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Searching... Bayport Public Library | J 973.3 ROC | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake) | J 921 PITCHER | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
The rousing true tale of an American Revolution heroine. When her husband joined General Washington's army, Molly Hays went with him. All through the winter at Valley Forge, Molly watched and listened. Then in July, in the battle at Monmouth, she would show how much she had learned. Molly could tell the day would be a scorcher, so she decided to bring water from a nearby spring to the fighting men. More than 50 British soldiers would die of heatstroke that day, but the American soldiers need only cry, "Molly--pitcher!" On one trip through the fighting field, she saw her husband get shot. She satisfied herself that he wouldn't die from his wound, then took over his job--firing off the cannon! Molly epitomized the feisty, self-reliant spirit of the colonists who would soon win their battle for independence--and her story has rightly become a beloved legend of American history.
Author Notes
Anne Rockwell was born in Memphis, Tennessee on February 8, 1934. She moved to New York City at the age of 18 and found a job doing typing work for a textbook publisher. She studied at Pratt Graphic Arts Center and at the Sculpture Center.
She became an author and illustrator. Her first children's book, Paul and Arthur Search for the Egg, was published in 1964. Her other books included Boats, Fire Engines, Things That Go, Our Earth, and Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth. She collaborated on several books with her husband Harlow Rockwell including Sally's Caterpillar and The Toolbox. After her husband's death, she collaborated with her daughter Lizzy Rockwell. Their books included Career Day and Zoo Day. She died of natural causes on April 10, 2018 at the age of 85.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-Pitcher (whose real name was Mary "Molly" Hays) was the symbol of womanly strength during the American Revolution. Although much of her personal life is surrounded by legend now, her role in the Battle of Monmouth is historical. Following her husband into battle, she received her nickname by carrying a pitcher of cold water to wounded soldiers in need. The language is inviting, the story, exciting. Von Buhler's illustrations, which appear crackled, as if they were painted during this period, make the book shine. In one picture, a smudge-faced Molly is shown preparing a cannon for firing. The sole double-page spread is a battle scene that depicts the wounded and dying on both sides. There are no source notes, but Rockwell includes a brief time line and an author's note. More useful as a story than for report writing, this title is a solid choice for introducing the legendary American heroine to primary students.-Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
George Washington made her a sergeant in the Continental Army for her bravery, and Rockwell (Only Passing Through) gives her star treatment in this stirring picture book biography. She's Mary (better known as Molly) Hays, and in 1777 she followed her husband to war and straight into the annals of American history. After surviving a winter at Valley Forge, Molly continued on with the remaining soldiers to the Battle of Monmouth (N.J.), fought on a sweltering June day. Molly spends the day fearlessly dodging cannon and musket fire to bring pitchers of water to heat-stricken soldiers and, later, manning the cannon left by her injured husband. Without sacrificing the dramatic momentum, the author also assesses the Americans' military tactics and training (or lack thereof) versus British expectations and mores (despite temperatures approaching 100 degrees, British soldiers wore fur hats and heavy wool suits). Rockwell finds opportunities for humor (in later life, it seems, the only fault her employers ever found with her was that she swore like a soldier) and for her own opinions (after Washington honors Molly, no soldier sneered at the thought of a woman being a sergeant in his army). Von Buhler (Little Girl in a Red Dress with Cat and Dog) works in a folk-art style, and flat perspectives, sturdy brushwork and light crackling effects give her paintings a colonial look. The type, unfortunately, can be difficult to read, set on a rustic, linen-like background a minor flaw in a memorable book. Ages 7-10. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate) The picture book-reading public seems to be in the midst of an ongoing love affair with feisty female characters from the past; in the male-dominated history of the American Revolution, it is particularly heartening to see legendary Molly Pitcher manning the cannons. What begins as a more acceptably feminine role of bringing water to the soldiers wilting in the heat turns into an act of stunning bravery when Molly's husband, whom she has followed into battle, falls injured. Molly switches the pitcher for the ramrod and stays at her post even when a musket ball heads straight for her. "She quickly spread her legs wide...her skirt and petticoat were ripped and became a good deal shorter than they had been." Such light wit is inserted into various points in the text. When Molly returns home to her domestic chores, "the only fault her employers ever found with her was that she swore like a soldier." Rockwell's text is long but lively; unfortunately, the font is too small and spidery for easy reading and seems at odds with a subject of such forthrightness and daring. But illustrator von Buhler gives Molly Pitcher just the right heft and substance, on the battlefield and off. In an end profile portrait in which Molly is posed, pitcher in hand, between two flags of the fledging country, von Buhler gives her a knowing look that matches Rockwell's final assertion that Molly Pitcher "never called herself that. As long as she lived, she asked everyone to call her Sergeant Molly."From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Rockwell (Becoming Butterflies, p. 107, etc.) retells the inspiring story of a woman named Mary (Molly) Hays, who followed her husband into battle with General George Washington at Valley Forge and then at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778. That day was brutally hot, and the wounded men would call out to Molly to bring them a pitcher of water. When Molly's own husband was wounded, she rammed powder into the cannon and kept firing. And so the heroic legend was born. The energetic text appears to be printed on linen, and though it is in very small type for this format, it's a pleasure to read. The illustrations, in a style echoing early American primitive art are as vibrant in color and spirit. Treated to appear old, the paintings portray the intense cold of Valley Forge and the smoky heat of the New Jersey fields. One double-paged spread gloriously depicts the confusion of hand-to-hand combat with one wounded soldier held in the arms of another a la Michelangelo's Pieta. A sturdy and determined Molly, a heroic Washington on horseback calmly watching over his exhausted troops bedded down for the night, a painting of the battlefield, and endpapers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution add to the patriotic and feminist mood. Fascinating history to share with young enthusiasts. (author's note, brief timeline) (Nonfiction. 6-9)
Booklist Review
Gr. 3-5, somewhat younger for reading aloud. This attractive book recounts the Revolutionary War incident in which Molly Hays followed her husband into the Battle of Monmouth, offered water to wounded soldiers on the battlefield, and took up her husband's job of firing a cannon after he was shot. This famous scene is framed by a few pages at the beginning that describe the state and training of the Continental Army during the winter at Valley Forge and a few pages at the end that tell of Washington making Molly a sergeant and of Molly's life after the war. The writing is clear and vivid, though it is difficult to tell whether certain incidents and details, much less thoughts and emotions ascribed to Molly, represent a storyteller's embroidery rather than the record of history. Reminiscent of early American paintings, particularly in their rendering of the human form, von Buhler's paintings show a sure, subtle sense of color. In an appended note, Rockwell briefly comments on her own research as well as the history and legend of Molly Pitcher. Carolyn Phelan.