Warm as Wool

Scott Russell Sanders

ISBN 10: 1590984218 ISBN 13: 9781590984215

Publisher: The Wooster Book Company, 2007

Synopsis

Scott Russell Sanders encourages us to understand history as he does, by imagining past lives. He was fascinated by a fragment of information that he found in a nineteenth-century record book, about the first pioneer to own sheep in Randolph Township, Portage County, Ohio. The pioneer was a woman, Betsy Ward. Her story has inspired this one, and Helen Cogancherry has illustrated it with deeply affectionate, richly textured scenes that show the promise of opportunity, the hardships that seem to keep coming, and the strength of a mother s love. Offering a vivid picture of life on the frontier, Warm as Wool is intimate and emotionally involving. Superb storytelling and artwork bring us the past afresh while inspiring our appreciation for the vital and largely unsung role women have played in our nation s growth.

About this title

About the Author

Scott Russell Sanders grew up in Ohio. After receiving his Ph.D. from Cambridge University,
he moved to Bloomington, Indiana, where he and his wife have reared two children, and where he is Distinguished Professor of English at Indiana University. The author says, I am trying to help children imagine history through the sharing of past lives, especially the lives of families who made their way into the wild heart of the continent.
His books for children have been honored by awards from the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Science Teachers Association, and the American Library Association. His books for adults have received the Great Lakes Book Award, the John Burroughs Essay Award, and the Lannan Literary Award.

Review

Sanders (Aurora Means Dawn) narrates with energy, in a colorful style spiced with concrete words. In the gentle spirit of Garth Williams, Cogancherry provides softly colored, precisely delineated illustrations; her figures are realistic, yet have unusual grace. Based on a real frontier incident; attractive and authentic. --Kirkus Review

Here as in his Aurora Means Dawn, Sanders expands on a true story about a pioneer family. ... Cogancherry s watercolors, done in earth tones that reflect natural colors and lighting, convey a sure sense of pioneer life. This is a warm book about the struggle to stay warm, and a strong heroine is captured in both story and pictures. --Booklist

The reality of the American pioneer experience is embodied in this simple, historically based account of Betsy Ward, who with her husband and three young children emigrated from Connecticut to the Ohio woodlands in 1803. ... Sanders fleshes out the characters and plot to create a memorable picture of a family s life in an isolated, draughty cabin with only ragged clothing to keep them from freezing. The patience and hard labor required of a farm family, the supreme importance of their livestock, the discomforts and disappointments they must endure, and the quiet satisfaction they achieve are clearly depicted in text and illustration. The handsome, expressive pictures are done in warm-toned watercolors and pencil and are rich in authentic detail. An unusual unity in format is achieved by a thin wash of color over the text page as well. Although the story is at times bleak, the golden tones of the illustrations impart a feeling of optimism for the future. The prose is vivid, suspenseful, precise, and well cadenced. --School Library Journal

Here as in his Aurora Means Dawn, Sanders expands on a true story about a pioneer family. ... Cogancherry s watercolors, done in earth tones that reflect natural colors and lighting, convey a sure sense of pioneer life. This is a warm book about the struggle to stay warm, and a strong heroine is captured in both story and pictures. --Booklist

The reality of the American pioneer experience is embodied in this simple, historically based account of Betsy Ward, who with her husband and three young children emigrated from Connecticut to the Ohio woodlands in 1803. ... Sanders fleshes out the characters and plot to create a memorable picture of a family s life in an isolated, draughty cabin with only ragged clothing to keep them from freezing. The patience and hard labor required of a farm family, the supreme importance of their livestock, the discomforts and disappointments they must endure, and the quiet satisfaction they achieve are clearly depicted in text and illustration. The handsome, expressive pictures are done in warm-toned watercolors and pencil and are rich in authentic detail. An unusual unity in format is achieved by a thin wash of color over the text page as well. Although the story is at times bleak, the golden tones of the illustrations impart a feeling of optimism for the future. The prose is vivid, suspenseful, precise, and well cadenced. --School Library Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: The Wooster Book Company
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1590984218
• ISBN 13: 9781590984215
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Helen Cogancherry