Eliza Wheeler

‘’Snow falls in a blanket of diamonds all around the shack. The jack pines sway above as we fall asleep close together. But Mum stays awake into the night, whispering to the stars…’’

Winsconsin, 1932. Little Marvel’s family has been struck by the devastating effects of the Great Depression. Their house is lost but most importantly, the father of the family has gone to live with the angels...Now, Mum and her eight children must create a household in an almost run-down shack in the show more woods. The children support each other through hard work and invent new games, inspired by the nearby town and Nature. And soon enough, their little house becomes a true home, full of life and hope and togetherness. The shadows are chased away, frightened by the bravery of Marvel’s Mum and the determination of a family that lost everything.

This beautiful book is based on the life of Wheeler’s grandmother, Marvel, whose family made the difficult decision to leave their life behind and start anew in the most unlikely of places. The story of Marvel, her siblings and her Mum comes alive through marvelous illustrations that reminded me of old-school children’s books. The feelings of the characters and the ever-changing, ever-beautiful Nature are vividly depicted and you’ll feel your heart full of hope, witnessing the courage of Marvel’s family.

An outstanding book about overcoming the obstacles when you stay true to yourself and the love of your family.

Many thanks to Nancy Paulsen Books and Edelweiss for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordp show less

This was a lengthy picture book and historical fiction, which bumped it way down my list, but it's set in Wisconsin and is illustrated by Eliza Wheeler, which moved it back up! I purchased it with a grant given for the purpose of purchasing materials showing kids in the outdoors.

It's based on the true story of Eliza Wheeler's grandmother Marvel's childhood. At the age of six, her newly widowed mother Clara took her eight children to live in an abandoned tar-paper shack in the northern show more Wisconsin woods where they survived for five years. Wheeler writes in a realistic manner, not whitewashing the struggles and difficulties the family faced in their poverty, but also focusing on the love and family connections.

The story is narrated by a fictionalized Marvel (still alive at 93) and opens with a portrait of her mother and her children grouped around her. Wheeler depicts the family with stark white, unsmiling faces, except faint smiles on the youngest children, and slim to skinny legs and arms, showing their stark poverty. Wheeler's palette is in greens and browns, showing both the beauty and hardship of their life in the woods. The shack at first is a depressing home, with a few rusty pieces of junk and little furniture. Leaves drift across the floor but the children quickly get to work, led by the two oldest children and their mother, and clean up their new home. They find a good spot for a garden and begin to explore the isolated woods. They run across deer paths, pick berries, and marvel at the trees everywhere about them. As the seasons continue, they feel their poverty closely but the children and their mother make up games and bring color and hope to their often drab life. They struggle to survive in the harsh winter, but with the family working together they make it to spring, when the beauty of the woods returns and Marvel feels truly at home with her family.

Verdict: Even younger children can appreciate the fun parts of living in a cabin in the woods, a la Boxcar Children, while older children will get a good picture of life in the Great Depression and the struggles families survived. The story also emphasizes the importance of family and love above material possessions and the beauty of the woods.

ISBN: 9780399162909; Published October 2019 by Nancy Paulsen Books; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library with funds donated towards books showing children in the outdoors. show less

This story of life during the Great Depression in the early 1930s was inspired by the author/illustrator’s grandmother Marvel, who in this book is a six-year-old girl, one of eight children. The book, which is narrated by Marvel and which revolves around the seasons, begins in summer. Their father recently died (“Dad lives with the angels now”) and they must find a new home and a way to feed themselves. The author writes:

“Deep in these woods, we find a shack
all wrapped in tar show more paper.
It’s hot outside, but the shack
Looks cold
And empty.
Like I feel inside.

‘You never know what treasures
We’ll find,’ says Mum.”

Indeed, they discover a root cellar with fresh water from a pump and storage space for canning. They plant a garden in the rich, dark soil and find berry patches in the woods. Mum goes to town to do odd jobs for money, and the kids take turns doing chores. They invent games, learn to quilt, and learn to read:

“Rich teaches me that letters, put together, make words . . . and words, put together, make stories.”

After a year, they have mastered the art of survival, and find a measure of happiness:

“Here in these woods,
I find my brothers, my sisters,
Our mum, and me (Marvel).
The shack all wrapped in tar paper
Looks different now -
Warm
And bright
And filled up with love . . .
. . . like I feel inside.”

An Author’s Note explains how the author, Eliza, when growing up, heard many stories from her grandma Marvel and her great uncles about how they survived. She writes:

“What an incredibly hard time it must have been, and yet they recall the memories from those years as some of their best. They all had purpose and found inventive ways to work together and make it fun.”

The ink and watercolor illustrations by the author are lovely. She varies the palette to match the seasons. While spring, with its flowers, has beautiful scenes, my favorite is a double-page spread showing a winter night, in which the world is covered with snow that sparkles like the stars above.

Evaluation: This is one amazing family. I can’t imagine being a young mother, newly widowed at age 34 with eight children, including a baby of three months, and having the will not only to carry on, but to make it a fun and rewarding time for the whole family. Children who don’t know much about the Great Depression, or who are not aware of what the hardships of deep poverty must be like, will benefit from reading this story, and be inspired, as I was, by how this family coped. show less

I love the sweet, cozy illustrations of Miss Maple carefully nurturing the seeds and the color palette of soft greens, yellows, pinks, and blues. We read this book this week to coincide with Week 1 of Exploring Nature with Children, which is about seeds. One page features names and images of 20 different types of seeds. Miss Maple's Seeds includes many different types of seeds, the different ways they can travel, and the different environments they grow in. As a mother, I resonate with the show more phrase which Miss Maple whispers to her seeds, "Take care, my little ones, for the world is big and you are small." With its themes of nurturing seeds and then seeing them go off on their own into the world, I think this book would be an especially sweet read-aloud gift for an older woman such as a grandmother or an aunt. C enjoyed Miss Maple's small size, which allows her to live in a tree trunk and ride on the backs of birds. show less