(3) 4-6 Newborn Blue was left on Hannah's doorstep in 1941 and has remained on her farm since. This touching self-discovery story outlines ten-year-old Blue's longing to find her real mama, friendship woes, and eventual appreciation of her unique family situation. Kinsey-Warnock effectively uses simple-folk dialogue to cement the 1950s rural Vermont setting in her intimate portrait of a loving but non-traditional family.

Reviewer: Sophie Williamson

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Mary Azarian. Second-person text ("To have a Christmas like Helen's / you'll need to be born on a Vermont hill farm, / before cars, telephones, or electricity") helps readers experience what Christmas was like during the author's grandmother's childhood. Though not all the snippets of Helen's history work as a whole, Azarian's bold woodcut illustrations are eye-catching.

Reviewer: Lauren Rizzuto

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Judy Pedersen. Since her mother died, life on Devil's Rock has been lonely for Quila MacFarlane, the twelve-year-old daughter of a Maine lighthouse keeper. When she rescues a baby adrift on the waves, Quila begins to rebuild a family. Inspired by a true story, this tale paints a compelling picture of the difficulties and pleasures associated with the isolated life of lighthouse keepers and their families during the 1800s.

Reviewer: Juliet S. King

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Mary Azarian. Sugaring, haying, and mud season are a few of the distinctive experiences the author shares with her readers as she reminisces about growing up on a Vermont family farm. Mary Azarian's vibrant woodcuts, hand tinted with watercolors, accentuate the rural aspects of these northern New England events.

Reviewer: Juliet S. King

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by James Bernardin. These two books are set in northern Vermont in the early 1900s. In Doctor, Margaret, who dreams of becoming a doctor, gets some experience during the 1918-1919 influenza outbreak. In Library, Ruby must help her large family after her father's death in a logging accident. Readers will be drawn to these two courageous protagonists and their engaging stories. The books are illustrated with black-and-white drawings. [Review covers these titles: A Doctor like Papa and Lumber Camp Library.]

Reviewer: Juliet S. King

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by James Bernardin. These two books are set in northern Vermont in the early 1900s. In Doctor, Margaret, who dreams of becoming a doctor, gets some experience during the 1918-1919 influenza outbreak. In Library, Ruby must help her large family after her father's death in a logging accident. Readers will be drawn to these two courageous protagonists and their engaging stories. The books are illustrated with black-and-white drawings. [Review covers these titles: A Doctor like Papa and Lumber Camp Library.]

Reviewer: Juliet S. King

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Kathleen Kolb. In a nostalgic glimpse of farm life, young Emma spends the summer on her great-aunt and -uncle's farm in Vermont. More a reminiscence than a story, the text is illustrated with richly colored paintings that call to mind an idyllic, pastoral world. The last section, in which an adult Emma purchases the farm and lives there herself, seems tacked on and lacks child appeal.

Reviewer: CHristine Sarrazin

(4) 4-6 Spending the summer on his grandparents' farm, twelve-year-old Arlis learns important lessons about life and nature under Grandpa's tutelage. Arlis returns home with newfound self-respect, joins the track team, and forges a closer relationship with his distant father. Lacking the subtlety of Kinsey-Warnock's previous stories, this heavy-handed novel is set in 1969; an unnecessary scene of the 'Apollo' moon landing is the only reference to the era, however.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.