Anna All Year Round - Softcover

Hahn, Mary Downing

Softcover

ISBN 10: 038073317X ISBN 13: 9780380733170

Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books, 2001

Synopsis

Eight-year-old Anna experiences a series of episodes, some that are funny, others sad, involving friends and family during a year in Baltimore just before World War I. Reprint.

About this title

About the Author

Always interested in writing, Mary Downing Hahn became a children's author only after experimenting with a wide variety of careers, from junior high school art teacher to college instructor to children's librarian. Today she is the author of more than twenty books that have appeared on countless state awards lists. Her stories run the gamut from historical fiction such as the popular Gordy trilogy, to ghost stories such as Wait Till Helen Comes and Look for Me by Moonlight. Her most recent work, Anna All Year Round, is a gentle and heartwarming story based on her own mother's diaries.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-Life in Baltimore in the years just before World War I might seem slow and dull to today's youngsters, but eight-year-old Anna experiences the same yearnings, disappointments, joys, and adventures that all children do. During the seasons described here, she struggles with long division; she outgrows her winter coat and longs for a red one just like the one belonging to her snobby friend Rosa; she asks Santa for an Erector set, though it is not considered a suitable present for a young lady; and she eavesdrops on her mother and aunts' conversations, only to be thwarted when the adults speak in German (a glossary of German terms is included). Hahn masterfully captures Anna's humiliation at wearing a coat that is too small, her thrill and fear during her fling as a daredevil roller skater, and the comforting sense of family that surrounds these everyday activities. De Groat depicts the period details-dress, transportation, etc.-and the characters' personalities all come to life through her soft, though vibrant pencil illustrations. Reading this book is like taking a quiet, peaceful carriage ride over the cobbled streets of an earlier time.
Linda Bindner, formerly at Athens Clarke County Library, GA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 038073317X
• ISBN 13: 9780380733170
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 131
• Illustrator: De Groat Diane