Reading is one of the activities that develop students’ knowledge and imagination. While busy with reading, students might find out interesting facts for them, might become interested in the adventures that they read about, or learn certain valuable facts about life and the ways people should live. The half-magical story by Elizabeth Enright called “Thimble Summer” is an example of such an interesting, involving, and useful reading. This book, depicting the brilliant summer in the life of a 9-year old girl teaches its readers how to see the good in all the issues that life might bring. Positive attitude towards the challenges of life and the real joy found in the numerous adventures of the book’s characters are the things that Elizabeth Enright wants every person to have, and in this paper I will report the main events of this book and express my personal opinion about it.
To begin with, the story told in the “Thimble Summer” starts during a summer that a young girl, Garnet Linden, spends at her parents’ farm somewhere in Wisconsin. The initial scenes of the book are rather negative as the family of Garnet has financial problems and cannot afford repairing the old barn at their farm or building a new one. This is rather important for the family of Lindens as their lives are dependant upon their work on the farm. As a barn can help them store their crops, it is necessary for the Lindens (Enright, 2008).
Moreover, the weather is not friendly to the farmers as the summer turns out to be rather hot and dry. There have not been any rains for several weeks and the temperature has reached 110o according to Fahrenheit (Enright, 2008). One day, Garnet and her little brother Jay go to the half-dry river near their farm. While bathing there, they have fun but suddenly Garnet finds a silver thimble in the riverbed. Being sure that it is a magic flower, Garnet calls her brother to show it to him, but he only makes fun of Garnet’s idea: “Don’t be silly, there isn’t any such thing.” (Enright, 2008)
Nevertheless, nothing can shake Garnet’s belief that the thimble she has found is magical, and soon the events start proving this. First of all, the heavy rain falls on the countryside area where the Lindens’ farm is situated: “Slowly, one by one, as if someone were dropping pennies on the roof came the raindrops, and then the rain burst strong and loud upon the world. Garnet immediately thought of the silver thimble.” (Enright, 2008) Further on, the events develop in a magical way. Suddenly, the governmental money is given to Garnet’s parents so that they could build the new barn at the farm. Also, an orphan boy named Eric comes to the Lindens’ farm to find work and shelter, and gradually becomes a member of the family whom Jay and Garnet like (Enright, 2008).
At the same time, Garnet and her brother, together with their friend Citronella take part in numerous adventures (Enright, 2008). For example, Garnet and Citronella spend a night in the village library being locked there by mistake. Garnet also runs away from the farm to travel alone to the city but soon realizes that it is too early for her to become an adult and continues to enjoy her childish adventures. Finally, the book ends with the traditional happy ending when all the characters realize their dreams and live happily ever after (Enright, 2008). For example, Garnet remembers this magical “thimble summer” for the rest of her life: ““As long as I live I’m always going to call this summer the thimble summer,” said Garnet.” (Enright, 2008) Her friends are also excited by the adventures they have had, while Garnet’s parents are happy to build the new barn (Enright, 2008).
So, Elizabeth Enright in her book tries to show the wonderful world of adventures to the young readers. Moreover, the author tries to explain that these adventures are possible in the real life, if only people do something to realize them. Garnet, for example, does everything she can to find adventures and create the magical picture of the world around her. As a girl of rich imagination, Garnet can easily believe in the magical destination of the silver thimble she has found and build all the following events around this flower’s magic (Enright, 2008).
Also, being a person with the good sense of humor, Garnet easily lives and perceives new things and events in her life. For example, thinking of the Big Hollow village and its citizens, Garnet makes fun of the word-combination people use to refer to the women of that village: “Of course she knew that the Big Hollow Ladies were simply ladies that lived in Big Hollow, but it had a funny sound all the same.” (Enright, 2008) All other characters of the book are also rather interesting as they show the readers how people can make their life more interesting by simply changing their attitudes towards it. For example, if a person considers an event in his or her life a mere accident, such a life will be boring, but when such an accident is considered to be magical, the life acquires new colors.
To express my personal opinion on the book “Thimble Summer” by Elizabeth Enright, I think that it is an interesting and useful reading for children. First of all, it involves a lot of attention and makes the readers interested in the events described. The adventures of young people are pictured so lively that any person of the same age cannot help but want to experience the same adventures in his or her life. Secondly, this book teaches children the basic values of life and shows how a person can make his or her life interesting without any special means. Garnet managed to make her summer at the farm an unforgettable one, and any other person can do the same.
To conclude, I should say that the book by Elizabeth Enright is a rather interesting and valuable reading for the young people. It depicts the summer full of events that Garnet and her friends had once in their lives. The adventures of these children and wonderful memories about them are the experiences that every other child would like to have in his or her life. Moreover, the book teaches children how they can make their lives interesting and full of events. So, this book should be read by children are bored with computer games and watching TV, for them to realize how much the world can offer to them if only they are ready to take it.
Works Cited
Enright, Elizabeth. Thimble Summer. Square Fish, 2008.