Received a Special Citation for the 2010 Book Awards, given by the Colonial Dames of America
"A remarkable history of one room schools and about their place in our collective memory."—John L. Rury, University of Kansas
"This beautifully written book makes a unique and original contribution not only to the history of American education, specifically, but to American social history, writ large."—Jeffrey Mirel, University of Michigan
"One of America's most thoughtful historians, Jonathan Zimmerman is also one of the most innovative, as he shows in this remarkable new study of a universally recognized but—until now—incompletely understood educational icon.
Thoroughly researched and crisply written, Zimmerman's account of the little red schoolhouse's past, actual and
remembered, is authoritative, nuanced, and full of surprises. Small Wonder makes a big contribution to the
interpretation of American culture."—Charles Lane, author of The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre,
The Supreme Court and The Betrayal of Reconstruction
“Readers will enjoy this unique look at how the little red schoolhouse came to be our foremost symbol of education. Each chapter is filled with thought provoking perspectives and information.”—Mark Dewalt, author of Amish Education in the United States and Canada
“By focusing on the little red schoolhouse, Jonathan Zimmerman leads the reader on a fascinating journey through the real and imagined American past. Much more than a study of schooling and its hallowed symbol, this book is a rich, instructive, and often entertaining opening onto American culture, the politics of culture, and our educational values over the past one hundred and fifty years.”—Paula S. Fass, author of Children of a New World and Margaret Byrne Professor of History at the University of California at Berkeley