Bright April

Well worth reading even now, though at this point it would be more historical fiction, rather than contemporary fiction. A bit too earnest, and nice, perhaps, and the reference to 'your people' has to be explained to today's readers as a no longer valid viewpoint* but I did thoroughly enjoy reading about the different characters, and their experiences, and setting, and of course I adored the artwork.

*The idiom 'your people' was used with good intent by the teacher in the story. She recognized that children of different ethnic backgrounds would probably relate better to heros and role models from their presumed culture.

But nowadays that's too much of a presumption to make. There are Black Jews, there are African-Americans who don't ever show more have to face racism directly, there are Whites who face awful bigotry from those who would call them 'white trash' or 'hillbilly.' There is no (stereo)typing to justify 'your people.'

And besides, people like Crispus Attucks are heroes first and foremost, to all of us. Their race and/or culture is relevant to their story, of course, but it is not relevant to the impact of their efforts on our lives. If he's a 'black male' hero, fine. But I'm a white female, and I can feel proud to know that there is a *human* capable of such courage. show less

This was the first book published for children that dealt with racism in America.

Above all this is a nice family story.
It has the luminous and sweet illustrations typical of a De Angeli book.

I found the emphasis on being clean and tidy to be heavy handed and discordant.

This is a great book for illustrating the charm of nature study and a lovely book for springtime.

I read this over three days as it is text heavy and more like a highly illustrated short story than a picture book.

This is the kind of story I would have loved as a child. I liked a little moralizing. Lovely tale with wonderful illustration.

I remember very little about the book. Mostly just thinking how boring being a Girl Scout(or was it something else?) sounded.