Not a little of the author's own childhood went into the writing of Whistler's Van, this tale of the Welsh moors by Idwal Jones. It has to do with Gipsy and peasant folk, weird adventures on the heath, at fairs, sheep-shearings, and Rommany gatherings—all veiled in the mist of that romantic land. Through it all runs the racial feeling for the mysterious and poetic.
The style is simple with the tang of heather-root and peat smoke. The hero is a boy of fourteen, who goes in search of his vanished grandfather, from one camp-fire and heath to another in company with a couple of full-caste Gipsies—Mammet and Jubal Ringo—who might have stepped out of the pages of George Borrow.
Idwal Jones is of the heather-clad Welsh moors, and many of the incidents he relates he observed with his own eyes. There is a keen delight in oak groves, lakes, and streams. There is folklore, there is insight into the soul of the Gipsies, and an exultant feeling for life and primitive ways. It is a story of droll humor and deep sympathy. The setting, the stir, the sense of adventure make an istant appeal to youth—to anyone who, as Stevenson said, is "moved by the sight of a Gipsy camp-fire."
Above all it is a good picture of the little visited Welsh moorlands unchanged since the time of the Druids.
—from the dust jacket
First published in 1936 and a Newbery Honor recipient in 1937, this is one of the scarcer Newbery books, and has never been reprinted. Used copies tend to run upward of $100, and we've seen it priced as high as $2K, in pristine condition with dust jacket. Keep an eye out for it in thrift stores and antique shops!
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