Both time and place are vividly realized. For these characters, time is not determined by chronology or calendar; time is known through the cycle of the seasons. Each season is known by its distinctive work and play. Time is precious too; it is the stuff of days which passes all too quickly yet has ample room for the rich variety of chores, games, and rituals. Time can be stopped in stories, however, through the power of imagination shared by a teller of tales and his listeners.

The farm is the center of the world in the novel. Although it is located on the edge of a Minnesota forest that stretches limitlessly northward into Canada, the family concerns itself only with its fields, animals, and buildings.

At the center of the farm is the house.

It is so old that no one recalls the original builder who carved his...