Wanda's Roses - Hardcover

Brisson, Pat

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1563971364 ISBN 13: 9781563971365

Publisher: Boyds Mills Press, 1994

Synopsis

This book about a child's simple faith is one that children will long remember--and adults will love to share.

When Wanda discovers a thornbush growing in the empty lot at the corner of Fillmore and Hudson, she's quite sure it's a rosebush all ready to bloom. So she clears away the trash, checks on it every day, and brings water from the butcher shop across the street. But no roses appear. Wanda's neighbors and friends are all doubtful, but when she invites them to a tea party in her "rose garden" one day in June, they're in for a big surprise.

About this title

About the Author

Pat Brisson lives in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, where she lives with her husband and their four sons. She is the author of the "Kate" books--Your Best Friend, Kate: Kate Heads West; and Kate on the Coast.

Maryann Cocca-Leffler has illustrated many books for children, including Wednesday is Spaghetti Day and Ice Cold Birthday, which she wrote herself. Ms. Cocca-Leffler and her husband have two daughters and live in Saugus, Massachusetts.

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 2-Wanda finds a thorny bush in a vacant lot and decides that it must be a rosebush that needs a little attention. She thinks about it, does library research, and tends the plant regularly, as various neighbors stop by and attempt gently to talk the child out of her rosy hopes. A month of watering, waiting, and clearing away surrounding trash brings no blooms; undaunted, Wanda attaches paper flowers to her special bush and invites the neighbors to a tea party to see the "rose garden." Cocca-Leffler's droll and friendly gouache and colored-pencil illustrations show a parade of six neighbors of various ages, sizes, and ethnic backgrounds on their way to the party, each bearing a blooming rosebush for the hostess. This story of one person's faith against all odds and a caring community is told simply and with good humor.
Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, ME
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Brisson ( Your Best Friend, Kate ) creates a lovable new character whose unwavering optimism transforms a rubbish-ridden vacant lot into a rose garden. Convinced that a bare thornbush is really a rosebush about to bloom, Wanda exuberantly cleans up the lot so that the bush will get more sun and air. "You'll see," she says, "in a few weeks that whole lot will be full of roses." Wanda's neighbors are skeptical: "If that's a rosebush, then I'm the queen of England," one thinks to herself; "If that's a rosebush, then I'm the king of France," the next muses privately. Still, charmed by the girl's enthusiasm, they all help her. After a month without blooms but with much camaraderie, Wanda's neighbors contribute rosebushes, and "the whole lot was filled with the biggest, most beautiful, sweetest-smelling roses that anyone had ever seen--just as Wanda had always said it would be." Cheery watercolors complement this upbeat urban tale, genially depicting the city's great variety, from a chubby butcher to a kindly old woman with nylon knee highs rolled down around her ankles. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1563971364
• ISBN 13: 9781563971365
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Cocca-Leffler Maryann
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32