The Good Master

My sixth grade teacher read it to me in 1961. I became a teacher and have read it to hundreds of students as well as my own two children. It should be on a required reading list. It is a simple but delightful tale that centers on family, love and hard work.

This story, set in Hungary just before World War I, is a delightful story of a young motherless girl who learns the meaning of love and family with her uncle and his family out in the country. It can be enjoyed on many levels - family story, historical novel, ethnic traditions from Hungary, etc. Be sure to follow it up with the sequel "The Singing Tree" which tells of the family's life during World War I. Enthusiastically recommended!

I first read this book when I was ten-years-old. My elementary school library had a copy of it, but I could never find another library with it after I left that school. I am now in college, and "The Good Master" recently resurfaced while I was browsing a used book store. I just finished it, and I still love it as much now as I did as a child.Young Jancsi, living in a farm in Hungary with his parents, is a boy trying to find his place in the world of men when Kate, his spoiled cousin from Budapest, comes to live with the family. Though initially enemies, Kate and Jancsi soon become good friends, and their fun adventures will captivate any kid. Kate grows from a sickly city girl to a strong little farmer, and she teaches Jansci to notice and appreciate aspects of his hardworking rural life that he had always taken for granted. Though the book only covers about a year, both of them have changed greatly by its end, and Jancsi has become the man he longed to be. The wise, understanding presence of Jancsi's father Marton (the `Good Master' of the title) can be felt even in the scenes where he is not present. The book paints a colorful, detailed portrait of life in the Hungarian countryside, a culture that few Americans know anything about. Though it's aimed at 9- to 12-year-olds, I would definitely recommend "The Good Master" to adults, too.

"The Good Master" is a wonderful book for children (adults, too!) Set in Hungary, it is the story of Jancsi and his cousin Kate, who comes from the city to live with Jancsi's family in the country. Jancsi has been looking forward to having a playmate, but Kate is not exactly what he expected. She is spoiled, wild, and their description of her as a "screaming monkey" is not far off the mark. After a rocky start, Jancsi and Kate learn to get along, and from there they become fast friends. They have plenty of adventures. For example, you will enjoy their trips to the fair and the circus; traditional Hungarian Easter and Christmas celebrations; a horse roundup; Kate's experience with some gypsies; and plenty more. Through the book Kate goes from spoiled and totally bratty to much more caring and kind- though she never loses her high spirits! This is an appealing book because it is so simple and wholesome. Also, since children love stories, "The Good Master" is filled with old stories and tales that the adults in the book tell to Jancsi and Kate. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has grade-school-age children... get it for them! They'll love it!

This book, and others by this author, enriched my childhood enormously. As an only child who yearned for adventure, I identified with Kate - as a rather quiet child, I admired and envied both her high spirits and her kind heart. I longed to visit the vast plains of Hungary, so beautifully described and illustrated by Kate Seredy, and to wade in that dangerous river, wear all those petticoats and high red boots, ride a beautiful milky-white horse, and eat delicious sausages, just like Kate did! And Jancsi - who ever had a cousin as wonderful as he? Jancsi's parents' tolerant wisdom, humor and love warmed me as a young reader. In retrospect, I can now clearly see that Kate was not the only child transformed by "the good master"...I also was changed. For life: I became a children's librarian and thus was able to recommend this and so many other good books to literally thousands of children and their families over the years. This is a marvelous book in every way. Highly recommended.