Old Jake's Skirts

by: C. Anne Scott, illustrated by David Slonim

Published by: Rising Moon (Northland Press)

Reviewed by Andrea Sisco

Old Jake is a curmudgeon. He lives alone on his farm and likes it that way. Jake just doesn't take to people. His dog Shoestring is enough company for him.

On his monthly trip to town for supplies, Jake and Shoestring find a battered old trunk resting in the middle of the road, and Jake leaves the unknown owner a lost and found note at the store. Months later, when no one has claimed the trunk, Old Jake finds many uses for its contents of calico skirts.

Jake uses the skirts to mop up rainwater that leaked through the roof of his home during a rain storm, dresses up his scarecrow, patches clothes and makes neckerchiefs for himself and Shoestring. His farm is now bright and prettied up. At least he and the church ladies think so.

One day a young girl and her father arrive at the farm looking for the trunk as it had contained the skirts of the man's wife who recently died. Old Jake expresses his sorrow and explains what has happened to the skirts. He gives the young girl the last one, now hanging outside on the clothesline. Jake also gives the young girl a beautifully hand-carved doll dressed in a calico skirt.

I love this story! It is about an unexpected gift that keeps on giving. The skirts transform Old Jake's attitude and behavior, and in turn, his transformation is felt by other people.