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Caddie Woodlawn a Musical Drama is a musical based on the novel Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink. The book, music and lyrics are by Tom Shelton and Susan C. Hunter.
In 1935 Carol Ryrie Brink wrote the Newbery Medal —winning novel,Caddie Woodlawn, based on the childhood of her grandmother, Caroline Woodhouse. She had collected the stories that her grandmother had often recounted of her adventures as a pioneer child settling the wilderness of western Wisconsin in the mid-1800s. It won the Newbery Medal in 1936.
In the musical, as in the original novel, Caddie, a high-spirited Wisconsin pioneer girl beloved by generations of readers, leads her willing siblings in a series of adventures, not always with the approval of her traditional Bostonian mother. Her father, however, encourages her antics, that she might thrive in the new, tougher ways of the west. In a climax, Caddie single-handedly diffuses a potentially deadly clash between the terrified settlers and the local Dakota tribe through a daring and dangerous act. But her action only deepens her conflict with her mother. Ultimately, Caddie learns invaluable lessons about reconciling the head-strong child she's been, and the responsible adult she is soon to be. Through it all, the sacredness of tradition—passed from one generation to the next—is powerfully dramatized. As one wise friend tells Caddie: "families -- they're our link to forever, lass." [1]