The slow journey across the prairie is not described in great detail, but
Mama's blue mood continues as she comments when the grass closed behind them
that "It's as if we'd never been." The end of the journey did not cheer Mama up
much, either, since the scenery of the new home wasn't much different than that
of the journey. But Papa remains cheerful and tries to lift Mama's spirits with
a visit to the neighbors only a three -hour ride away -- where they were invited
to sleep on that first night.
We watch the family plant a garden, dig a well, and move into their soddie.
The author still focuses more on Mama's homesickness than on the details of the
work of settling in. We see Mama becoming more and more depressed. Then Papa
takes Zoe to town with him to buy supplies, a day's ride away. They leave
Rebecca and Mama at the neighbor's on the way because of Mama's condition. While
in town, Zoe sees a patch of dandelions and decides to dig them up, take them
home, and plant them on their roof at home so that their house will be easy to
spot from outside. She wants to surprise her mama with them.
Early next morning, the girls planted the dandelions in the trenches they dug
in the roof's hard sod. The plants drooped a bit, but improved when given water
from the bucket. So the girls got Mama to come and look at them. By the time she
got there they had wilted.
"They're dandelions, " I said, fighting down a rush of disappointment. "You
can hardly tell."
"They're not very pretty, Zoe," Rebecca said. "I wish they were prettier."
"They will be," Papa said quickly. "They'll cover the roof and
they'll shout: 'This is home!' But their roots will have to take hold
first, 'Becca. It isn't easy being transplanted."
And, of course, that last line sums up the theme of this book. (And, in case
you're wondering, the book ends on a note of hope -- that although it takes time
for the roots to take hold, Mama states that she can wait for the miracle to
take place. )
Greg Shed's lovely but subdued illustrations enhance the mood of the book and
tell part of the story. Each one is worthy of being framed. Though written for
very young children, the content would not be insulting to older reluctant
readers. It would make a wonderful read-aloud, and would certainly be
appropriate when studying what it meant for a family to leave all they've ever
known to seek a better life in a very different place. And, of course, it would
fit right in with a study of pioneers or the westward movement. BTH-2365.
$5.40-D
Grandfather's
Christmas Tree by Keith Strand. Illustrated by Thomas Locker. It is rare
to find a story that is rich enough to match Locker's artwork. This one is. Told
in the first person, it explains the origin of a family Christmas custom that
the author wondered about -- why his grandfather always placed a small wooden
nest cradling two carved geese and five goslings in the low branches of a blue
spruce tree every Christmas Eve. When he was eight years old he finally asked
his grandfather to explain why he did it, and the story is the explanation. It
is set in Colorado in 1886, where his great grandparents had come from Illinois
to settle and begin a live on the western frontier. Though they are optimistic
as they face their new life, they shared a frightening bit of isolation during
the terrible blizzard of winter, 1886, when they were snowed in.
Right before Christmas, and the arrival of their first child, they exhausted
their stored wood supply, and the ferocity of the blizzard made it impossible to
go cut more wood from the surrounding hills. It appeared they would have to cut
their treasured blue spruce trees in order to survive. And it was as great
grandfather was chopping at one of the remaining trees that he discovered a pair
of geese, one of which had an injured wing, huddled in the snow under the low
boughs of the tallest blue spruce. Later that night, Grandfather was born.
The weather remained bad and Christmas Eve arrived with bitter cold. Great
Grandfather was faced with having to cut down that last remaining tree, but his
wife begged him to wait, and he agreed to leave the tree alone until after
Christmas Day. I'll leave the rest of the story for you to discover on your own,
just as you must enjoy Thomas Locker's wonderful paintings on your own. You
might be tempted to frame them. You might want to read this during the Christmas
season. Although it's not a religious story, it is a story of faith and family,
and a special "miracle,' and would be a welcome contrast to much of the 'twaddle"
that
abounds during the Christmas season. HB-63743. $5.40-D
Slavery and the Civil War Era
Follow
the Drinking Gourd
by Jeanette Winter. An old sailor named Peg Leg
Joe wanted to help slaves escape to freedom on the Underground Railroad. He
would work for a slave owner and in the evenings he'd teach the slaves a song
that would show them the way of escape -- "Follow the Drinking Gourd" -- the
North Star. This is the story of one slave family who set out to find their
freedom in Canada by following the "drinking gourd" with some help from those
who made up the Underground Railroad. The complete song and its tune will be
found at the back of the book. Part of the Five in a Row Curriculum. Please
click on image to enlarge it. BTH-2620. $7.19-D
Sweet Clara
and the Freedom Quilt, BTH-2627. $6.29-D
Post Civil War Era - First Part of 20th Century in North
American
My Great
Aunt Arizona is the true story of a teacher who reigned for generations
over the one-room schoolhouse she herself had attended. This book, written by
Arizona's great-niece Gloria Houston, introduces us to a remarkable woman. Born
in a log cabin her papa built, named by her brother who was in the cavalry in
the West, she grew into a tall girl who liked to sing, square-dance, and read
and dream about far away places she would later describe to her students. You
and your children will enjoy reading about this woman who inspired her students
for 57 years, even bringing her baby to her classroom with her when she was a
young mother. Susan Lamb's paintings beautifully reflect the joy of both Arizona
growing up, and the time she spent with her students in the classroom. Arizona
is portrayed as a delightful and responsible young girl who helped her papa and
younger brother Jim after her mother died, and who was persistent and diligent
in pursuing her goals. BTH-2622. $5.39-D
The World in the 20th Century
A
New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert. Illustrated by Anita Lobel.
In this World War ll story, Anna's mother finds a way to make her a new coat
when there isn't any money to buy one. Young readers will see every step of the
process in making the coat, from sheep to tailor. Based on a true story. This
book was selected to be part of the Five in a Row curriculum. Please click on
image to enlarge it. BTH-2619. $6.29-D
The United
States from World War
II to the Present
The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida. Penguin Putnam,
1993. Pictures by Joanna Yardley. Imagine being in the second grade and having
to leave your home and friends and school because you looked like one of
America's enemies. That's what happened to Emi when the U.S. Government made
Japanese American families like hers relocate to prison camps during World War
II. On the day Emi was to move, with everything packed and ready to go, her best
friend Laurie comes to tell her goodbye and gives her a lovely gold bracelet to
take to the camp with her as a remembrance. Shortly after getting to the camp,
after her family had cleaned out the old horse stall that was to be their new
home, Emi discovered she had lost her bracelet -- the one thing that would help
her remember her friend. As she looked for it, she learned a valuable lesson --
that friends don't have to have a tangible object to remember friends, because
one carries one's friends in one's heart. For ages 6-9. BTH-2623. $6.39-D. To
enlarge image, just click it.
Smoky
Night by Eve Bunting. Illustrated by David Diaz. What is it like to
feel imprisoned in your own home with a riot raging outside? The people who
lived through the Watts riots in Los Angeles, California, in 1965, found out. A
fictional Hispanic child tells how it felt to be there, watch the looting, try
to sleep with chaos all around, evacuate in the middle of the night when fire
breaks out, sleep in a shelter, and finally learn to get along with neighbors
previously just tolerated. A Caldecott Medal Book. BTH-2366. $5.40-D
The
Wall by Eve Bunting , illustrated by Ronald Himler. The story is
told in the voice of a young boy who visits the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
with his father, who has brought him a long distance to see it. The father
find's his dad's name and makes a rubbing on white paper over the letters with a
pencil, so the letters show up white. The boy watches other visitors and their
interaction with "The Wall." He sees the various things -- flowers, flags,
pictures, etc -- that visitors before him have left by the wall. And he finally
leaves his own picture under his grandfather's name, wishing that his
grandfather was with him, so they could know one another.
Working
Cotton by Sherley Anne Williams. Illustrated by Carole Byard. Follow
the day of a young African-American girl working the cotton fields of
central California with her migrant family. She tells the story herself
beginning with " We gets to the fields early, before it's even light. Sometime I
still be asleep. It be cold, cold, cold." The artist takes readers to the
fields, too, so they can see all that goes on -- workers huddling around the
fire in the morning to keep warm, workers picking the cotton, row by row,
dragging their heavy sacks behind them. The cotton is weighed before lunch --
cornbread and greens -- which the family sits to eat in the midst of the fields.
At the end of the day, "The bus come when it's almost dark. Us all be tired.
Daddy take the baby; Mamma take the bundle. Me and Ruise, Jesmarie carry the
sacks."
BTH-2367. $6.30-D
A
New Coat for Anna