Helpful Score: 2
ISBN 059043702x - Once you get past Christmas, the holiday book choices tend to get very thin for kids, which makes the ones I do find all that much more enjoyable. St Patrick's Day was almost tailor made for children's stories.
In 1849, after several years of failed crops in Ireland, Mr. McLean and his wife packed up their family and headed to America. Once there, they settled in New York, in an area with a lot of other Irish immigrants. Mary hears vague stories about what Mr. Finnegan does each year for the St. Patrick's Day parade and, when she asks for details, learns that he drives a cart pulled by two white horses and looks like an Irish hero. Mary would really like to ride in Mr. Finnegan's cart. When she asks him, Mr. Finnegan says it's possible - but she'll have to bring him a perfect shamrock... IF she can find one!
There are a couple things about this book that, as an adult, bugged me. McLean, for one thing, is a Scottish name. Surely Steven Kroll, the author could have come up with an Irish name for his Irish family! Also, despite coming to America from Ireland and living in an Irish neighborhood, the people in the book never discuss the meaning or celebration of St. Patrick's Day, which is - at the very least - a missed opportunity.
Kroll's text is fairly simple, appropriate for the 6 to 9 age group that the book is for, according to the cover. The author also improves upon the book by including some actual, historical facts about Ireland, St. Patrick's Day and Saint Patrick, in the back. Illustrator Michael Dooling gets high praise from me. His images take up the entirety of every other page in this oversized book and that's a lot of canvas to fill. A majority of the illustrations are (Norman) Rockwellian, very simple and plain and perfect for the era the story is set in.
- AnnaLovesBooks
In 1849, after several years of failed crops in Ireland, Mr. McLean and his wife packed up their family and headed to America. Once there, they settled in New York, in an area with a lot of other Irish immigrants. Mary hears vague stories about what Mr. Finnegan does each year for the St. Patrick's Day parade and, when she asks for details, learns that he drives a cart pulled by two white horses and looks like an Irish hero. Mary would really like to ride in Mr. Finnegan's cart. When she asks him, Mr. Finnegan says it's possible - but she'll have to bring him a perfect shamrock... IF she can find one!
There are a couple things about this book that, as an adult, bugged me. McLean, for one thing, is a Scottish name. Surely Steven Kroll, the author could have come up with an Irish name for his Irish family! Also, despite coming to America from Ireland and living in an Irish neighborhood, the people in the book never discuss the meaning or celebration of St. Patrick's Day, which is - at the very least - a missed opportunity.
Kroll's text is fairly simple, appropriate for the 6 to 9 age group that the book is for, according to the cover. The author also improves upon the book by including some actual, historical facts about Ireland, St. Patrick's Day and Saint Patrick, in the back. Illustrator Michael Dooling gets high praise from me. His images take up the entirety of every other page in this oversized book and that's a lot of canvas to fill. A majority of the illustrations are (Norman) Rockwellian, very simple and plain and perfect for the era the story is set in.
- AnnaLovesBooks
