The Old Sleigh

Gr 1-3–Following up The Old Truck and The Old Boat, the Pumphreys again mark the passage of time while celebrating both the changes it brings and the spirit of renewal. Here it’s a Black family’s mule drawn sleigh that “gave all it took”—delivering firewood to isolated houses that, over years, grow into a town and then a city. Like a “Giving Tree” with runners the old sleigh continues to serve even after it breaks down beneath a too-large load, as a child takes some of its broken boards to make a sled and continues deliveries until it can be repaired. The Pumphreys never specify a season or holiday but evergreens growing between houses in the snowy, simply composed winter scenes, and references in the stately narrative to how first the sleigh and then the little sled provide “warmth” and “light” to “make the small town merry and bright,” do offer broad hints for readers to catch if they will. A diverse population is seen across all the spreads.