It’s maple syrup time and an old grandfather tells his granddaughter about the great fire of 1919, when the whole county caught fire and burned for a year. No one knew how it started, but every able-bodied man, woman and child tried to fight the fire. The grandfather and his brother ― children at the time ― helped fill buckets of water from the creek. Only the snow finally seemed able to smother it. But the next spring they were all amazed to discover that the fire had kept going all winter in the soil, destroying the roots of the trees as it burned.
Now a new forest has grown over the scar, but the grandfather can still see the traces of the fire and show them to his grandchild.
At a time when wildfires are causing increasing devastation, this new edition of a classic children’s book recounts an event that changed the lives of all who experienced it ― and brings a perspective of hope in its portrayal of recovery after the fire. It’s a memory that becomes a story to share with future generations.