''Drummer Hoff'' is an illustrated children's book by Barbara and

Ed Emberley Edward Randolph Emberley (born October 19, 1931) is an American artist and illustrator, best known for children's picture books. Biography Edward Randolph Emberley was born in Malden, Massachusetts on October 19, 1931. He studied art at the Mas ...

. Ed Emberley won the 1968

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

for the book's illustrations.American Library Association
Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938 - Present
URL accessed 27 May 2009. Written by Barbara Emberley, it tells a

cumulative tale In a cumulative tale, sometimes also called a chain tale, action or dialogue repeats and builds up in some way as the tale progresses. With only the sparest of plots, these tales often depend upon repetition and rhythm for their effect, and can r ...

of seven soldiers who build a cannon named "Sultan", and Drummer Hoff, who fires it off, with the book exploding into a blast of colors. The last picture shows the exploded cannon at a future point in time among wildflowers and birds. The illustrations, done in woodcuts, evoke both 1960s psychedelica and

Colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the late 15th century until the unifying of the Thirteen British Colonies and creation of the United States in 1776, during the Re ...

n engravings. In 1969, the book was adapted into an animated 6 minute theatrical short, directed by

Gene Deitch Eugene Merril Deitch (August 8, 1924 – April 16, 2020) was an American illustrator, animator, comics artist, and film director who was based in Prague from the 1960s until his death in 2020. Deitch was known for creating animated cartoons ...

and produced by

Morton Schindel Morton Schindel (April 23, 1918 – August 20, 2016) was an American educator, producer, and founder of Weston Woods Studios, which specializes in adapting children's books into animated films. He named the company after the wooded area outside hi ...

Weston Woods Studios Weston Woods Studios (or simply Weston Woods) is an American production company that makes audio and short films based on well-known books for children. It was founded in 1953 by Morton Schindel in Weston, Connecticut, and named after the wooded ...

. It was released on DVD in 2008.

Characters (in order of appearance)

*Drummer Hoff; the king's stone-faced drummer *Private Parriage; the young private who brought the carriage *Corporal Farrell; the mustached corporal who brought the barrel *Sergeant Chowder; the aging sergeant with an artificial leg who brought the powder *Captain Bammer; the captain who brought the rammer *Major Scott; the major who brought the shot (cannonball) *General Border; the white-haired horse riding general who gave Drummer Hoff the order to fire Each soldier's name rhymes with a step in the process of firing the gun, e.g. General Border gives the order, Sergeant Chowder brings the powder.

Interpretation

''Drummer Hoff'' has been described as an "ingenious picture book," one whose perfect simplicity may suggest some kind of "

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasises instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is a conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain. ...

intent." Ed Emberley denied that the book had any deep

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...

value to it:

The book’s main theme is a simple one — a group of happy warriors build a cannon that goes “KAHBAHBLOOM.” But, there is more to find if you "read" the pictures. They show that men can fall in love with war and, imitating the birds, go to meet it dressed as if to meet their sweethearts. The pictures also show that men can return from war sometimes with medals, and sometimes with wooden legs...The book’s primary purpose is, as it should be, to entertain.

According to the

Online Computer Library Center OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...

, the book is "adapted from a folk verse." Ed Emberley explained that the book was adapted from the rhyme "John Ball Shot Them All," from the book ''The Annotated Mother Goose: Nursery Rhymes Old and New, Arranged and Explained,'' edited by William S. Baring-Gould and his wife Lucile "Ceil" Baring-Gould. The original rhyme goes: ::John Patch made the match, ::And John Clint made the flint, ::And John Puzzle made the muzzle, ::And John Crowder made the powder, ::And John Block made the stock, ::And John Brammer made the rammer, ::And John Scott made the shot, ::But John Ball shot them all.

James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (born James Orchard Halliwell; 21 June 1820 – 3 January 1889) was an English writer, Shakespearean scholar, antiquarian, and a collector of English nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Life The son of Thomas Hall ...

suggests, in his preface to the poem, "conjecturing the John Ball of the following piece to be the priest who took so distinguished a part in the

rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

temp.

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...

." Kathleen Horning observes John Ball's "challenge to England's aristocracy," and she suggests, "It sounds like John Ball would have been right at home in the American political landscape of the 1960s, with the

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

generation trying to get itself 'back to the garden.'" ''Drummer Hoff'' has been called an anti-war poem. Zena Sutherland remarked that on the last page, which takes place some time after the cannon has been fired, we are left with a scene "in which the passing of time has clothed the weapon with sweet signs of bucolic peace – a lovely surprise." Nonetheless, the precise political message of ''Drummer Hoff'' has not been pinpointed, and the Emberleys have shown no interest in explaining any personal motivations to make the story the way they did. Kathleen Horning wonders,

Were critics of the day ignoring the message? Did they not see a message? Or did they expect people to read between the lines? Perhaps in
1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
, even at the height of the
antiwar An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during co ...
era, there was more tolerance for – or even outright acceptance of – the strong interest many young children have in toy guns and pretend explosions...Or perhaps the psychedelic
counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...
colors and the final image of the cannon rusting in a field of flowers were enough to balance the violent action with an antiwar message.

References

{{Caldecott Medal Caldecott Medal–winning works 1967 children's books Children's fiction books American picture books