(4) 4-6 Little House: The Martha Years series. Illustrated by Renee Graef. Ten-year-old Martha is excited about her first trip to the city to visit her newly married sister, Grisie, but the actual experience leaves her longing for her manor home in the Scottish Highlands. Unfriendly servants, instructions to act with decorum, and the sudden death of Grisie's father-in-law leave little time for fun and exploration. This book is not as engaging as the previous ones, but the setting and characterizations make it a good read.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(3) 4-6 Little House: The Martha Years series. Illustrated by Renee Graef. Now eight years old, Martha has to study with a governess rather than play on the moor with the other children who live on her father's Highland estate, but she still takes advantage of every opportunity to interact with her friends. This prequel to the Wilder books relates Martha's growing understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of her station in life. Readers will appreciate Martha's candor and her adventurous spirit.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(3) 4-6 Little House: The Martha Years series. Illustrated by Renee Graef. With her brothers away at school and her older sister acting moody, seven-year-old Martha feels lonely, particularly when her family leaves her behind for a week while visiting relatives. But she enjoys playing with her pet hedgehog and entertaining her young cousins, who spend the week with her. Martha's domestic adventures ring true, and her spirit makes her a likable character in this story set in eighteenth-century Scotland.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(3) 4-6 Little House: The Martha Years series. Illustrated by Renee Graef. Little House fans will enjoy this charming spinoff, which features one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's ancestors. Young Martha, inquisitive and impulsive, finds her way in and out of scrapes at her highland home. As in the original series, abundant details of everyday life provide a picture of the time--in this case, eighteenth-century Scotland.

Reviewer: Anne St. John