Sailing on the Ice: And Other Stories from the Old Squire's Farm

By C.A. Stephens

Book Overview

At the turn of the century, before the advent of movies and radio, the most widely read family magazine in America was The Youth's Companion, and C. A. Stephens was indisputably its most popular writer. Over a period of 55 years, he contributed more than 1,500 stories, but the stories that gained the most fervent readership were fictionalized versions of his recollections of growing up on a small farm in New England.

Stephens's stories about six orphans who found a home after the Civil War with their grandparents in rural Maine won critical acclaim both when they were first published one hundred years ago and later when a collection was published as Stories from the Old Squire's Farm. "Some of the very best stories of New England life and character that have ever been written," said the Hartford Daily Courant.

In this new collection of 28 stories, a bank gets robbed, someone steals the Old Squire's new potato hybrid, wolves trap the children overnight, and the Old Squire's mend-all tonic finds a larger, happier audience when a salesman livens up the mixture.

Although The Youth's Companion ceased publication in 1929, people still write to the librarian in Norway, Maine, or stop by on their summer trips to inquire of the whereabouts of the Old Squire's farm and whatever happened to Addison and Theodora. Such is the enduring power these simple tales have for America's readers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1558538623
• ISBN13: 9781558538627
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Rutledge Hill Press
• Length: 388 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Delightful History

As Usual, C. A. Stephens delights the reader with the a charming and personal trip into America's past in a way that reminds us of the importance of good character and devotion to family. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

From a time before the advent of radio, movies & television

Compiled and edited by Charles G. Waugh and Larry Glatz, this Rutledge Hill Press edition of C. A. Stephens' Sailing On The Ice And Other Stories From The Old Squire's Farm will aptly serve to introduce a new generation of readers to the storytelling talents of an American writer who was a very popular contributor to "The Youth's Companion" magazine of a an earlier era (it ceased publication in 1929). In a time before the advent of radio, movies and television, Stephens' stories were fictionalized versions of his recollections of growing up on a small farm in New England and were widely followed by an eager and appreciative readership. Sailing On Ice is a very welcome and highly recommended collection of 28 entertaining stories -- and will launch the reader on a dedicated search for Stephens other 31 books and 2,500 stories published in the late 1800s and early 1900s.