definitely a horse book. The Good Master and its sequel The Singing Tree are farm stories which have horses in them. Both titles were Newbery Honor books, and Kate Seredy won the Newbery Medal with The White Stag. She was a wonderful illustrator, and did the illustrations for Doris Gates’ Little Vic. Like her hero Michael, in The Chestry Oak, Kate Seredy was born and brought up in Hungary, and then came to America. She was born in Budapest in 1899, to a family the de Grummond site describes as “with one thing in common -
Her books portray a lost world: it’s a rural idyll, and far superior to city life. Kate, the city child, soon becomes healthy and vigorous in the surroundings of the farm. Seredy believed one should live in harmony with the seasons and Nature, and makes this plain by her obvious approval of the simple way the family live. This is further reinforced by the traditional Hungarian tales some of the characters tell, where greed is punished . The Good Master is an immensely attractive book; filled with a sense of comforting and industrious family life, with everyone working for the common good, and pulling together despite the problems that beset the farm: long droughts, snow, and the accidents adventurous children have. The book is filled with little details of Hungarian life at the turn of the 19th century: I particularly liked Kate’s horror at having to wear 18 skirts -
“Oh Auntie, which skirt shall I wear?”
“Which skirt? All of them, of course; it’s a holiday!”
“But there are eighteen on my bed!”
“That’s because you’re only a little girl. I’m wearing thirty-
And no, Kate can’t wear just one or two, because nice girls wear at least ten!
Many thanks to Susan Bourgeau and Fiona Williams for their help with this section.
Kate Seredy’s papers form part of the De Grummond Collection, University of South Michigan
Some examples of Seredy’s illustration.
Bookrags on Kate Seredy
Bibliography -
The Chestry Oak
Viking, New York, 1948 (left). Illus the author, 236 pp.
George G Harrap & Co Ltd, London, 1957, illus the author. (right)
Reprinted 1958
The Bodley Head, pb, London, 1985, 238 pp.
Prince Michael still lives in his family castle in Hungary, despite the presence
of the
Nazis. He is more interested though in mastering the black stallion Midnight,
but
when war comes Michael is separated from the horse and from his family.
The Good Master
Viking, New York, 1935, illus the author, 210 pp.(left)
George G Harrap & Co Ltd, London, 1937, hb (right)
Puffin Books, Harmondsworth, pb,
1959 (and other reprints),
160 pp. (far right)
Knight, pb, Leicester, 1967, 192 pp. Illus Imre Hofbauer
Puffin Newbery Library, 1986, pb, 196 pp.
Jancsi lives on a large farm in the Hungarian plains with his
parents. His cousin
Kate, a city girl, is coming to stay with
them, as she is “delicate”. Kate soon
proves to be
anything but delicate, and the possessor of an alarmingly
loud scream.
She and Jancsi soon make friends, and enjoy
all the farm has to offer.
The Singing Tree
Viking Press, New York, illus the author, 247 pp. (right)
George G Harrap & Co Ltd, London, 1940, hb
Knight, pb, Leicester, 1969, 192 pp. Illus Imre Hofbauer
Puffin Books, New York, 1990, pb.
This is the sequel to The Good Master. The First World War hits Hungary, and the
farm
now hosts several refugees: six Russian prisoners working on the farm; six
German
children escaping Berlin, Kate’s grandparents, and a spoiled Judge’s daughter.
Kate
and Jancsi’s fathers, as well as several of the farm workers, have gone to serve
as soldiers.
Above
Kate Seredy, dj of Chestry Oak
Below
Little Vic, illustrated
by kate Seredy
Nagy Family
The Good Master
The Singing Tree
Below
Illustrations from (l-
