Don't Forget to Write

When Rosie reluctantly goes to Grandad's farm for a visit her letters home become a daily journal reflecting an increasingly positive attitude toward absence from home. Perfect for any child facing that first trip away from home

Grade 1-3-- Mom sends off a very frightened and reluctant Rosie for a visit with her grandfather and Aunt Mabel at their Vermont farm. The rest of the book follows the child's gradual change of opinion through her letters home. Each left side page is a bordered ink-and-watercolor illustration of scenes the girl describes in her letters on the recto. Each letter is topped with happy teddy bears acting out various events related in the letters. As Rosie comes to enjoy the animals, food, and company of her relatives, she wants to extend her visit. It is a slight story line at best, but what is inexcusable is that the setting has been obviously changed from Britain to the U. S. without altering the illustrations of the countryside or home interiors. --Yvonne Frey, Peoria Public Schools, IL
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This picture book offers a reassuring story for any child who is apprehensive about making a solo trip. Rosie feels just that way as she leaves to visit Grandad and Aunt Mabel on their farm. Through an endearingly rambling letter to her mother, reproduced alongside homey, full-page pictures depicting the activities about which she writes, readers can see Rosie gradually adjusting to being out of her natural element. Not surprisingly, she ends up having a grand time and finishes her letter: "I don't want to come home yet." Kids probably won't notice that the illustrations clearly depict the English countryside rather than that of Vermont, where Grandad supposedly lives. More important are the story's reassuring message and its portrayal of the strength of a grandparent's hospitality and love, which is universal. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.