed is that while our main characters Jancsi and Kate were teen-aged, they were still very much innocent and child-like. Although there is much talk of the children growing up and becoming men and women, there doesn't seem to be any concept of "teenagers," and I found that refreshing.
And one last thing that made me want to cry: I loved the discussions of the treatment of Jews and their history in the village. It ended on such a beautiful, positive note. This book was published in 1939, right before WWII started. Had the author heard of the persecutions beginning at that time? Did she somehow know what was to come?
After I read The Good Master I concluded that more people should be reading it, and I'm going to say the same about this sequel. It kills me that books like this are crowded off the shelves of school libraries by whatever is cheap and popular and heavily marketed.
April 9, 2025
Update: I read this one again for a book group discussion and I still love it. I have a few more passages to remember this time around.
"Well," the old man smiled, "I make money using my brains and lose money listening to my heart. But in the long run my books balance pretty well."
"But tractors go faster than Jancsi's old white horses!" pouted Kate.
"Let them. I want to walk slowly behind the plow; I want to have time to feel the soft, crumbling soil under my feet, to smell its rich, moist smell. I want to have time to look at the flowers by the fence, the blue sky above, to listen to the birds and the song of the wind. I don't want a machine puffing black smoke into God's clean air, crushing birds' nests under its cold steel claws, roaring 'Hurry-hurry-hurry' into my ears. When day is done, I want to be able to say: 'Well done, old friend,' to my horse, rub him clean, feed him sweet-smelling hay, golden oats, and fresh water. At night I want to breathe the clean air of the plains and hear the small noises contented animals make, instead of smelling stale oil and listening to the dead silence of stilled machinery."
"Then, not waiting for any more questions, he was prattling for all he was worth, words gushing out of him. The farm, Father, Kate, Lily, his herd, the dogs, Uncle Moses - all he loved came to life to these strange listeners whose number grew as he talked on. He didn't know that in this railroad town whence thousands of singing men went away every day and into which hundreds of silent, maimed ones were sent back, his words had created a little island of almost forgotten peace. Men and women, young and old were living, for a few brief moments, on a sun-drenched farm, far, far away from the dreadful roaring of guns."
"The book (Father's journal) had become a tower of strength for them. It was part of Father, and even if they knew every word of it by heart, reading it brought Father into the old kitchen."
"Oh, no. This is another Christmas Eve, and the Christ Child must not find hate in our hearts. Only pity for those who are responsible, for there is no man on earth wicked enough to have knowingly unleashed this power of darkness upon mankind."
Knowingly, no. But it was loose, this power called the war, and while it was roaming the earth no one could hold peace and happiness for long. It still demanded heartbreak and tears and helpless suffering from all those whose lives it couldn't take.
"After the fresh troops went into action, an American general in Flanders wrote in his book: 'Lost ten thousand men. Advanced three miles.' Mother was writing too. She wrote:
Lottie, six years old, weighs 35 pounds
Marie, six years old, weighs 37
Pauline, six years old, weighs 40
Hans, twelve years old, weighs 65
Paul, twelve years old, weighs 70
Johann, eleven years old, weighs 62
When on July 6, 1917, the general sent a cable to Washington, he said: 'Plans should contemplate sending over at least one million men by next May.'
Mother wrote in her book on the same day: 'All gained at least two pounds.'
On July 17 the general wrote: 'Plans for the future should be based on at least three million men.'
On that day Mother said to Father: 'I have stopped weighing them. They are gaining like little piglets.'
Of these two, keeping records, Mother was far the happier."
Coming to the end of this beautiful story is quite painful as you read the words of hope as WWI comes to an end and Ms. Seredy publishes this book just as WWII is getting a start. I enjoyed The Good Master but this one takes those characters to such a depth, with the village and its people truly becoming a major character that I just fell in love with. And she is not afraid to address the darker themes that led to WWI (a war that we are still fighting on some fronts, in my opinion) and it was so heartbreaking to have her throw around terms like holocaust, with a small h, without understanding what that word would come to mean.. But, if I am going to read a book about war, I want it to be this kind of book with so much hope and love and acceptance. Wait until you get to the actual story of the singing tree, it will make your heart sing as well.
A couple of pretty passages:
"So women were not all gentle, helpless softness, either; they too had a steel armor that would not let them show the tears inside. The last shred of small-boyish pride his new manhood left Jansci then; he was all man now, bowing his head to the strength of a woman."
"No," chuckled Uncle Moses. "The bartering part of running the store is easy to teach. But it will take time to teach my son...when to forget what people owe him. Nobody can learn that out of books."
"Well," the old man smiled, "I make money using my brains and lose money listening to my heart. But in the long run my books balance pretty well."
"But tractors go faster than Jancsi's old white horses!" pouted Kate.
"Let them. I want to walk slowly behind the plow; I want to have time to feel the soft, crumbling soil under my feet, to smell its rich, moist smell. I want to have time to look at the flowers by the fence, the blue sky above, to listen to the birds and the song of the wind. I don't want a machine puffing black smoke into God's clean air, crushing birds' nests under its cold steel claws, roaring 'Hurry-hurry-hurry' into my ears. When day is done, I want to be able to say: 'Well done, old friend,' to my horse, rub him clean, feed him sweet-smelling hay, golden oats, and fresh water. At night I want to breathe the clean air of the plains and hear the small noises contented animals make, instead of smelling stale oil and listening to the dead silence of stilled machinery."
"Then, not waiting for any more questions, he was prattling for all he was worth, words gushing out of him. The farm, Father, Kate, Lily, his herd, the dogs, Uncle Moses - all he loved came to life to these strange listeners whose number grew as he talked on. He didn't know that in this railroad town whence thousands of singing men went away every day and into which hundreds of silent, maimed ones were sent back, his words had created a little island of almost forgotten peace. Men and women, young and old were living, for a few brief moments, on a sun-drenched farm, far, far away from the dreadful roaring of guns."
"The book (Father's journal) had become a tower of strength for them. It was part of Father, and even if they knew every word of it by heart, reading it brought Father into the old kitchen."
"Oh, no. This is another Christmas Eve, and the Christ Child must not find hate in our hearts. Only pity for those who are responsible, for there is no man on earth wicked enough to have knowingly unleashed this power of darkness upon mankind."
Knowingly, no. But it was loose, this power called the war, and while it was roaming the earth no one could hold peace and happiness for long. It still demanded heartbreak and tears and helpless suffering from all those whose lives it couldn't take.
"After the fresh troops went into action, an American general in Flanders wrote in his book: 'Lost ten thousand men. Advanced three miles.' Mother was writing too. She wrote:
Lottie, six years old, weighs 35 pounds
Marie, six years old, weighs 37
Pauline, six years old, weighs 40
Hans, twelve years old, weighs 65
Paul, twelve years old, weighs 70
Johann, eleven years old, weighs 62
When on July 6, 1917, the general sent a cable to Washington, he said: 'Plans should contemplate sending over at least one million men by next May.'
Mother wrote in her book on the same day: 'All gained at least two pounds.'
On July 17 the general wrote: 'Plans for the future should be based on at least three million men.'
On that day Mother said to Father: 'I have stopped weighing them. They are gaining like little piglets.'
Of these two, keeping records, Mother was far the happier."
Coming to the end of this beautiful story is quite painful as you read the words of hope as WWI comes to an end and Ms. Seredy publishes this book just as WWII is getting a start. I enjoyed The Good Master but this one takes those characters to such a depth, with the village and its people truly becoming a major character that I just fell in love with. And she is not afraid to address the darker themes that led to WWI (a war that we are still fighting on some fronts, in my opinion) and it was so heartbreaking to have her throw around terms like holocaust, with a small h, without understanding what that word would come to mean.. But, if I am going to read a book about war, I want it to be this kind of book with so much hope and love and acceptance. Wait until you get to the actual story of the singing tree, it will make your heart sing as well.
A couple of pretty passages:
"So women were not all gentle, helpless softness, either; they too had a steel armor that would not let them show the tears inside. The last shred of small-boyish pride his new manhood left Jansci then; he was all man now, bowing his head to the strength of a woman."
"No," chuckled Uncle Moses. "The bartering part of running the store is easy to teach. But it will take time to teach my son...when to forget what people owe him. Nobody can learn that out of books."
January 23, 2021
I just loved this book. It may be a children's book, but the meaning holds true for me, even as an adult. Just like with The Good Master, I would recommend this book to young and old.
August 17, 2007
A personal tale (the author is retelling her childhood) of the shift from the farms of rural Hungary to the effects of WWI. The Jewish storekeeper having faith that this war will help keep his people safe for good, the Russian prisoners of war working in the farm and being grateful to be there, safe from the battlefield, the soldiers coming home changed and shell shocked, the solidity of community and family...
September 27, 2015
A sequel to The Good Master this book takes Hungary into the First World War and we see how this effects our two intrepid main characters. No longer children Kate and Jancsi spend their middle teen years learning to be adults. Family goes to war, and the family take in Russian prisoners of war and German war orphans. I am saddened this is the last time I will spend with this farming family living on the Hungarian plains.
December 22, 2023
5+ stars (9/10 hearts). Oh, how good this book was. I’m having difficulty writing this review. It was just so beautiful and quaint and old-fashioned and happy and sunshiny... I think “beautiful” just sums it up. It was very funny at times, but mostly it tugged at my heart so much. I loved seeing how the war affected them... You don’t often see books from the German POV instead of the Allied one. It was just an amazing, amazing book. I loved everyone... all the character were so real and strong and noble. The stress it lays upon how horrible war is and how the enemy is really people just like us… The big Russians and the tiny German children… my heart. <33 It is brilliantly well-written, and is just so full of truth and beauty and wisdom. I could ramble on but I’ll just say, it is amazing and beautiful and I ended up teary-eyed at the end. <33 Hands-down one of my top 10 favourite books.
A Favourite Quote: “Cannon,” said Father[.] “They could throw a shell from here to the farm and shatter the house.”
“Not our house. They wouldn’t!” exclaimed Jancsi, casting a threatening glance at the cannon.
“No, not our house, thank the Lord,” sighed Father. “But they will shatter houses like ours somewhere, wherever they are going. Little peaceful white houses in Serbia or Russia, homes of little peaceful people such as we are.”
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: “I want to walk slowly behind the plow; I want to have time to feel the soft crumbling soil under my feet, to smell its rich, moist smell. I want to have time to look at the flowers by the fence, the blue sky above, to listen to the birds and the song of the wind. I don’t want a machine puffing black smoke into God’s clean air, crushing birds’ nests under its cold steel claws, roaring ‘Hurry-hurry-hurry’ into my ears. When day is done, I want to be able to say: ‘Well done, old friend,’ to my horse, rub him clean, feed him sweet-smelling hay, golden oats, and fresh water. At night I want to breathe the clean air of the plains and hear the small noises contented animals make, instead of smelling stale oil and listening to the dead silence of stilled machinery.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “You can ride out in the morning. After milking!” [Father] shouted before his laughing was choked off by the small whirlwind that was Jancsi. He hugged his father with all his might, thumped Uncle Sandor on the back, … and landed a resounding kiss on Mother’s cheek. She held him tight to her, so that the ear-splitting whoop of joy Jancsi managed was partly muffled against her shoulder. Father had turned to Uncle Sandor, who was still coughing from the unexpected attack.
“I am not experienced in business ways, Sandor,” Father laughed. “Is it customary for a man who has been promoted to choke everybody in sight?”
“Well,” said Uncle Sandor, pretending to be serious, “the more accepted procedure is to shake hands and make a speech.”
A Favourite Quote: “Cannon,” said Father[.] “They could throw a shell from here to the farm and shatter the house.”
“Not our house. They wouldn’t!” exclaimed Jancsi, casting a threatening glance at the cannon.
“No, not our house, thank the Lord,” sighed Father. “But they will shatter houses like ours somewhere, wherever they are going. Little peaceful white houses in Serbia or Russia, homes of little peaceful people such as we are.”
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: “I want to walk slowly behind the plow; I want to have time to feel the soft crumbling soil under my feet, to smell its rich, moist smell. I want to have time to look at the flowers by the fence, the blue sky above, to listen to the birds and the song of the wind. I don’t want a machine puffing black smoke into God’s clean air, crushing birds’ nests under its cold steel claws, roaring ‘Hurry-hurry-hurry’ into my ears. When day is done, I want to be able to say: ‘Well done, old friend,’ to my horse, rub him clean, feed him sweet-smelling hay, golden oats, and fresh water. At night I want to breathe the clean air of the plains and hear the small noises contented animals make, instead of smelling stale oil and listening to the dead silence of stilled machinery.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “You can ride out in the morning. After milking!” [Father] shouted before his laughing was choked off by the small whirlwind that was Jancsi. He hugged his father with all his might, thumped Uncle Sandor on the back, … and landed a resounding kiss on Mother’s cheek. She held him tight to her, so that the ear-splitting whoop of joy Jancsi managed was partly muffled against her shoulder. Father had turned to Uncle Sandor, who was still coughing from the unexpected attack.
“I am not experienced in business ways, Sandor,” Father laughed. “Is it customary for a man who has been promoted to choke everybody in sight?”
“Well,” said Uncle Sandor, pretending to be serious, “the more accepted procedure is to shake hands and make a speech.”
October 18, 2009
I read this until our copy fell apart.
June 2, 2015
A remarkable book. Its appealing predecessor (The Good Master) was pleasant and informative about Hungarian culture, but this is deep. Read it and remember that it was published in October 1939, at the very start of World War II. It tells a tale of the first great war, the "war to end all wars," but what can we, as modern readers, think when we read Moses Mandelbaum's words to Márton Nagy: "This makes me sure now...for the first time sure, that [his brothers] Joseph and Sam have not died in vain. A new day is coming, Márton, for us, for all nations. No more wars, Márton. No more persecution, no more intolerance ever..."? It is truly heartbreaking. Although Kristallnacht had taken place and Hungary was beginning to implement anti-Jewish laws, Seredy could not have known the extent of the horrors still to come.
The family stories are still wonderful and show the maturing of the children from the earlier book, but this is no light read.
The family stories are still wonderful and show the maturing of the children from the earlier book, but this is no light read.
October 15, 2018
I read this aloud to my kids. We thought that there was no way that it could be as good as “The Good Master,” but it exceeded our expectations! This was a beautiful story about the destruction and darkness of war, but it was also full of love, laughter, and human kindness shown to all humans without thought of language, religion, or heritage. What a powerful message of love and acceptance. This is the type of book that makes you want to be a better person.
January 4, 2025
A wonderful, moving story. I highly recommend it. The first novel I have read set during World War I. Really excellent.
May 7, 2025
INCREDIBLE. Starting about halfway through, there was not ONE chapter where I did not cry. Seredy has such a powerful way with words and characters. What a valuable perspective for us to read from as well - a warm, hope-filled Hungarian farm during the dark days of WWI. One of our family's favorite read-alouds ever. 💓
May 22, 2023
4+ stars. I loved this. I don’t know if my kids will, but it was so heartwarming to me.
June 15, 2024
I enjoyed this book as much or even more than The Good Master. This should have been the 1940 Newbery winner instead of the stink ola winner- Daniel Boone. This is set as WW I begins in a small village/farm in Hungary. The themes are quite strong and characters are well developed. This was published the year WWII is beginning. In the last chapter p. 249 it is says, “…Joseph and Sam have not died in vain. A new day is coming, Marton, for us, for all nations. No more wars, Marton. No more persecution, no more intolerance ever….” In another section it talks about the Russian Revolution in a positive way, and one of the minor characters returning from war jaded and against people he had grown up with that were helpful to him. All of these references were quite chilling considering when this book was published and written. The title chapter’s metaphor was a very distinguished element of this title. If you are in a Newbery reading challenge- I highly recommend this book and the first title. These are standouts for their decades- not too many great Newbery choices from 1922-1949.
February 3, 2020
Oh, so good! It made me both laugh and cry. So full of wisdom and loving kindness. So many brave and beautiful deeds. So poignant, so moving!
It was as good the second time as it was the first. My kiddos loved it and were pleased to have this sequel involving Kate and Jancsi to read after we enjoyed The Good Master together. Definitely our current favorites!
It was as good the second time as it was the first. My kiddos loved it and were pleased to have this sequel involving Kate and Jancsi to read after we enjoyed The Good Master together. Definitely our current favorites!
March 15, 2023
This is one of the most beautiful stories of faith, hope, and love I have ever read. Just beautiful. It was also interesting learning about what World War 1 was like from the Hungarian countryside perspective. Really makes me want to learn more about Hungary and Eastern Europe.
March 24, 2019
5 stars (without hesitation from an adult reader). This is the sequel to "The Good Master", the story of two cousins, Jancsi and Kate, and life on a farm/ranch on the Hungarian plains. That book was full of a wistful nostalgia of times passing. This one..... This one was written at the very beginnings of WWII and set in early 1914 and carrying through all of WWI. Some reviewers have stated that it is a pacifist piece and, to the degree that it portrays war as nothing good, it is - WWI was a particularly senseless, stupid war with alliances pulling country after country in and causing the collapse of empires as well as seeding the ground of the future war. Kate and Jancsi are still on the farm/ranch, and J is old enough now to have his own horse herd. The one sweet piece early on is the description of the village wedding and the "ancient" customs that are followed. As the year progresses, the cousins are both given increased responsibilities which become nearly adult ones when war does come and their fathers are both recruited along with all the ranch han ds, except old Arpad. The Marton home and ranch gradually becomes a haven for all sorts of people: 6 Russian POWs (requisitioned to help on the farm), a young girl from town, the bride and her baby from the early wedding, Mama's parents, and eventually 6 German children who were starving at home. A wonderful, recurrent side story involves the village's Jewish merchant, Moses Mandelbaum and how he fits into the community - part of me wonders how much the author knew at the time of writing of what the Jewish people of the former Prussian, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian empires were going to face during WWII's Holocaust. And finally, the title of the book comes from a story Papa tells about the war, when crossing dead man's land, he and the other soldiers come across an undamaged apple tree filled with many varieties of birds, all singing and coexisting without enmity. So yes, the book is probably a pacifist piece, at least to that degree. I read this for my 2019 Reading Challenge and my Newbery Challenge (Honor book, 1940).
May 27, 2020
Wonderful. Emotional, especially during this lockdown time of Covid. But it gives a sense of hope.
January 5, 2021
I participated in an Online Book Retreat this summer, and this book was recommended to me by one of the other participants. The sequel to "The Good Master," the kids are older and World War I has come to Hungary. There's some things that are a bit beyond belief, but the melancholy, hopefulness, and arc of history was really strong.
January 3, 2024
What a fantastic book!
This book is excellent for developing historical empathy. I loved reading about WWI from a Hungarian perspective and how humanizing the story was for a story on war. The characters were also fantastic.
CC: war violence (nothing graphic), death, PTSD (though not called that)
This book is excellent for developing historical empathy. I loved reading about WWI from a Hungarian perspective and how humanizing the story was for a story on war. The characters were also fantastic.
CC: war violence (nothing graphic), death, PTSD (though not called that)
March 12, 2019
Seredy's (pronounced Sheredy) command of the English language, which she learned as an adult not too many years before writing this book and its prequel, The Good Master, is impressive. Her writing ability and illustration talents match, reflected by the numerous Newbery, Caldecot, and other honors that she won.
This is a wonderful cultural infusion and historical fiction selection, providing a nice excursion to the plains of Hungary during the WWI era. It is a children's novel, but has interest for adults as well. Its communication of social rumblings regarding Jews and the fervent hopes of the people at the war's end that this will be the signal of everlasting peace, the War to End All Wars, is supremely ironic. She was writing as anti-Semitic hatred was frothing over, and the book was published just as WWII was starting.
One can trust the accuracy of the illustrations regarding the dress of people and the folk lore and attitudes, because Seredy grew up in this setting. She did live in Budapest during the school years, but her summers were spent out on the plains in the country. She also writes of the war experience and responses with authority, having been old enough to work as a nurse during that trial.
Although WWI figures highly in this book, it is a Hungarian homefront story rather than a war story. Seredy focuses on the strength of a family and the rewards of sharing the bounty they have with foreigners who are displaced by the war. She celebrates the steadiness and kindness in a family that endures gracefully and is the point of strength and longing and hope for those who had to go off to fight. Despite the cheesiness of the endbook tie-in of the titular metaphor, that metaphor is powerful. I'm sure it would be lost on young readers, though, without guided discussion.
This is a wonderful cultural infusion and historical fiction selection, providing a nice excursion to the plains of Hungary during the WWI era. It is a children's novel, but has interest for adults as well. Its communication of social rumblings regarding Jews and the fervent hopes of the people at the war's end that this will be the signal of everlasting peace, the War to End All Wars, is supremely ironic. She was writing as anti-Semitic hatred was frothing over, and the book was published just as WWII was starting.
One can trust the accuracy of the illustrations regarding the dress of people and the folk lore and attitudes, because Seredy grew up in this setting. She did live in Budapest during the school years, but her summers were spent out on the plains in the country. She also writes of the war experience and responses with authority, having been old enough to work as a nurse during that trial.
Although WWI figures highly in this book, it is a Hungarian homefront story rather than a war story. Seredy focuses on the strength of a family and the rewards of sharing the bounty they have with foreigners who are displaced by the war. She celebrates the steadiness and kindness in a family that endures gracefully and is the point of strength and longing and hope for those who had to go off to fight. Despite the cheesiness of the endbook tie-in of the titular metaphor, that metaphor is powerful. I'm sure it would be lost on young readers, though, without guided discussion.
April 3, 2018
This is the sequel to The Good Master. It was very well written. The characters are lovable amidst the very difficult time of the first World War in Hungary. We were fully engrossed in the setting and time period and loved the message that deep down, all peoples are the same when their hearts are good.
I was often in tears as I read this to my kids, simply from the goodness in it as well as because of the sadness of the war. But we all also laughed aloud many times because of the joy the characters and their interactions brought to the story.
I was often in tears as I read this to my kids, simply from the goodness in it as well as because of the sadness of the war. But we all also laughed aloud many times because of the joy the characters and their interactions brought to the story.
February 24, 2023
The Singing Tree is tells about a Hungarian family's experience of World War 1 on the homefront. Three adolescent main characters encounter a Jewish storekeeper, a deserter, Russian POWs, and German refugees. My children did not like this read-aloud selection because of its "classic" language, but I saw how The Singing Tree fit well into our studies. The Singing Tree was published in 1939, and there are outdated language regarding Roma people and outdated attitudes gender dynamics throughout the book.
February 22, 2020
We really enjoyed this book set in Hungary during WWI. It has beautiful language and it provided a gentle yet honest look at war for my children while also expressing some very deep and profound truths- we can find beauty in the darkest of times and places, family is the heart, and certain things transcend culture, language, and ethnicity. I may have appreciated the book more as an adult, but all of my kids enjoyed it as well & identified with one of the children.
June 6, 2021
Excellent WWI story relating the costs of war and hope for peace through one Hungarian family and their community. Liberty, equality, fraternity.
May 30, 2022
Priceless read. Absolutely wonderful WW1 book. Highly recommended.
March 14, 2021
Poignant. Truth about beauty from ashes and hardship and war. Must read
May 27, 2017
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
A sequel to The Good Master, this book departs from the warmth and safety of its predecessor and meditates instead upon the encroachment of violence into the daily lives of ordinary people. Two years after her summer adventures with cousin Jancsi, Kate has stayed at her uncle's ranch, along with her father, who has found work as a schoolteacher in a nearby community. The family is excited to participate in a traditional Hungarian wedding, a wonderful celebration filled with joy that mirrors many of the adventures experienced by the characters in The Good Master. Unfortunately, as the wedding comes to an end, the news passes through town that Archduke Francis Ferdinand has been assassinated. Now comes a great war, the effects of which cannot be escaped by anyone, no matter how young or old.
This is a powerful novel filled with emotion which shows the true impact of war on civilians in a way that is accessible to children. Early in the story, Kate's uncle articulates the story's moving message:
War is like a stampede, Jancsi. A small thing can start it and suddenly the very earth is shaking with fury and people turn into wild things, crushing everything beautiful and sweet, destroying homes, lives, blindly in their mad rush from nowhere to nowhere. (p. 31)
Indeed, as men in their small Hungarian community are called to be soldiers, Kate and Jancsi witness this very stampede, and see their own lives continually reinvented by the changes around them. Though the characters, at heart, remain the same good people they have always been, their circumstances require them to become stronger and bolder than ever before. Kate and Jancsi are sad when Uncle Marton is called to join the army, but because of their hopeful dispositions they never despair, even when it seems that they may have lost their beloved "good master" forever. Kate and Jancsi also maintain their unbiased kindness toward others when they welcome German and Russian prisoners into their home.
What makes this book incredibly poignant, however, is the fact that it was written prior to World War II. The story suggests that World War I has taught the world the price of violence, and that society as a whole will do better in the future. Neither the characters nor the author are yet aware of all the violence yet to come in Nazi Germany, and of how many homes and lives will be destroyed by the second world war. That is the true gift of this novel: the fact that it allows us to see how people saw the world between wars, before they knew all that we know now. In this sense, this book is doubly historical - it was historical fiction at the time it was written, but it can also serve as a historical document for us today.
The Singing Tree is best enjoyed after reading The Good Master, as they complement each other so well, and the first book really provides the foundation that makes the second so emotionally fulfilling. This book provides a rich reading experience that can be enjoyed as part of a history lesson, or on its own as an example of beautiful literature. Because of the subject matter, it is probably best to provide some context about the time period before sharing the book with young readers, but otherwise, it is a perfectly suitable book for ages 8 and up.
A sequel to The Good Master, this book departs from the warmth and safety of its predecessor and meditates instead upon the encroachment of violence into the daily lives of ordinary people. Two years after her summer adventures with cousin Jancsi, Kate has stayed at her uncle's ranch, along with her father, who has found work as a schoolteacher in a nearby community. The family is excited to participate in a traditional Hungarian wedding, a wonderful celebration filled with joy that mirrors many of the adventures experienced by the characters in The Good Master. Unfortunately, as the wedding comes to an end, the news passes through town that Archduke Francis Ferdinand has been assassinated. Now comes a great war, the effects of which cannot be escaped by anyone, no matter how young or old.
This is a powerful novel filled with emotion which shows the true impact of war on civilians in a way that is accessible to children. Early in the story, Kate's uncle articulates the story's moving message:
War is like a stampede, Jancsi. A small thing can start it and suddenly the very earth is shaking with fury and people turn into wild things, crushing everything beautiful and sweet, destroying homes, lives, blindly in their mad rush from nowhere to nowhere. (p. 31)
Indeed, as men in their small Hungarian community are called to be soldiers, Kate and Jancsi witness this very stampede, and see their own lives continually reinvented by the changes around them. Though the characters, at heart, remain the same good people they have always been, their circumstances require them to become stronger and bolder than ever before. Kate and Jancsi are sad when Uncle Marton is called to join the army, but because of their hopeful dispositions they never despair, even when it seems that they may have lost their beloved "good master" forever. Kate and Jancsi also maintain their unbiased kindness toward others when they welcome German and Russian prisoners into their home.
What makes this book incredibly poignant, however, is the fact that it was written prior to World War II. The story suggests that World War I has taught the world the price of violence, and that society as a whole will do better in the future. Neither the characters nor the author are yet aware of all the violence yet to come in Nazi Germany, and of how many homes and lives will be destroyed by the second world war. That is the true gift of this novel: the fact that it allows us to see how people saw the world between wars, before they knew all that we know now. In this sense, this book is doubly historical - it was historical fiction at the time it was written, but it can also serve as a historical document for us today.
The Singing Tree is best enjoyed after reading The Good Master, as they complement each other so well, and the first book really provides the foundation that makes the second so emotionally fulfilling. This book provides a rich reading experience that can be enjoyed as part of a history lesson, or on its own as an example of beautiful literature. Because of the subject matter, it is probably best to provide some context about the time period before sharing the book with young readers, but otherwise, it is a perfectly suitable book for ages 8 and up.
December 9, 2014
The book starts off happily–it’s a continuation of The Good Master, an earlier Newbery book written by Seredy, and the plot of The Singing Tree picks up where The Good Master left off. Jancsi and Kate are cousins (preteens at the beginning of the book) who ride horses, take care of chickens, and get into trouble together on Jancsi’s father’s farm in the Hungarian countryside. All the characters from the first book are enjoying life together, working on the farm and spending time with family, even attending a traditional Hungarian wedding. Then the news comes–Franz Ferdinand has been assassinated; War has begun. Jancsi’s father, Kate’s father, the newlywed Peter, and many others are sent off to fight.
As time passes, Jancsi and his family take on six Russian prisoners of war, who are big, friendly farmers who didn’t want to be fighting in the war anyway. They help take care of the farm while Jancsi’s father Marton is away. Six more join the household when the family agrees to take on German children who are starving and in need of a place to stay. Eventually, there are twenty family members and refugees who call the Nagy farm home.
I was surprised at how many of the issues that war presents were tackled head-on, as well as women's rights issues.
Read more on my blog: http://newberyandbeyond.com/newbery-r...
As time passes, Jancsi and his family take on six Russian prisoners of war, who are big, friendly farmers who didn’t want to be fighting in the war anyway. They help take care of the farm while Jancsi’s father Marton is away. Six more join the household when the family agrees to take on German children who are starving and in need of a place to stay. Eventually, there are twenty family members and refugees who call the Nagy farm home.
I was surprised at how many of the issues that war presents were tackled head-on, as well as women's rights issues.
Read more on my blog: http://newberyandbeyond.com/newbery-r...
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