I liked this a lot. I don't always like prequels. Sometimes they make me impatient--just get to the thing I know happens!--or they contradict my impressions of the past (sometimes impressions I didn't even realize I had). This one did a little of the second, as we'd never heard of Caddy's friends...
Frances Hodgson Burnett's 'A Little Princess' was one of my favourite books when I was around the age of 10, and I read it endlessly. I was very surprised to discover this sequel by a modern children's author at the library, and couldn't resist picking it up. Rather than focusing on what Sara did...
Imagine that you have found a duck egg. You are at school, you've made a nest out of soft hats, and you are hiding it under your sweater. Imagine that egg hatches and the duckling starts to cry. What would you do? In Hilary Mckay's book, "Lulu and the Duck in the Park", this very situation oc...
“What’s all this pushing and rushing?” demanded Lulu’s father. “It’s the last day of the vacation! Shouldn’t we make the most of it and have a little peace?” “It’s because it’s the last day!” said Mellie. “What do you want peace for, anyway?” asked Lulu. “I still haven’t flown my kite!” said Mell...
She never said, as Lulu’s and Mellie’s parents so often did, “Once is enough!” or “Wait till you’re older!” She never said, “You’re not eating that!” Once was not enough for Mellie on the Sky Wheel or Lulu on the carousel or Nan on the bumper cars. They tried them all twic...