The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Swain, Gwenyth , Swain, Gwenyth

I Wonder as I Wander

32 pp. | Eerdmans | September, 2003 | Trade ISBN 0-8028-5214-9 $$16.00

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Ronald Himler & Ronald Himler. From the known facts about the titular song (music included)--John Jacob Niles learned it in 1933 from a girl, Annie Morgan--this book extrapolates a tale about a Depression-era preacher and his daughter taking to the road after Mama's death. The Appalachian-inflected hard-times narrative verges on maudlin, but the hardscrabble watercolor and pencil illustrations generate warmth while avoiding prettiness.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam