With his German family, Eli crosses the Atlantic on The Charming Nancy. From Philadelphia and Germantown, oxen pull their wagon into Penn's Woods, where they make their new home in the Skippack area. Neighbors help them cut trees and build a log cabin.Eli loves outdoor work and play, the wild animals, and building a bench for his mom. But Mom says he must go to school. Though Eli expects the teacher to be ugly and cross, Master Christopher Dock is kind, firm, and patient.This reissued 1939 classic by Marguerite de Angeli tells a treasured tale about a boy and the praying pioneer schoolmaster, Christopher Dock, the first in America to write a book on pedagogy. A picture storybook for preschools and young readers.