Tadpole by Ruth White Journal Entry

Dear Mr. W,

I am reading Tadpole by Ruth White. The story takes place in the hills of Kentucky in 1955. The book tells me that it is 1955. They live in a holler, which is like a valley that is open on only one end. The Collins family (and Tadpole, their cousin who they call Tad) live in a small house. There is a front porch, a living room, kitchen, and two bedrooms for all six of them. They live in the middle of nowhere, basically. They can’t even see their closest neighbors, and once Tad came home from the neighbor’s house by walking through the woods. There is a creek behind their house. Once they got a goat to trim their lawn, but someone needed to keep it from getting into their huge garden where they grow tomatoes, radishes, beans, lettuce, corn, and all sorts of vegetables. They also can go out in the back and kick chunks of coal out of the hill to burn in the winter.

I’d like to say the mood is happy, but it’s not all the time. The family is happy enough with what they have, but the girls whine a lot about stuff, and their mom works really hard and it makes her tired. She has to work a lot because their father left them. Carol is sort of sad and frustrated with being the runt of the family. The mood is much better when Tad is around, except when they worry that he will have to go back with his mean uncle and aunt. The sisters help out with chores more when Tad is around. He tells them stories that make work go faster and that make them think more about their family, especially their mom.

Sincerely,
Brian Fifth Grader

Dear Brian,

Can you give me some more clues that it is 1955 other than the book tells you? Even if it didn’t say, what clues are there that this is not in the present day? Prove that it is 1955 (or about then, anyway).

Sincerely,

Mr. W

Dear Mr. W,

Here are some ways you can tell that Tadpole takes place in the past. Mr. Puckett drives a DeSoto car. Those were made in the past and aren’t made anymore that I know of. They had to do their washing, like baths, in a back room. There wasn’t any running water or a bathroom in the house. They used a goat to mow their lawn instead of a lawn mower. They went to see two movies, Rebel Without a Cause and The Highwayman. They came out in the 1950’s.

Sincerely,
Brian Fifth Grader