Summary
A 1944 Newbery Honor Book
You've never met anyone quite like Rufus Moffat. He gets things done, but he gets them done his way.
When he wants to check out library books, Rufus teaches himself to write...even though he doesn't yet know how to read. When food is scarce, he plants some special "Rufus beans" that actually grow...despite his digging them up every day to check on them. And Rufus has friends that other people don't even know exist! He discovers the only invisible piano player in town, has his own personal flying horse for a day, and tours town with the Cardboard Boy, his dearest friend-and enemy.
Rufus isn't just the youngest Moffat, he's also the cleverest, the funniest, and the most unforgettable.
Eleanor Estes's beloved Moffats stories are being published in new editions as Odyssey/Harcourt Young Classics. The original interior illustrations have been retained, but handsome new cover art by Tricia Tusa gives the books a fresh, timeless appeal for today's readers.
Eleanor Estes was born in West Haven, Connecticut on May 9, 1906. She graduated from the Pratt Institute Library School and worked as a children's librarian in branches of the New York Public Library system. Her first book, The Moffats, was published in 1941. Her other works include The Hundred Dresses and Ginger Pye, which won a John Newbery Medal for the most distinguished children's book in 1952. She also wrote a single adult novel entitled The Echoing Green. She died of complications following a stroke on July 15, 1988 at the age of 82.
(Bowker Author Biography)
