Summary:
Granny invited her granddaughter, Julie, to visit her in the country. Julie was allowed to bring a friend, so she brought her friend Sarah, who had never been to the country and was a city girl. All three of them do fun activities in the nature such as hunting tadpoles and building dams out of stones by the waterfalls. Suddenly, a storm is approaching, and it also happens to be time for bed. Sarah, having been nervous about the country, feared the made up "swamp halibuts" that Granny told them about, and she was also anxious about the thunderstorm. Sarah had a nightmare that they were crawling on her bed. Once Granny assured the girls that "swamp halibuts" were not real, they fell asleep. The next morning they had breakfast and reminisced about he fun activities they did.

The central message of this book is to step out of your comfort zone to experience new things. It is ok to be fearful, but in the end when you are with people who care for you, you end up having a fun time. I enjoyed the story of this book, and I really liked the character Julie. Julie was always helping Sarah when it came to unfamiliar country activities, and she talked so highly of her Granny. For instance, she told her Granny, "when I'm big, do you think I'll be like you?" Granny assured her that she already is..."brave and good at country things." I do not like how there were not many illustrations. I felt the author and illustrator could have included more pictures of when they built dams, because young children may not understand what a "dam" is, so it is good to give them a visual image. ( )