Debby hesitated at the edge of the clearing. It was their own half-acre, that clearing, and held the new trailer house, shining so brightly in the June morning sunlight.
I loved, loved, LOVED Siddie Joe Johnson's Debby. This children's book is set in South Texas. Though it has a 'historical' feel about it now, at the time it was published in 1940, it would have been considered contemporary.
Debby is the heroine. The move is recent. Her father needed to get away from the city for health reasons. The family will be living in a trailer home for a year. He'll be recuperating and writing a book. Will Debby like it in the country? Will she like Texas? Yes, and YES! She'll have many adventures. She'll make plenty of good, good friends.
The book spans the months of June through December. During those months, Debby grows up a bit, makes new friends, and discovers plenty. There is just something pleasant and satisfying and lovely and SIMPLE (in a good way, I promise) about this one. Readers get the summer adventures, the starting-school adventures, and the holiday adventures. (I love that there are chapters about Thanksgiving and Christmas.)
Debby LOVES Mr. and Mrs. Sanders their closest neighbors. And Mrs. Sanders loves, loves, loves having Debby around. This couple never had children, and, they take great delight in Debby. Mrs. Sanders inherited a doll named Deborah. It is this doll which is depicted on the cover. You might suppose since the doll is on the cover, that, the doll would play a prominent role in the book. That the book might even read like Hitty or Miss Hickory. But. It doesn't. Sure, the doll is mentioned in two or three chapters. But the book is about so much more. I was wanting a doll-story. But what I got was even more satisfying in the end.
I would definitely recommend this one! I loved everything about it: the end papers, the illustrations throughout the book, the writing itself.
© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
1 comment:
Not a copy in the entire state of Ohio. Why must you torment me like this? I'm sure I would love the book, too.
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