original rhyme goes: John Patch made the match, And John Clint made the flint, And John Puzzle made the muzzle, And John Crowder made the powder, And John Block made the stock, And John Brammer made the rammer, And John Scott made the shot, But John Ball shot them all. James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps suggests, in his preface to the poem, "conjecturing the John Ball of the following piece to be the priest who took so distinguished a part in the rebellion temp. Richard II." Kathleen Horning observes John Ball's "challenge to England's aristocracy," and she suggests, "It sounds like John Ball would have been right at home in the American political landscape of the 1960s, with the Woodstock generation trying to get itself 'back to the garden.'" Drummer Hoff has been called an anti-war poem. Zena Sutherland remarked that on the last page, which takes place some time after the cannon has been fired, we are left with a scene "in which the passing of time has clothed the weapon with sweet signs of bucolic peace – a lovely surprise." Nonetheless, the precise political message of Drummer Hoff has not been pinpointed, and the Emberleys have shown no interest in explaining any personal motivations to make the story the way they did. Kathleen Horning wonders, Were critics of the day ignoring the message? Did they not see a message? Or did they expect people to read between the lines? Perhaps in 1968, even at the height of the antiwar era, there was more tolerance for – or even outright acceptance of – the strong interest many young children have in toy guns and pretend explosions...Or perhaps the psychedelic counterculture colors and the final image of the cannon rusting in a field of flowers were enough to balance the violent action with an antiwar message. References Caldecott Medal–winning works 1967 children's books Children's fiction books American picture books