When I Was Young in the Mountains: A "Wild and Wonderful" Read

Evoking the simple and gentle pleasures of country living, When I was Young in the Mountains by renown children's book author Cynthia Rylant invites readers to share in a piece of her Appalachian childhood, growing up with her grandparents and without indoor plumbing. "When I was young in the mountains, Grandfather came home in the evening covered with the black dust of a coal mine. Only his lips were clean and he used them to kiss the top of my head," begins Rylant's first book. She continues, describing how her grandmother would make homemade country food and walk her to the "johnny-house" when she ate too much okra. Much like Donald Crews in Bigmama's, Rylant highlights the quiet simplicity of a rural upbringing: summer days spent lazing in a swimming hole, attending church in the one room schoolhouse and sitting on the porchswing at night. The reader is left with a sense of quiet contentment and a wish that they could enjoy such a satisfyingly simple life.


Further research shows that Rylant was initially inspired to write this first book thanks to the works of Southern writer James Agee. She points to her West Virginian upbringing as particularly influential, saying, "The inspiration for this book came from memories of my childhood in Appalachia, when I lived with my grandparents and other relatives in a four room house in Cool Ridge, West Virginia. We children had to make do with each other and what we found in the mountains, and do you know, I was never bored!" But this inspiratio stems beyond a deep-seated nostalgia. In an interview with Scholastic.com, Rylant says, "I get a lot of personal gratification thinking of those people who don’t get any attention in the world and making them really valuable in my fiction — making them absolutely shine with their beauty”(http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=3288).

I think that young readers will be soothed by this tale; Rylant repeats the phrase "When I was young in the mountains," about every other sentence and the result is a soothing sing-songiness that children will love. Not only do Rylant's words have an unassuming grace about them, illustrator Diane Goode's simplistic folk-inspired watercolors are the perfect compliment. In fact, they suited the text so perfectly, the book was nominated for a Caldecott and received a Caldecott Honor award in 1982. This book would serve as a great jumping off point for further class discussions about rural life or even a historical lesson on coal-mining. Teachers could also use this text to introduce the concept of biography and have students write their own mini-autobiographies in response. If you are looking for a simple, soothing read that also serves an educational purpose, When I Was Young in the Mountains is the perfect fit.