Blueberries for the Queen - Softcover

Paterson, Katherine; Paterson, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0064438740 ISBN 13: 9780064438742

Publisher: HarperColl, 2009

Synopsis

It's summertime in New England during World War II, and a boy named William likes to imagine at bedtime that he is a brave knight fighting great battles to end the war. But in the morning he is always just William again, not big enough to contribute to the war effort like the rest of his family. Then a real queen moves in just down the road: Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. Now William has his chance to do something. It may not be "war work"—it's more like peace work—but that makes all the difference.

About this title

About the Author:

Katherine Paterson was born in China, where she spent part of her childhood. After her education in China and the American South, she spent four years in Japan, the setting for her first three novels. Ms. Paterson has received numerous awards for her writing, including National Book Awards for The Master Puppeteer and The Great Gilly Hopkins, as well as Newbery Medals for Jacob Have I Loved and Bridge to Terabithia. Ms. Paterson lives with her husband in Vermont. They have four grown children.

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 3–It's 1942 and William's mom has just confirmed that a real queen has moved into an estate near their New England farm. Much to his older brother's amusement, William imagines the woman doing her errands in cape and gown. He also frets over his inability to contribute anything to the war effort, so when Dad suggests that picking blueberries is equally important as "peace work," William decides to try and chase some of the queen's worries away by presenting her with a basket of his most impressive berries. A kind lady (Princess Juliana of the Netherlands) invites him into the house and agrees that he should meet the queen. The grandmotherly woman (Queen Wilhelmina) is not what William expected, but he is delighted with the gracious reception he receives and returns home bursting with excitement. Based on John Paterson's actual experience (described in a historical note), this lengthy picture book draws a rather romanticized vision of farm life in the '40s and presents a hopeful story that mitigates the despairing events of the times. The banter between William and his supercilious older brother rings a bit more true than Dad's homespun philosophizing, but the innocence and naïveté of the place and time shine through. Jeffers's watercolor-and-ink illustrations perfectly juxtapose scenes of domestic reality with the boy's wistful daydreams of knights and heroic quests. Pair this earnest tale with Shulamith Levey Oppenheim's The Lily Cupboard (HarperTrophy, 1995) as they both share the same time period and rural locale, but are two fascinatingly diverse experiences set on opposite sides of the Atlantic.–Carol Ann Wilson, Westfield Memorial Library, NJ
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About this edition

• Publisher: HarperColl
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0064438740
• ISBN 13: 9780064438742
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Jeffers Susan