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Picture Books

TRACTOR DAY
Walker & Company, 2007
Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant
$16.95 ISBN 0802780903
Grades PreK-1, Ages 3-6

      Tractor naps.
      Time to plow.
      Cover off.
      Wake up now!

      Climb aboard the big red tractor. It’s time to get ready for spring!

 “Youngsters will delight in this fresh seasonal story. A great choice for reading aloud or sharing one-on-one.” – School Library Journal   

 “Life on the farm never looked so good.” – Booklist

Why I Wrote This Book:  I have always wanted to write rhyming texts for younger children. The book also captures a happy time in my own childhood. Oh, how I miss the tractor! 

 

I LIKE SHOES
Children's Press/Scholastic, 2006
Illustrated by David Lafleur
$19.50 Hardcover ISBN 0516248588
$4.95 Paperback ISBN 0516250175
Grades 1-3, Ages 6-8

      Red shoes
      Black shoes
      Run around the track shoes.

      Shoes with bows
      Shoes with straps
      Shoes that go tap, tap, tap.

      Who doesn't like shoes? This fun, rhyming book is my Valentine to shoes! 

LIBERTY STREETBOOK COVER IMAGE
Walker Books for Young Readers, 2003
Ages 6-9
$16.95 Hardcover
ISBN 0802788696

      I was born on wash day.
     “Did you have to work that day?” I once asked Mama.
     “Our people work every day, Kezia,” she said.

      Kezia and her mother must work all week except Sunday afternoons, when Missus Grace’s slaves are free to travel through town and visit friends.  Glorious Sundays, when slaves through Fredericksburg walk along the dirt path they call Liberty Street, making small journeys that give them the only taste of freedom they can ever have.

      Soon Sundays take on an even deeper meaning when Kezia joins a secret school to learn to read—even though it is forbidden to slaves.  Meanwhile, her mother works frantically to earn extra money to buy Kezia’s freedom from Missus Grace before she is bonded out to another family far away.

      “Told by Kezia in the present tense, the story is intense and powerful. Strong and compelling..” -- Kirkus   

THE PROMISE QUILT
Walker Books, 1999, illustrated by Ellen Beier
$15.95 Hardcover ISBN 0802786944
Ages 5-8, Grades K-3
Virginia Young Readers List
Show Me State Readers List (Missouri)
Hodge-Podge Society Best Book for Children 2001

     Addie’s father promised she would learn to read and write.  But when he’s killed at Gettysburg it seems like Addie’s dreams have died with him.  The war devastated the South and Addie’s town was no exception.  The schoolhouse was gone, along with all the desks and books.  Still, Addie’s father had promised she would make her mark in the world.  Addie’s mother uses her skill with her hands to turn stitches into words, crafting a beautiful quilt to be auctioned off to raise money for books.

      “This realistic tale, told from the point of view of a Southerner, is very touching.  Like the pieces of the quilt, historical details are seamlessly interwoven into the story, bringing to life a troubled time.” -- School Library Journal

Why I Wrote This Book:  I grew up near the Bull Run battlefield.  Now my husband and I live in Fredericksburg, within minutes of four Civil War battlefields.  When I was working on another book, Children of the Civil War, I pored over period photographs and was struck by the devastation.  60% of the war was fought on Virginia soil—my home state was nearly ruined.  I wanted to write about the effects of war on innocent people.  When the fighting was over and the troops went home, women and children were left to pick up the pieces.  My great-grandmother told about the soldiers coming through their farm.  Some of her story found its way into mine.

THE BIG GREEN POCKETBOOK
HarperCollins/Laura Geringer Book, 1993, illustrated by Felicia Bond
$17.00 Library Edition ISBN 006020849X
$ 6.95 Paperback  ISBN 0064433951
Ages 4-7, Grades PreK-2
Book-of-the-Month Club Selection
Pick of the List
Accelerated Reader

      On her day in town with her mother, a little girl starts off with an empty big green pocketbook and along the way collects pieces of her day to put inside.  But when her very full pocketbook is suddenly missing, her very full day seems ruined.

      “This simple slice-of-life story is straightforward and convincingly told . . .” -- School Library Journal

      “Youngsters will be entirely satisfied with the expected happy ending to this sprightly narrative, which is studded with inventive imagery . . .[Bond’s] whimsical, cartoony pictures [offer] a playful and most suitable setting for this winsome story with its timeless theme.” -- Publisher’s Weekly

      “A cozy, satisfying tale of an orderly world—simply told and illustrated with pictures in which the cheerful faces and tidy, spacious design nicely reflect the text’s sunny flavor.” -- Kirkus

Why I Wrote This Book:  It’s my story!  I grew up in the country and my mother didn’t have a car.  The only way we could go to town was by Trailways bus.  My favorite possession was the big green pocketbook my mother gave me.  I took it everywhere.  But one day I left the purse on the bus, which was going on to Washington, D.C.!  The bus driver knew me and put my purse in our mailbox the next day.  I never forgot his kindness and wrote a book about it years later.

 

 

 

 

 


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