By Steve Flairty
NKyTribune Columnist
Sitting high on my list of favorite Kentucky writers is the iconic Jesse Stuart (1906-1984.) Jesse wrote prolifically about his native eastern Kentucky, and some of his best writing, I believe, was crafted through his children’s books set there. In them, he often focused on matters of character, portraying lessons of ethical behavior being taught to young people through their elders.
One of Stuart’s most popular children’s works (actually, a short story made into a book) is The Beatinest Boy. To me, this one is an example of reading a Stuart book for children that also has value for adults.
Jesse Stuart (Photo from Pinterest)
The Beatinest Boy tells of young (I’m thinking maybe 12-years-old) David, coming of age after both parents died and now living with his widowed Grandma Beverley. Grandma became his mentor and strongest supporter, often calling him “the beatinest boy in the world.” A note on the cover page quotes the Webster dictionary definition of “beatinest” as “surpassing all others, most unusual.” The grandson felt special because of her words and the way she treated him.
David returns the favored status with his feelings and actions toward Grandma. He thinks of her as “the smartest, most wonderful woman in the world,” one who showed him “how to hunt, how to keep chickens and milk the cow, how to plant potatoes and corn, and how to use a long-handled gooseneck hoe.”
But Grandma taught David much more. She taught him enduring values, of which I’ll call the “5 Cs”:
• Grandma Beverly fostered a natural curiosity with her grandson. As the story opens, David climbs a mountain (likely only a hill) where he desires to “stick his hand through a cloud.” While there, he followed the whining sound of a foxhound and discovered a puppy in a hollow log. Though safety was always a concern she had for David’s, as she called it, “venturesome” nature, she was careful not to stifle his natural longings.
• She modeled compassion to young David. Besides taking on the responsibility to raise young David, she partnered with the boy to adopt the puppy (a hunting dog) that David found in a hollow tree in the woods and to give it loving care. Grandma started by warming milk to feed the dog, who was stricken with a bad case of the mange. David saw fit to call the dog “Orphan,” reminding himself of his own status, and Grandma praised him for his attention to the common experience of him and the challenged creature.
• Though she’d likely never use the word, Grandma demonstrated the importance of collaboration in accomplishing important endeavors. Taking care of the dog was a partnership. She helped David train the dog for hunting, and the twosome later did possum hunting together. They gathered leaves to spread on the garden and to provide bedding for the cow, and they worked together to process the cow, Daisy’s, milk. They also partnered in harvesting honey from bees’ nests, a somewhat complex endeavor that required patience.
• She promoted the element of creativity to her grandson, too. Living poor in a rural, mountainous area with few services around and little money to spend even if services were available, Grandma “made do” with what she had and didn’t complain, something David noticed and it inspired him to do likewise. When he was looking for combustible items for use to “smoke” out bees and retrieve their honey, Grandma gathered some rags she was saving to make rugs and gave them to David. Their creative personalities seemed to easily mesh.
• In a simple way, Grandma exhibited and modeled courage. Jesse Stuart presented her in the story as willing to absorb bee stings when David and she gathered the honey. She claimed that a few stings helped the swelling go down in her joints from a case of rheumatism. Whether that was, or is, true or not, it conveyed to him that some pain can lead to ultimate gain.
Jesse Stuart’s time as a teacher, fictionalized in The Thread That Runs So True, perhaps his most noted book, helps authenticate his children’s book narratives. Others written by Stuart for that audience include:
• A Penny’s Worth of Character
• The Rightful Owner
• A Ride with Huey the Engineer
• Hie to the Hunters
• A Jesse Stuart Reader
• Andy Finds a Way
Visit the Jesse Stuart Foundation, in Ashland, or check out the website jsfbooks.com to find out more about the author and his influence. Better yet, start a Stuart collection… I already have a pretty nice one.
