Bert Breen's Barn Characters

Just for fun, set a timer for 60 seconds and list all the famous Toms you can think of from American lit and history. Waiting…waiting…Okay, here's a few we came up with: Tom Sawyer, Thomas Jeff...

Polly Ann is Tom's mother, and we're going to float the idea that she is almost as much the story's hero as Tom is. If Bert Breen's Barn is Tom's coming-of-age tale, it is Polly Ann's redemption ta...

Birdy is the old man who comes to do the mowing for Polly Ann every year, and for most of Tom's boyhood, he seems to be the closest thing Tom has to a friend and a father-figure. Birdy provides Tom...

Mr. Hook, no relation to the one-handed pirate captain, is one of the bosses of the Ackerman & Hook Feed and Flour Mill. He is also one of the strongest examples of a character who changes beca...

Amelie, a.k.a. Mrs. Breen and best known as Widow Breen, was—you guessed it—Bert Breen's wife. She is one odd duck. She's almost a total hermit, living up in the house her husband built and tra...

Newman, Enders, and Yantis ("the oldest and brainiest" [30.16]) are rough-and-tumble, good-for-nothin' bullies. Maybe it's because their names sound a little funny (especially Yantis, which sounds...

Billy-Bob is a lawyer in town. His real name is William Roberts Baxter, but he's more casual than that, even in the law office. He used to pal around with Erlo Ackerman and Chick Hannaberry in his...

Mr. Armond is a New York City lawyer who spends the spring and summer on his farm, which borders on the Breen property. He's very well-off, and his property has several houses and a well-manicured...

Drew is the Dolans' horse, a willful and grumbly old thing. Okay, so he's just a horse, but he's got personality nonetheless. He always does what's asked of him, including long days driving Polly A...

Erlo Ackerman is the boss of Ackerman & Hook Flour and Feed Mill. Though Mr. Hook's name is also in the title, Erlo is older. He's the one who calls the shots. He's not unkind to Tom by any mea...

Ox, whose real name is Marvin, is a mill hand at Ackerman & Hook. He's one of the first of many male figures who helps Tom, taking the thirteen-year-old boy under his wing when he starts work a...

The Moucheaud brothers are two more mill hands at Ackerman & Hook. They are French-Canadian, and "they were inclined to be excitable, talking in loud voices and arguing with each other, or anyb...

Cissie-Mae and Ellie are Tom's younger twin sisters. They are often present in the background of domestic scenes, contrasting Tom's more serious and responsible temperament against their childlike...

Parker MunseyParker Munsey runs Mr. Armond's big farm and herds his cattle. He's a mean-spirited son-of-a-gun, and he doesn't like the idea of Tom working on the property he's overseeing. As Birdy...