GraceAnne A. DeCandido*** (Booklist, September 15, 1998 (Vol. 95, No. 2))
On a Monday in July, lightning strikes Matthew Yoder's family's barn, and on Friday his entire Amish community gathers to raise a new one, for "barns come first on a proper Amish farm, even before the house." In language that is supple and graceful, Yolen's text first follows Matthew as he begins to take his place in working the farm with his father and brothers; then lightning "like a stooping hawk" strikes the windmill that powers their machinery. The alarm is sounded, and all come to help, but the barn burns to the ground. Samuel Stulzfoot designs barns, and when the men come to raise a new barn, and the women come to feed them, Matthew is given the task of carrying Stulzfoot's instructions to the workers. Fuchs' full-page paintings, which face each page of text, make the plain clothing, broad faces, and sunlit fields glow with sumptuous light. The edges of fruit jars, horses' rumps, and barn framing are honeyed and silvered, making Amish bounty beautiful indeed. As in Yolen's recent House, House , the meaning of home and community underlies the text. What the Amish believe is never made explicit, but their values are limpidly clear. A fine story, finely limned and told, with much to teach. Category: For the Young. 1998, Little, Brown, $15.95. Ages 6-8.

Gisela Jernigan, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
Eight year old Matthew Yoder is proud when his father says that he has good hands and lets him scythe weeds with his older brothers, but his resourcefulness and the strength of his close-knit Amish family is challenged when a fire destroys their barn and windmill. How the Yoder family and their supportive community work to raise their barn is beautifully depicted by Yolen's lyrical, first person text and Fuchs' warm, oil paintings. Although this story takes place in modern times, the picture book has a timeless quality. An author's note is included. 1998, Little Brown, $15.95. Ages 4 up.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, 1998)
A celebration of the Amish spirit of community summoned for a one-day barn raising. Lightning-struck, the Yoder family's barn burns to the ground, but before the week is out neighbors gather and, under the direction of grave, gray-bearded Samuel Stulzfoot, put up a new one. Too old to join the children, too young to help the men, eight-year-old Matthew is disheartened at being left out, until Stulzfoot enlists him to carry instructions to the builders. Yolen (with Brace Coville, Armageddon, p. 975) frames Matthew's narrative in rhythmic, literary cadences--"fingers of flame grabbed at the barn. The sky filled with blue ropes of smoke; a boy could climb them up to Heaven, if he were so willing"--that give the event a ritualistic air. Fuchs applies paint so thinly that the texture of the canvas becomes part of each scene, while the dominant colors are stately, opaque red-browns, The dimly seen background shapes and slightly unfocused foreground figures are seen in a russet light that looks smoky in firelit scenes and gives later ones a summery haze. The details of barn construction are passed over, but the central place a barn occupies on an Amish farm is clearly established. 1998, Little Brown, $15.95. © 1998 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Janice M. Del Negro (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, December 1998 (Vol. 52, No. 4))
When the Yoder family barn burns to the ground, eight-year-old Matthew Yoder tells the story of how the neighbors in their close-knit Amish community come together to build a new one. Yolen is at her best here with a solid story told in simple, poetically descriptive language (“My brothers and I worked hard all summer in a field with furrows as straight as a good man’s life”) with a strong sense of time and place. Fuchs’ light-suffused oil paintings suit the old-fashioned feel of story. The palette is earthy greens and rusts, from the opening glow of the fire to the closing glow of the final sunset; the unusual, slightly off-kilter perspectives (an off-center front view shows the top of the burning barn, an underneath view shows the skeleton of the new barn as the men hammer on the roof) give the paintings an energy and immediacy unusual in this type of illustration. Yolen and Fuchs have captured a specific incident in a culture often seen as quaint and cute and made it vigorous, realistic, and not cute at all. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 1998, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 1998, Little, 32p, $15.95. Ages 5-8 yrs.

Kathie Krieger Cerra (The Five Owls, January/February 1999 (Vol. 13, No. 3))
My brothers and I worked hard all summer in a field with furrows straight as a good man's life." Rich figurative language introduces Matthew, the eight-year-old Amish child who tells the story Raising Yoder's Barn. On Monday, lightning sets fire to the family barn, and a bell summons the Amish community to fight the fire. The house is saved but the barn is lost, so Samuel Stulzfoot arrives to assess the situation. By Friday morning, the charred timbers have been cleared and the Amish community arrives with baskets of food and wagons of building materials to raise a new barn. Matthew is chosen to be Samuel Stulzfoot's messenger, carrying instructions to the workers. By the end of the day, the barn is finished. Luminous oil paintings at every turn of the page visually dramatize the story--showing the clothing, buildings, horses, and wagons of rural Amish life. There are scenes of boys working in the fields, lightning striking the barn, a lone figure surveying the smoking remains. Four double-page spreads of the barn raising--wagons arriving, the noontime meal with the barn's framework in the background, a dozen men working on the roof, and the beautiful finished barn at dusk--reflect the heightened pace of the community's call to action. The young narrator's view of these events is structured around his desire to be old enough to help--and mention of Matthew's "good hands," a comment his father makes when the child uses a sickle in the fields for the first time. Throughout his storytelling, Matthew refers to his hands--and the final page rounds out this emphasis with a description of the finished barn filled with tools, including Matthew's own scythe that awaits summer, when it will fit into his good hands. The literary and artistic depth of this full, rich book may evoke children's responses to universal issues: growing up, belonging within a community, and living close to the earth. 1998, Little Brown, 8-3/4 x 11-1/4, 32 pages, $15.95. Ages 4 to 8.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 1999)
In this story about the barn raising that follows a destructive fire, Yolen's text, rich with metaphor, captures the spirit of community that flourishes among the Amish. Eight-year-old Matthew, the narrator, hopes that Papa will consider him big enough to help. The expressive oil paintings offer compelling images of the farm and the Amish people. Author's note appended. Category: Younger Fiction. 1998, Little, 32pp, $15.95. Ages 5 to 9. Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.