Rating: 
Summary: A young girl's life on a farm in the midwest of the 1930s.
Review: This is a book about Garnet Linden, a 10 year old Wisconsin girl, and her summer on her parents'farm. She finds a thimble on a river creek bottom and good things start to happen. I enjoyed all Elizabeth Enright's descriptive details of the sounds and smells of summertime and the small,quiet towns in Wisconsin. I couldn't wait to turn the page to read more of Garnet's adventures. The dialogue and the scenes are very true-to-life. This book should be especially enjoyed by Midwesterners. Recommended for 10-to 13 yr. old girls, but I'm a lot older than that and I loved it.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written
Review: This is a quiet and gentle read about life on a Wisconsin farm in the 1930's, when great grand- parents still recall tales about Indians. Nine- year-old Garnet Linden (well, yes, she's blond but not necessarily Scandinavian) reminds us of Laura Ingalls, for she is plucky, mischievous and strong-willed. It was a simpler age, with simple pleasures: safe hitchiking, swimming in the creek, barn-raisings, ice cream and County Fairs. But farmers had it tough then what with drought and financial worries until the harvest was in. Garnet's brother, Jay, has decided that he does Not want to be a farmer, but what about the new orphan boy who shows up one night by the lime kiln? Is he farmer material perhaps? There is not much of a plot--just events strung out like beads on a necklace. But it is a laid-back kind of book which young girls will enjoy. The illustrations are delightful; we see bubbly Garnet chasing chickens, locked in (I won't say where!), and on the cover she proudly holds her pet pig. One theme is that you really should be grateful to have Good Neighbors. Also that you need special eyes to recognize treasures when you find them. From the creek, then from the woods--what will she do with hers?
Rating: 
Summary: CAN A THIMBLE BE MAGIC OR BRING GOOD LUCK?
Review: This is a quiet and gentle read about life on a Wisconsin farm in the 1930's, when great grand- parents still recall tales about Indians. Nine- year-old Garnet Linden (well, yes, she's blond but not necessarily Scandinavian) reminds us of Laura Ingalls, for she is plucky, mischievous and strong-willed. It was a simpler age, with simple pleasures: safe hitchiking, swimming in the creek, barn-raisings, ice cream and County Fairs. But farmers had it tough then what with drought and financial worries until the harvest was in. Garnet's brother, Jay, has decided that he does Not want to be a farmer, but what about the new orphan boy who shows up one night by the lime kiln? Is he farmer material perhaps? There is not much of a plot--just events strung out like beads on a necklace. But it is a laid-back kind of book which young girls will enjoy. The illustrations are delightful; we see bubbly Garnet chasing chickens, locked in (I won't say where!), and on the cover she proudly holds her pet pig. One theme is that you really should be grateful to have Good Neighbors. Also that you need special eyes to recognize treasures when you find them. From the creek, then from the woods--what will she do with hers?
Rating:
Summary: A magical summer!
Review: This is a small book about a nine-year-old blond girl named Garnet Linden living on a farm with her family in Wisconsin in the 1930s. One day in the first few weeks of summer she finds a silver thimble and imagines that it has magic. The reader follows her through the summer and, by the end of the book, we find that she is convinced it is magical because she had such an eventful summer, which included the awarding of a blue ribbon for her young pig Timmy at the local fair. This book by Elizabeth Enright won the 1939 Newbery Award for best contribution to American children's literature.
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Summary: melissa1007
Review: This is an appropriate selection for younger readers and for adults who enjoy childhood reminiscences about hard work and the simple pleasures that make all that hard work pay off. SYNOPSIS: 9 1/2-year old Garnet Linden lives on a Wisconsin farm with her parents, older brother Jay and younger brother Donald and enjoys the typical pleasures of childhood near a small midwest town: swimming in the river, hitching a ride into town, and the county fair. The night that Garnet finds a silver thimble in the river bed the drought breaks and the crops are saved, so her father is kept from financial ruin. The thimble brings even more good luck: her father receives a government loan with which to replace their old barn and a 13-year-old orphan, Eric Swanstrom, stumbles upon the Lindens as they're firing limestone at midnight with which to make cement, plaster and whitewash for the barn. Eric stays on with the family and helps with the chores and replaces Garnet as Jay's best friend and constant companion. Garnet deepens her friendship with neighbor Citronella Hauser, 11, and they have adventures of their own together. Mr. Freebody, another neighbor, always looks out for Garnet and provides a concerned ear and offers good advice. She feels that all her good fortune is due to the magic silver thimble she found and vows to always refer to this special summer as the "Thimble Summer." I think, deep down, everyone wishes he or she had a childhood this idyllic. Although I grew up in a city, I did spend weeks at a time on my grandparents' farms (I was lucky; my grandparents on both sides were very small-scale dairy farmers) during my childhood, and I enjoyed the rustic charms of farm living. I loved gathering eggs in the henhouse, climbing the tree that grew out of a creek-bank, catching frogs in the pond with my cousins, and catching crawdads in a culvert--all on my grandparents' farm! My other Grandma had a huge watering-trough that was fun, a spooky spring-house, and numerous sheds and barns to explore. "Thimble Summer" has a way of bringing back many of these memories.
Rating: 
Summary: 1939 Newbery Medal winner; childish, simplistic, a fast read
Review: This is an appropriate selection for younger readers and for adults who enjoy childhood reminiscences about hard work and the simple pleasures that make all that hard work pay off. SYNOPSIS: 9 1/2-year old Garnet Linden lives on a Wisconsin farm with her parents, older brother Jay and younger brother Donald and enjoys the typical pleasures of childhood near a small midwest town: swimming in the river, hitching a ride into town, and the county fair. The night that Garnet finds a silver thimble in the river bed the drought breaks and the crops are saved, so her father is kept from financial ruin. The thimble brings even more good luck: her father receives a government loan with which to replace their old barn and a 13-year-old orphan, Eric Swanstrom, stumbles upon the Lindens as they're firing limestone at midnight with which to make cement, plaster and whitewash for the barn. Eric stays on with the family and helps with the chores and replaces Garnet as Jay's best friend and constant companion. Garnet deepens her friendship with neighbor Citronella Hauser, 11, and they have adventures of their own together. Mr. Freebody, another neighbor, always looks out for Garnet and provides a concerned ear and offers good advice. She feels that all her good fortune is due to the magic silver thimble she found and vows to always refer to this special summer as the "Thimble Summer." I think, deep down, everyone wishes he or she had a childhood this idyllic. Although I grew up in a city, I did spend weeks at a time on my grandparents' farms (I was lucky; my grandparents on both sides were very small-scale dairy farmers) during my childhood, and I enjoyed the rustic charms of farm living. I loved gathering eggs in the henhouse, climbing the tree that grew out of a creek-bank, catching frogs in the pond with my cousins, and catching crawdads in a culvert--all on my grandparents' farm! My other Grandma had a huge watering-trough that was fun, a spooky spring-house, and numerous sheds and barns to explore. "Thimble Summer" has a way of bringing back many of these memories.
Rating:
Summary: melissa1007
Review: When I was a little girl, one of the chapters in this book appeared in a volume of the Childcraft Books. The chapter was "Locked In" where the girls have to spend the night in the library. I absolutely loved the story but it wasn't until I was an adult and had daughters of my own the I found this book and was able to read the whole thing to my children. The book is timeless even though it is set in a much simpler time. I highly recommend it to children and adults alike!!!
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