From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3-Instead of a pretty keepsake as a reminder of her homeland, the practical Miss Bridie selects a shovel to accompany her to a new life in America in 1856. Once in New York City, she uses it to plant flowers, which she sells to supplement her income from the millinery shop where she works. The implement is employed in a variety of ways over her lifetime, including clearing a pond for ice skating, digging postholes for fences on the farm she shares with her new husband, planting seeds for an apple orchard, and adding coal to the stove to keep her children warm. Azarian's accomplished woodcuts and watercolor illustrations adroitly convey the determination of a strong woman who lives a good, but often not easy, life. Through one or two sentences per page, the story shows her fortitude as she experiences the highs and lows of life, confident in the knowledge that, with her shovel, she can succeed at anything through her own ingenuity and hard work.
Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WICopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Gr. 1-4. When Miss Bridie left her thatched cottage in Ireland in 1856, she could have taken a chiming clock or a porcelain figurine. Instead, she takes a shovel, which serves her in good stead throughout her life. She uses it to steady herself on the ship to a new place, to dig a garden, and to clear a snowy path to a moonlit frozen river, where she meets the young man she will marry. The staid text has no frills, mimicking Miss Bridie's plain life. As she uses her shovel to plant apple trees on her farm, bank the land during a flood, and, when she is old, bury her husband, children will see that Miss Birdie takes life as it is offered, with an equanimity that faces down adversity and holds close moments of joy. Not every child will be taken with a story that follows the life of a young woman as she grows old. Yet the care and crafting evident here must be admired. Caldecott award-winner Azarian's sturdy woodcuts are an excellent choice to illustrate daily life in mid-nineteenth-century America, and her pictures catch some of the emotions that the text shies away from: the small smile of contentment that comes from working on the farm; the sorrow when a fire burns down everything Miss Bridie has worked for. This is a simple pleasure that will be truly appreciated by those old enough to understand the message.
Ilene CooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
