by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 27, 2010

Shenandoah Noah doesn't like farming, like the rest of kinfolk in the valley. Because farming means driving a plow in the hot sun behind a mule. "[A]nd work is something that Shenandoah Noah doesn't care for." He just wants to sit in the shade with his hounds up in the mountains.

His troubles start when he catches a case of the fleas...

Glen Rounds delivers some wonderful two-color sketches - clear black lines with an old-time yellow tint. So Shenandoah Noah appears as a shaded yellow mass with pointy edges for his boots and fingers. He's got an irritated look on his face as he scratches - and he's also surrounded by two scratching hound dogs. Shenandoah Noah doesn't like washing himself - because that means chopping wood to boil water.  And chopping wood is work - "and working is something Noah doesn't care for."

The illustrations are cute, and they work nicely with the story. Soon Shenandoah Noah has chopped a large pile of firewood logs - and Noah's axe is poised over head, like he's splitting one more. Then he's hauling buckets of water to a pot on his fire - and the illustration shows spikey flames and long twirling swirls of smoke. Standing behind the pot, Noah dunks all his clothes with a stick. He's wearing nothing but a scowl - and it does look like a lot of work. The next page finally shows his long flannel underwear dripping on a tree.

The character of Noah comes to life, both because of the text about his dislike of work - and the sketches which actually show it. Soon this man who hates work is doing work - and even his kinfolk in the valley can see the smoke from his fire. This seems suspicious, since chopping firewood is work, and "[E]verybody knew that work is something Noah doesn't care for." So Noah's nephew heads up to investigate - with a shotgun.  

And unfortunately, chilly Noah is warming himself under a bearskin rug.  And he's too embarrassed to let his kinfolk see him without any clothes on. The startled nephew mistakes the rug for a real bear, and Noah shouts out "Don't shoot! It's me!" But the frightened nephew runs away, and tells everyone in the valley that Noah has turned into a talking bear.

Which is fine with Noah - since he likes being left alone. Under his tree, the overworked mountain man draws a conclusion from all of this trouble.

"It just proved he shouldn't do much else but sit in the shade..."

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