#hsrl3

Clara Gillow Clark's third book about Hattie Belle Basket, The Secrets of Greymoor, finds our heroine knee deep in another mystery, one that might save Grandmother from losing her mansion, Greymoor. When we first met her in Hill Hawk Hattie, she is living in a small cabin in the mountains with her father and her mother has just died. When Pa tells Hattie she is going to dress as a boy and help him with his logging work, she is too despondent to argue. That's how she finds herself passing as "Harley," the only girl ever to raft down the Delaware River in 1883, even if it is in secret. In her next book, Hattie on Her Way, Hattie finds herself up against snobby neighbors and rumors about the death of her mysteriously absent Grandfather. In Secrets of Greymoor, Hattie now knows that her Grandfather, who has just passed away, was in the Utica Insane Asylum for the last years of his life, but she does not know what he did with Grandmother's fortune...

As Grandmother's income dwindles, Horace Bottle, Hattie's tutor who also boards with them, much search for a teaching job elsewhere and Hattie is forced to go to common school, or what we now call public school. Still clinging to her upper class ideals, Grandmother notes that, "Only commoners go to common school. We are not common people." Despite this, Hattie is anxious to be among children her own age again, especially now that she has ostracized her snooty neighbor, Ivy Victoria. However, Hattie finds herself an outsider once again as the girls in the school assume that she is an upper class snob because she lives in a mansion on the hill and they want to know what she is doing at common school. Hattie manages to win some of them over with her tales of elaborate feasts and festivities that never really happen and promises to invite them to her next party when her Grandmother is out of mourning for her Grandfather. Not all the girls buy her story and this proves disastrous in the end. Another impeding disaster is the overdue tax collection notice that Hattie hides from Grandmother. The need to find money to pay the taxes and a cypher filled notebook that she finds hidden in her Grandfather's old overcoat send Hattie on a hunt for hidden treasure inside the walls of Greymoor. And, while she finds the treasure, she can't save Greymoor and an auction ensues. But not before Hattie and Ivy Victoria tentatively renew their friendship which leads to a helping hand from a surprising person. The end of the book finds Hattie writing a letter to her Pa, who, after taking reading and writing lessons from the school mistress falls in love with and marries her, asking for new overalls so she can take up where she left off when she boarded that raft heading down river. Now that Grandmother and Buzzard Rose are safe and settled and money is no longer a problem and Hattie has passed her entrance exam into the Academy where Horace is now a teacher, she can make good on her promise to return to the mountains for the summer, meet her new family and take up with her old best friend, Jasper.

Hill Hawk Hattie by Clara Gillow Clark is a superbly crafted gem of a book that fell through the cracks of the shelves of the bookstore where I work. I was fortunate to receive a review copy from Candlewick Press of the newest book about Hattie, Secrets of Greymoor, and didn't realize there were two other books about her until I began doing research before writing my review. Happily, I went back and read the first two books about Hattie and her remarkable life.

Set in 1883 in the hills near Pepacton, New York, on the east branch of the Delaware River, Hill Hawk Hattie is the story of eleven year old Hattie Belle Basket and her Pa, Amos. When the story begins, Hattie and her father are still mourning the death of her mother, Lily a few months earlier. Hattie's Ma had been a society girl raised in the city of Kingston, PA, but there are hints at a troubled past as well. It was there that she met Amos Basket, clean-shaven and well dressed after rafting logs down river. The two feel in love and returned to Amos's cabin in the mountains, Hattie's Ma turning her back on her family, but holding herself apart from the Hill Hawks - another name for hillbillies - also. Lily valued education, teaching Hattie on her own and sending her to school when she could, but since her death Hattie has been stuck at home tending to chores, and not very well, her anger, grief and resentment growing. Her father has all but stopped talking to her, "ordering [her] around with curse words like [she's] nothing," and she is growing to hate him, believing that he must hate her as well. As she says about herself and her Pa, "Guess Ma was the sugar that kept us sweet." When her father acknowledges her birthday with boy's clothes, not the new dress and purple hair ribbons, her mother's favorite color, she had hoped for, Hattie is convinced of this. Amos tells her she might as well wear boy's clothes since she'll be coming to the woods with him from now on to help with his work. That night Hattie takes her mother's scissors and cuts off both of her braids, hiding them under her mattress along with her mother's half-empty diary that she now records some of her own thoughts in.

But, her Pa has his reasons, reasons he doesn't reveal to her until the very end of the story. Earning his living as a logger, Hattie's father fells trees during the winter then lashes them together to ride down river to Easton, PA in the Spring, returning home to make the trip seven or eight more times. As with all great historical fiction, the author reveals something to the reader, such as a way of life from the past that has died out, in a way that dovetails with the main characters and plot seamlessly. Clark does this wonderfully as she breathtakingly describes the rafters' journey down the river in the Spring right after the ice breaks up. What propels this story from good to great, however, is the presence of Hattie, now passing as a boy, on the raft along with her father and his partner and his partner's son. When Rastus and his boy Jasper meet up with Hattie and her Pa on her first day of work in the woods, Amos introduces her as his son, Harley. She and Jasper become fast friends and, being two years older and more experienced, he is eager to show her the ropes and tell her of the expedition that is ahead of them. Hattie's father has warned her never to reveal that she is a girl, although he does not go into specifics as to why. There is a very funny scene when the "men" are being sent off on their journey by Jasper's mother and sisters and his oldest sister flirts with Hattie. She does her best to ignore awkward situation this but Jasper teases her heartily.

Once the group embarks on their two day journey it is clear why Hattie must pass as a boy. Not only do the men bunk together in hotels when they stop for the night, an ice jam forces them off the river and into a barn the next night. Amos, who is known for his rafting and fighting skills, narrowly averts an all-out brawl one night in a tavern when Hattie's real gender is hinted at. Despite the fact that Hattie desperately misses being a girl, her time on the river with her father is exhilarating and educational, physically and emotionally. She sees her father steer the boat through some very rough patches, including over a dam, and gradually stops hating him as her admiration for his skills grows. He even gives her the chance to steer the raft one day, telling her she has "the gift." But his eyes have a sad look in them, not the proud one Hattie was expecting when she looked up. Hattie grows sad as well, thinking Pa will never call her his girl again now. There are more twists and turns ahead for Hattie as well as a bittersweet ending and a bit of redemption for herself and her Pa.

Clara Gillow Clark's book is rich with details, compelling characters and layered plot, all in less than 200 pages! Despite the cover of the book, I had no idea when I started reading that Hattie would be passing as a boy and doing man's work for part of the story. Reading this book made me realize just how easy it is to be a woman today, in so many ways. Sometimes it seems like works of historical fiction are crowded with spunky, independent thinking girl/woman characters. Perhaps this is because of the difficulties and limitations women faced over one hundred years ago. The most interesting historical fiction seems to be about the girls and women who break free of these constraints. The women who manage to live within these repressive societal rules usually merit the role of saintly mother in works of historical fiction, Caroline Ingalls and Nancy Hanks Lincoln as depicted in My Brother Abe: Sally Lincoln's Story come to mind immediately. This leads me to wonder if there are any works of historical fiction, for kids or adults, that depict the lives of the women who didn't break any molds in their time but instead lived quietly and happily with what was available to them... I'm sure there are writers out there who could make this interesting and I'm also sure these books exist and I just don't know about them - yet!

I highly recommend this book, and I think readers will also want to know more about Hattie Belle Basket's adventures. Not only is is well written, but it covers a little known (to me) area of the geographical and historical United States. Hattie's experiences on the river and her struggle to do as her father tells her while maintaining her sense of self make her a knotty but engaging character.

You can read Clara's blog about writing and books at Clara Gillow Clark, which is a different from her website linked above.

For readers who like this book, I recommend:

Hattie on Her Way by Clara Gillow Clark

Secrets of Greymoor by Clara Gillow Clark

My Brother Abe: Sally Lincoln's Story by Harry Mazer

Mary on Horseback by Rosemary Wells

The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth and winner of the Newbery Award in 1931 is a jewel of a book. It may also be the shortest book to win the award since it was first given in 1922.

At it's heart, this book is a collection of Jataka Tales (explanation to follow) woven together by the external story of a poor young artist who sends his housekeeper to the market to buy food with the last of his money. She returns not with food, but with a cat. Angered at first, cats not always having the best reputation, the artist relents and says, "Sometimes it is good fortune to have even a devil in the household. It keeps the other devils away." And, upon finding that she is a tri-color cat, which is a sign of good luck, the artist agrees to allow the housekeeper to name her Good Fortune.

She proves true to her name when the artist is commissioned to paint the scene of the Lord Buddha's death for the village temple. If his painting is well received, the artist will never have to worry about going hungry again. If it is rejected, his career will be ruined. The artist meditates long and hard on his subject matter, first imagining himself as Siddhartha, the Indian Prince, in his final human incarnation before he attained Enlightenment and became the Buddha. In Buddhism, there is no heaven, but rather nirvana, which is the state of freedom from the cycle of birth-death-rebirth, freedom from the restraints of a corporeal body. Nirvana, a oneness with the universe, is the goal of enlightenment. As he sits, near death, the Buddha's disciples and the animals of the earth come to bid him farewell. However, the cat does not join them, refusing to pay homage. Remembering this, the artist thinks to himself, "and so, by her own independent act, only the cat has the doors of Paradise closed in her face." With his affection for Good Fortune growing, the artist is saddened by this fact.

However, he continues to meditate and paint, depicting the various animals did come to pay homage, Good Fortune always by his side, encouraging and offering her praise of his masterful work. With each animal he considers painting, the artist remembers a different birth story, or Jataka Tale, from the Buddha's many lifetimes, of which there are over 550. The stories illustrate Buddhist virtues, particularly those of charity, compassion and self-sacrifice, through the stories of the Buddha's various incarnations, both human and animal. Buddhists believe in reincarnation and karma, the law of cause and effect. The karma or one life sets up the next life, but does not determine the unfolding of that life. Good acts in one life make it possible to be be reborn into a life that allows you to continue practicing good virtues on the path to enlightenment. The traditional birth and death dates of Siddhartha are 563 - 483 BCE. The Jataka Tales are dated between 300 and 400 AD and are believed to have influenced Aesop's Fables and other traditional folktaled.

Although the book is only seventy-four pages, Coatsworth manages to fit in more than ten Jataka Tales, including that of the Banyan Deer. As he nears completion of his painting, the artist struggles with his love for Good Fortune and his sadness that he cannot paint a cat in his picture. Trying to find a way around this, the artist thinks of the tiger and how devoted it is to it's mate and cubs. He remembers the story of how Siddhartha won the hand of Princess Yosadhara by out performing the other contestants in a match for her hand. As he was led to the side of the Princess, her face hidden behind a gold and black striped veil, Siddhartha leaned in and whispered, "By you veil I know that you remember how once, in another life, you were a tigress, and I was the tiger who won you in open combat against all the others." The artist discovers that the fierceness in love and love in fierceness can been seen as a virtue, as a "narrow pathway by which the tiger reaches the Buddha." Looking at his painting after adding the tiger, the artist finds his "scroll of silk seemed scarcely large enough to hold all those varied lives, all that gathering of devotion about the welling up of love."

The artist imagines how his little cat feels, excluded from this scene, and tears come to his eyes as he imagines all the other animals receiving the Buddha's blessing. He hears the doors of nirvana close before Good Fortune and decides to add her to the painting. When the priest from the temple arrives the next day to view the finished painting, he rebukes the artist for painting a cat into the picture when he knew that the cat did not belong there. The priest says, "The cat must suffer for her obstinacy and you from yours. As one can never erase work once done, I will take the painting tomorrow and officially burn it. Some other artist's picture must hang in our temple." The artist thinks sadly of what this will mean for his life and the housekeeper weeps for bringing the little cat home in the first place. The artist meditates through the night and sees the sun rise. And our after dawn a commotion arises in the village as the priests of the Temple run to the artist's house, speaking of a miracle granted by the compassion of the Buddha. The artist finds his painting altered. Where the last animal, the cat, had been painted there is only white silk. The Great Buddha, whom the artist had painted with his hands folded upon his chest is now reaching out an arm in blessing. Underneath the Buddha's hand sits a tiny cat with "her white head bowed in happy adoration." Brilliantly, Coatsworth manages to take her story of the artist and the cat and turn that into a Jataka Tale as well, illuminating the virtues of charity, empathy and compassion that the housekeeper and artist showed for the cat upon bringing her into their home.

This story bears reading more than once because it is deceptively simple in it's many layers. It is easy, upon first reading, to get caught up in the Jataka Tales and gloss over the story of the artist. However, upon second reading, the empathy that the artist gains through his mediations in preparation for each stage of the painting are truly profound. He is not just remembering a story, but imagining himself to be each creature and human that he is thinking of. And, finally, there are the poems in the book, the eight songs of the housekeeper that tell her story as well. The illustrations of Lynd Ward and the wood block prints of Jael add yet another wonderful layer to this story. Simple as it is, I think that this story should be read in context with a discussion of the teachings of the Buddha, especially the virtues that the Jataka Tales illustrate.

For Jataka Tales you can visit:

History Through Collected Stories: Jataka

The Baldwin Project, which is part of a great site that focuses on bringing "Yesterday's Classics to Today's Children."

New York Buddhist Vihara has a large selection of Jataka Tales to be read on line.

For books with collections of the Jataka Tales for children, you might like:

The Wisdom of the Crows and Other Buddhist Tales retold by Sherab Chodzon and Alexandra Kohn, illustrated by Marie Cameron. This collection contains Jataka Tales and Zen parables from Japan as well as Indian, Chinese, Burmese and Tibetan folktales that illustrate Buddhist teachings.

Once I Was a Monkey: Stories Buddha Told by Jeanne M Lee is a beautifully illustrated picture book with six Jataka Tales.

Buddha Stories, by Demi

Don't miss anything on any subject, by the marvelous, prodigious, prolific author and illustrator, Demi. This is a collection of ten of the most famous Jataka Tales told in picture book format.

For books that tell of the life of the Buddha:

Buddha, by Demi

Demi became fascinated with Buddhism at the age of three, when she chose a small golden statue of the Buddha at a five-and-dime store. At age twenty-one she was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study art in India, where she walked in the footsteps of the Buddha. She has practiced Buddhism for twenty years, along with her husband, Tze-si Huang. In researching the art for Buddha, she drew from Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, and Indonesian paintings, sculptures, and sutra illustrations, particularly Pahari and Chamba Indian miniature paintings. For the story of the Buddha's life, Demi relied on her library of more than 82,000 books, most of which she has read. (biographical information taken from bn.com)

The Dalai Lama: With a Forwad by His Holiness the Dalai Lama by Demi

In simple language and iconic art, Demi tells the story of the life of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, capturing the beauty and the charm of the Tibetan culture. An important book, children and parents will find the procedure for selecting a Dalai Lama following the death of the preceding one very interesting.

Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha by Thich Nhat Hahn

At six hundred pages, this may be more than you want to take on, let alone consider reading out loud to your children, by Thich Nhat Han, to the Western world, is the most famous living Buddhist after the Dalai Lama.

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

Published in America in 1951, Herman Hesses "biography" of the life of the Buddha is considered a classic. At 152 pages, and written in simple but flowing prose, it is an easy read that is a good entry for Westerners into the study and practice of Buddhism.

For parents interested in teaching their children Buddhism:

A Pebble for Your Pocket and Under the Rose Apple Tree by Thich Nhat Hahn

Thich Nhat Hahn presents the basic teachings of the Buddha and offers various practices that children can do on their own and with others. These books are written at a fourth grade reading level and are perfect for children to read on their own, but definitely deserve to be part of a discussion with mom and dad.

For Parents interested in parenting with a Buddhist perspective:

Everyday Blessings by Jon Kabat-Zinn and Myla Kabat-Zinn

The Kabat-Zinn's teach parents how they can enrich their lives and the lives of their children through mindful parenting. - honoring the fullness of the present moment and within it the inner beauty and potential that reside in ourselves and our children.

For websites to help you parent mindfully, check out:

Family Buddhism

Family Dharma

Good books for those of you who are new to Buddhism:

Essential Buddhism by Jack Maguire is a great reference book for beginners.

Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Sounds like the title of a Dr Seuss book, but it changed my life and started me on the path of practice. This book focuses on the concept of "mindfulness." Listening to this on audio is great, also.

Thoughts Without a Thinker and Going To Pieces Without Falling Apart by Mark Epstein. For those of us who are firmly rooted in Western ways of thinking and looking at life, Epstein provides an accessible, intellectual explanation of why we think the ways we do and how that can work with (and against) Buddhist principles. Above all else, Epstein works to free us from the destructive thought processes and emotional patterns that keep us stuck in the cycle of suffering.

And, finally, picture books with Buddhist themes that I love:

Samsara Dog by Helen Manos, illustrated by Julie Vivas.

Samsara is the Buddhist concept of the cycle of birth-death-rebirth and ultimately the suffering that is a fact of human life (we all get sick, old and die, and that is suffering.) The dog of the story lives through various lives and deaths and experiences in each, both good, bad, brutal and tender. Finally, he lives a full life as the pet of a boy, dying of old age.

The Mountains of Tibet by Mordicai Gerstein is a beautifully illustrated story of reincarnation and karma.

Zen Shorts by Jon J Muth.

With lush watercolors as well as pen and ink drawings to tell the Zen parts of the story, Muth has created a classic. His second book featuring Stillwater the Zen Panda is a little bit more plodding, but still worth reading.

The Three Questions by Jon J Muth

Based on a story by Leo Tolstoy, Muth manages to imbue Buddhist themes into this gorgeous book.

Stone Soup retold by Jon J Muth

"The young prince was known here and there (and just about everywhere else) as Prince Brat. Not even black cats would cross his path," is how the Newbery Winner, The Whipping Boy, by Sid Fleischman, begins. If this doesn't catch your child's attention, I'm not sure what will.

Jemmy, the whipping boy of the title, receives the corporal punishment meant for Prince Horace, since it not permitted to strike a royal. But, Jemmy never howls when he is hit and the Prince is furious and continually threatens to send Jemmy back to the streets in the rags he came in with. Instead, after a year, the Prince runs away and forces Jemmy to come along as his manservant. Almost immediately, they are captured by the ruffians Hold-Your-Nose-Billy and Cutwater. The prince stupidly reveals his true identity, and blunders into further trouble when he is forced to write his own ransom note and cannot even spell his name. The ruffians begin to suspect that Jemmy, who can write, is the real Prince Horace and the ignorant fellow is the whipping boy. Jemmy writes the note and the scoundrels proposes they send Prince Horace/the whipping boy, to the castle to deliver the note.

Thinking that this will allow him to be free of Prince Horace, who, by all rights should be pleased to flee the kidnappers and return to the castle, Jemmy is surprised when the Prince will not play along, and even betrays him as he tries to escape. But, escape they do. They meet Betsey, a girl with a dancing bear named Petunia and hitch a ride from Captain Harry Nips, Hot-Potato Man before they are captured once again. The ruffians proceed to punish the whipping boy - Prince Horace - for their escape and Jemmy looks on as the Prince takes his blows in stony silence.

The boys make it to the nearest town where they enjoy the fair and learn that their disappearance has become news. Jemmy and the Prince decide to hide in the sewers where Jemmy used to catch rats to sell and are almost captured by the brutes one last time. After escaping into the daylight, the Prince decides it is time for both of them to return to the castle, despite the fact that the king thinks Jemmy kidnapped the Prince and there is a reward out on his head. Doing the first kind thing ever in his life, Prince Brat convinces Captain Harry and Betsey to return him to the castle and collect the reward. Once there, all is set to right without even one whipping.

Everything Brian Selznick has ever done, especially when he writes and illustrates, fascinates me, yet I still do not understand the allure of Harry Houdini. Despite this and because of it, I love The Houdini Box, Brian Selznick's first book, which is really a long picture book and not a chapter book, but don't tell your kids that.

Despite my lack of interest in Harry Houdini, The Houdini Box is filled with magic, both in the illustrations and the text. And I don't mean wizards and witches kind of magic, or fairies and elves magic, I mean real magic, the magic of childhood. Selznick takes some facts about the man who was Harry Houdini, his given name, the date of his death, the fact that he had once said that on his 100th birthday a box would be opened revealing all of his secrets, and weaves them into a spellbinding story of hopes and dreams and drive and disappointment.

The book begins with a page of information about Houdini, the magician and a wonderful illustration of the man himself. Selznick posits that, in addition to all the adults who were wonderstruck by the magician, children loved him best of all because children want to be able to escape from punishments and make both dinners and parents disappear from time to time. Perhaps that is why juvenile versions of Houdini's biography are published every year.

The Houdini Box goes on to tell the story, with a full page illustration accompanying each page of text, of Victor, who is ten in 1926, and his relentless efforts to perform feats like Houdini. When a chance encounter in a train station puts him face to face with the man, he receives a promise from Houdini that a letter will arrive and he will reveal all of his secrets to Victor. The letter finally arrives, and it is an invitation to visit the master in his home. Victor leaves right away, forgetting entirely that it is Halloween, not even caring about the candy he is missing. When he arrives at Houdini's house, he is met by the beautifully sad face of Beatrice Houdini. It seems that Harry Houdini has died that very day. When Victor explains who he is, she runs upstairs and returns with a box for him.

Victor runs home excitedly, but is dismayed when he sees that the box has the initials E.W. carved on it, rather than H.H. Victor assumes that there must be a mistake and buries the box in a closet and does not think about Houdini again for years. The twist at the end of the book is both bittersweet and surprising, like all good books.

This the kind I loved as a child - a book that had creative female characters who lived and learned by their passion, whether it was writing, painting, dancing or fishing. I always loved a character with a sense of purpose and drive, and both Emily and Emmaline of The Mouse of Amherst have drive. Although this is a very short book with poems and line drawings scattered throughout, it is perfectly appropriate, one of the main characters being Emily Dickinson, author of 1, 789 short poems.

The reading level is high due to some of the vocabulary and the comprehensive ability needed to appreciate the poetry of Emily Dickinson that is woven into the plot of the story.

The other main character of the story, Emmaline, is a mouse who takes up residence in the Dickinson home. Her language is straightforward and practical, as befits the time period and the New England setting. Emmaline travels light and does not have much to unpack when she moves into her room behind the baseboards of Emily's room. For Emmaline, her stay at the Dickinson home will be one of self discovery and growth as she watches Emily craft her poetry and face joys and disappointments. We also get a brief sketch of Emily Dickinson's sister, Lavinia, who herself never married, and ran the Dickinson household which also included the sisters' mother and father.

Inspired by a scrap of a poem she has the chance to read, Emmaline begins to write her own poetry and share it with Emily. The two find they are kindred spirits, and the character of the mouse Emmaline serves perfectly as a surrogate for the poet Emily. The small life of Emmaline helps to illustrate the circumscribed life of Emily and illuminates her poetry at the same time.

The poems by Dickinson that are used in the book are accessible to children and the response poems that Emmaline writes are even more accesible. There are a few pages of historical information at the back of the book that readers will find very interesting, especially if they know nothing of Emily Dickinson and the kind of life led by middle class unmarried women in the 1800s. Honestly, this book probably will be of interest to girls only, same with the poetry and life of Emily Dickinson. However, this is no reason not to use this book to introduce the works of a great American Woman Poet to your children.

The Hundred Dresses, written in 1944 and winner of the Newbery Honor, performs the amazing feat of teaching a "life lesson" without being didactic and dull. I put the phrase "life lessons" in quotes because it is  phrase that has been introduced into children's literature in the last generation or so and it rubs me the wrong way sometimes. I'll be honest, I loathe children's books that set out to teach "life lessons." Most celebrity authored picture books, besides the poor writing, are frequently moralistic and teach-y and advertise their "life lessons" right on the cover. While I do think that there is a book (or three) in the world that can address any and every life issue, I think that the value of the book lies in the ability of a book to capture an experience, to craft it into a story and to make you feel and think things that you didn't before you read it. In my experience, children's books that propose to teach a life lesson are devoid of these qualities. 

The Hundred Dresses tells the story of Polish immigrant, Wanda Petronski who wears the same faded but clean dress to school every day and is made fun of when she tells her classmates that she has one hundred dresses in her closet at home. When the winners of the class drawing contest are announced, the children learn that Wanda really did have one hundred dresses - one hundred drawings of dresses - and that she has won the competition. However, she cannot collect her medal because her family has moved to the big city. Mr Petronski sends a note to Miss Mason, the teacher, telling her that in the big city, "No more holler Polack. No more ask why funny name. Plenty of funny names in big city."

The Hundred Dresses, written in 1944 and winner of the Newbery Honor, performs the amazing feat of teaching a "life lesson" without being didactic and dull. I put the phrase "life lessons" in quotes because it is  phrase that has been introduced into children's literature in the last generation or so and it rubs me the wrong way sometimes. I'll be honest, I loathe children's books that set out to teach "life lessons." Most celebrity authored picture books, besides the poor writing, are frequently moralistic and teach-y and advertise their "life lessons" right on the cover. While I do think that there is a book (or three) in the world that can address any and every life issue, I think that the value of the book lies in the ability of a book to capture an experience, to craft it into a story and to make you feel and think things that you didn't before you read it. In my experience, children's books that propose to teach a life lesson are devoid of these qualities. 

The Hundred Dresses tells the story of Polish immigrant, Wanda Petronski who wears the same faded but clean dress to school every day and is made fun of when she tells her classmates that she has one hundred dresses in her closet at home. When the winners of the class drawing contest are announced, the children learn that Wanda really did have one hundred dresses - one hundred drawings of dresses - and that she has won the competition. However, she cannot collect her medal because her family has moved to the big city. Mr Petronski sends a note to Miss Mason, the teacher, telling her that in the big city, "No more holler Polack. No more ask why funny name. Plenty of funny names in big city."