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Vera B. Williams Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart
Greenwillow Books March 2, 2004 0060571829 / 9780060571825 Paperback New
0060571829 0060571829 Children's Books: Ages 4-8 From Publishers Weekly Through a pastiche of poems and pictures, Williams (A Chair for My Mother) presents an affecting portrait of two young sisters in a struggling family. In the opening entry, readers learn why older Essie is smart (she "could r ead hard library books/ .../ thread a needle,/ cook toasted cheese sandwich es/ make cocoa") and why Amber is brave ("She could get the grocery man/ to trust them for a container of milk/ though their mother/ couldn't pay him till payday/ Amber wasn't afraid of the rat/ in the wall under the sink"). Gradually, readers learn about the challenges they face: their mother works long hours, their father is in jail for check forgery, the radiator grows cold in the evenings and there is little food. Yet there are lighthearted m oments, as when the sisters make a "best sandwich" (with Amber on one side, Essie on the other, and Wilson The Bear in the middle), shriek with laught er as they jump on the bed and share a weekly ritual of playing beauty parl or with their mother. In perhaps the most poignant passage, Amber cuts off her braids "to send to Daddy/ so he'll be sure to remember me." The tale cl oses on an upbeat note when Daddy appears at the door. Williams opens with full-color portraits of the girls and closes with pastel drawings of the mo re dramatic moments; she punctuates the poems with black-and-white pencil d rawings that convey the deep affection between these sympathetic sisters. T hough the author taps into difficult themes, by relaying the events through the eyes of the two girls, she maintains a ray of hope throughout the volu me. Ages 7-up. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Inf
Price:
2.99 USD
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