Minnie McGranahan is a tidy lady who lives alone. The town is agreed that it's a good thing organized Minnie doesn't have children to muck up her schedule. Then Minnie receives word that her nine nieces and nephews have been orphaned, and soon the house is full of kids. Prigger's delightful text explains just how this new family works: no time for idleness, but plenty for fun, and so laughter is mixed with noise and chores. Set in 1920 and based on a relative Prigger heard about as a child, this depiction of an unusual family turns on Minnie's most ingenious system: "the oldest hugged the youngest, the ones in the middle hugged each other, and Aunt Minnie hugged them all." Lewin is an inspired choice as illustrator. Her ink-and-watercolor art has the proper energy for the hurly-burly action, but at the same time, she catches every nuance of humor as one brother scrubs the clothes, one baby wails in a basket, and all the kids wait in line at the "johnny house." Warm and funny. Ilene Cooper
From Kirkus Reviews
Prigger bases her engaging debut on an incident in her own family. The setting is 1920, so Minnie can't be considered obsessive-compulsive; instead, she's a woman with a system for keeping things shipshape and just so. Her farmhouse is trim and neat, as is her garden and barn. Her neighbors snipe that it's a good thing that Minnie, a spinster, has no children, who would surely interfere with her system. Then the telegram arrives: ``Come quick. Your brother and his wife have had an accident. Their children are orphans in need of a home.'' Aunt Minnie goes and gathers the children, all nine of them, in a thrice. The neighbors look on with amazement (as will readers) when all the potential for pandemonium is breezily absorbed into Aunt Minnie's system: ``The oldest looked after the youngest. The ones in the middle looked after each other. And Aunt Minnie looked after them all.'' Tweak this template a little, and it works for grocery shopping, housework, bathing, and going to the johnny house. There are episodes of stubbornness and fretting, dawdling, pouting, and crying; there is also noise, music, laughter, and hugging, all captured with elemental clarity and a visual caress in Lewin's watercolors. This story is a sweet and simple song of grace, love, and responsibilities met; it will leave children aglow and adults in tears. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
Minnie McGranahan is a tidy lady who lives alone. The town is agreed that it's a good thing organized Minnie doesn't have children to muck up her schedule. Then Minnie receives word that her nine nieces and nephews have been orphaned, and soon the house is full of kids. Prigger's delightful text explains just how this new family works: no time for idleness, but plenty for fun, and so laughter is mixed with noise and chores. Set in 1920 and based on a relative Prigger heard about as a child, this depiction of an unusual family turns on Minnie's most ingenious system: "the oldest hugged the youngest, the ones in the middle hugged each other, and Aunt Minnie hugged them all." Lewin is an inspired choice as illustrator. Her ink-and-watercolor art has the proper energy for the hurly-burly action, but at the same time, she catches every nuance of humor as one brother scrubs the clothes, one baby wails in a basket, and all the kids wait in line at the "johnny house." Warm and funny.
Booklist, ALA
Prigger bases her engaging debut on an incident in her own family. The setting is 1920, so Minnie can't be considered obsessive-compulsive; instead, she's a woman with a system for keeping things shipshape and just so. Her farmhouse is trim and neat, as is her garden and barn. Her neighbors snipe that it's a good thing that Minnie, a spinster, has no children, who would surely interfere with her system. Then the telegram arrives: ``Come quick. Your brother and his wife have had an accident. Their children are orphans in need of a home.'' Aunt Minnie goes and gathers the children, all nine of them, in a thrice. The neighbors look on with amazement (as will readers) when all the potential for pandemonium is breezily absorbed into Aunt Minnie's system: ``The oldest looked after the youngest. The ones in the middle looked after each other. And Aunt Minnie looked after them all.'' Tweak this template a little, and it works for grocery shopping, housework, bathing, and going to the johnny house. There are episodes of stubbornness and fretting, dawdling, pouting, and crying; there is also noise, music, laughter, and hugging, all captured with elemental clarity and a visual caress in Lewin's watercolors. This story is a sweet and simple song of grace, love, and responsibilities met; it will leave children aglow and adults in tears.
Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
BETSY LEWIN is the well-known illustrator of Duck for President; Giggle, Giggle, Quack; and the Caldecott Honor-winning Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, all written by Doreen Cronin. She lives in New York City.
