I have been working this week to find the right books for the Amish children who have told me they love to read and would be happy to get some books.

I have the Hardy Boys for Jo, some romance stories for Susie and the two Sarah’s, and some Amish mysteries for Susie, who lives on a different farm from our neighbor children.

I’m not sure yet who to give A Perfect Amish Romance by Shelley Shepard Gray. It will be great fun figuring out who would like what book and matching them up.

I pride myself on that.

My ambition is to be their bookman, a task that fits me and somehow has already been designated.

Many of you are asking me for my first impressions of these families.

I should say they are not the first Amish families I have met, but I am happy to share my admiration for them.

First off, they are unfailingly gentle. They are welcoming. They are unbelievably hard working. They are people of great faith.

I call them the gentle people, as they are always kind and gentle to me.

In a sense, they have sacrificed almost everything many of us so appreciate – money, transportation, much of modern medicine, conveniences of almost any kind.

Americans are spoiled and selfish people in many ways; the very idea of helping the poor seems offensive to much of the country.  We hire people for the hard work.

The Amish are not spoiled; they live the purest and simplest kind of life. And they take care of one another.

Their life asks much of them. Supporting one another. Owning few things. Requiring and spending little money.  Working from before dawn to the dark.

Knowing how to build and do a thousand things that I would have to buy from someone else or hire others to do.

Their lives are very much centered around family. Everyone has a task; everyone works hard, everyone contributes.

They do not proselytize or push their ideas or faith on anyone. I would not be welcome to join their community, nor would I wish to.

Something about them and their children touches me very deeply; it means a lot to me to have them living nearby. I so love their horses and carts rumbling by. I am mad about their cherry pie.

This kind of life is alien for most American children. They are rarely taught the things Amish children have to know.

Their children amaze me; I am in awe of them. They are also kind and gentle, courteous and empathetic.

They laugh often and quickly.

They are healthy and open. They don’t carry the fear and caution many American children are taught to feel. If they want to go somewhere, they hook up a horse to a carriage and head off into the cold or rain, all “bundled up,” as they tell me.

The children are very hungry for books, and thanks to the dozens of people and librarians who have forwarded titles and recommendations to me. I don’t want to overwhelm them with too many books.

Battenkill Books is also gathering books for me, and I have some nice and carefully chosen ones to distribute tomorrow, my first day as the Bookman.

One of the girls already called me that. I like it.

Their life depends on helping one another, and connecting with outsiders who wish to help them, mostly by buying the things they make and cook, or by driving them to the places their horses and carts can’t go.

I often talk about the hopes of many people for a kinder and gentler America. I don’t wish to romanticize people, that is patronizing and dangerous, but gentleness and kindness are the two words that most come to mind when people ask me about the Amish and what I feel when I am around them.

And oh yes, I have met some of their dogs and horses. They are not seen as pets but as essential tools for survival. As such, they are bred, groomed, and fed carefully and well.

I have seen many poorly treated horses around here; I’ve never seen an animal mistreated on an Amish farm. People keep telling me they exist elsewhere, but that is not my business.

Tomorrow I’m the Bookman.

And those are the words that come to mind. Kind and gentle.