(2) 4-6 Thirteen-year-old Charity Brown, youngest of four, is dealing with the lingering effects of polio and starting to question the beliefs and rules of her parents, who adhere to the precepts of a strict Christian sect. "We had to avoid places where the Devil might lurk, like cinemas, or those coffee bars with juke boxes that play wickedly sinful pop music." The family's plain, thrifty, and restrained domestic life changes drastically when the Browns come into an unexpected inheritance that includes a mansion and decide to set up a kind of hostel for the "weary and heavy-laden." Set in postwar London, this narrative touches on antisemitism, racism, and the oppression of women but folds these issues deftly into a child-centered story of a spirited girl who feels inadequate, longs for a friend, is embarrassed by her parents' behavior in public, and frets about how the idea of a loving God can be reconciled with the sorrows of the world. The tone here, warm and gently funny, matches the setting, as well-orchestrated scenes of family dinner disasters, a teenage brother with attitude, not having the right clothes, an adored auntie who is a bit "fast," and a short-lived crush could have been plucked from a mid-twentieth-century children's novel. A nuanced portrait of growing up outside the mainstream.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) YA In 1680s Scotland, Maggie, falsely accused of witchcraft, seeks refuge with her father's family. But the Blairs are Covenanters, and life with them is also fraught with peril. Laird brings Scottish, English, and Protestant history to life, but even more potently presents a coming-of-age story, a stalwart hero, and a well-paced adventure that shows stubborn human nature in a thought-provoking light.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2011

(3) PS Illustrated by Liz Pichon. In an amusing circular tale set in an unnamed African country, Beatrice is trying to reach her grandfather's house with her bunch of bananas intact. Various jungle animals, through accident or mischief, take away her bananas and replace them with other gifts, until she winds up with a new bunch of bananas just as beautiful as the first. The jungle landscape is depicted in bright fantasy colors.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) 4-6 Three children live in the streets of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: orphan Mamo, kidnapped and sold as a slave; his sister Tiggist, who holds down a job; and Dani, a rich boy who runs away from his harsh father and joins Mamo's gang. Their stories are not well integrated, and gang life seems somewhat sanitized, but Laird avoids the pitfalls of bathos and delivers an affecting story.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) K-3 Storytellers will enjoy this collection of twenty Ethiopian tales collected from oral tellers and retold in English for the first time. Included are trickster tales, pourquoi tales, and animal stories reminiscent of Aesop and Grimm, all set in the Ethiopian landscape. Varied illustrations by different artists break up the text and add to the African setting.

Reviewer: Pamela McCuen

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Michael Frith. "The world is big out there, little one, so put your hand in mine." In a reassuring statement, the narrator promises to protect, nurture, and love a child, come what may. Although the watercolor illustrations are handsome, the shifting viewpoint of the characters in the pictures (in one, a child brings food to a sick mother in bed) makes it unclear who the narrator is and who is promising to care for whom.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley