
In 1935 Carol Ryrie Brink wrote the Newbery-award
winning novel, CADDIE WOODLAWN, based on the childhood of her
grandmother, Caroline Woodhouse. She had collected the stories that her
grandmother had often recounted of her adventures as a pioneer child settling the wilderness of Wisconsin in the mid 1800’s.
Carol Ryrie Brink's Newbery award-winning novel "Caddie Woodlawn" has been brought to exuberant life as a musical.
Caddie (the
iconic, high-spirited Wisconsin pioneer girl beloved by generations of
readers) leads her willing siblings in a series of thrilling adventures,
not always with the approval of her traditional Bostonian mother. Her
father, however, encourages her antics, that she might thrive amidst the
new, tougher ways of the west. In a dramatic climax, Caddie
single-handedly diffuses a potentially deadly clash between the
terrified settlers and the local Dakota tribe through a daring and
dangerous act. But her action only deepens her conflict with her mother.
Ultimately,
Caddie learns invaluable lessons about reconciling the head-strong child
she's been, and the responsible adult she is soon to be.
Through
it all, the sacredness of tradition -- passed from one generation to
the next -- is powerfully dramatized. As one wise friend tells Caddie:
"families -- they're our link to forever, lass"