Ballad of the Rag Man

In the rhyming verse of Ballad of the Rag Man, award-winning author and celebrated poet Cynthia Gustavson depicts the seemingly strange life of a somewhat stranger man. This “Rag Man,” as he is called, clothes himself in colorful scraps of fabric and walks through the streets of his little town with a cart, collecting the cast-off items that others no longer deem valuable. Nothing escapes his attention, and he adds everything he finds to the heaps of stuff he has assembled outside his home.

One day, a little girl spots the Rag Man from a distance as he is collecting her old teddy better. She follows him to his mysterious home, wondering if her well-worn toy will wind up on top of one of his many piles. Much to her surprise, the Rag Man begins to repair her teddy bear, and once he finishes, he decides to bring it back to her.

The deep and remarkable artwork in this collection is both real and imaginative–children will see a new world of brilliant colors and beautiful scenery that will also remind them of their own surroundings. Just like the little girl, they will be watching the Rag Man as they follow him on his trips to town and back, grabbing up the “junk” he finds there. And they just might learn a very important lesson about judging others before they get to know them.