This is a delightful collection of additional stories about Caddie Woodlawn and her family (and one additional story as explained in the introduction that doesn't quite belong). These stories take place between 1863 and 1866 and so in some places overlap the original stories in Caddie Woodlawn which took place in 1864. Here each chapter stands alone as an interesting and true story and many are very touching and beautiful. The first, from which comes the title Magical Melons, is the story of how the three oldest children discovered a large number of perfect watermelons in the hayloft in the barn. Childishly believing them to have magically appeared there, they quietly devoured a large number of them over the course of several weeks. It turns out that the farm hand Robert Ireton had hidden them there to provide a surprise for the family later in the fall when they would be unexpected. When he went to pull them out there were only a few left and Tom, Caddie and Warren had to sit by while the rest of the family enjoyed what was left of the treat.

This book would make a delightful read aloud for the whole family and should be required reading, along with Caddie Woodlawn, for those studying Wisconsin history.