Publisher Description

Nowadays it's no big deal or a girl to travel seventy-five miles. But when Charlotte May Pierstorff wanted to cross seventy-five miles of Idaho mountains to see her grandma in 1914, it was a very big deal indeed. There was no highway except the railroad, and a train ticket would have cost her parents a full day's pay.

Here is the true story of how May got to visit her grandma, thanks to her won spunk, her father's ingenuity, and the U.S. mail.

00-01 CA Young Reader Medal Masterlist and 01 Colorado Children's Book Award (Pic. Bk Cat.)

Author Biography

Michael O. Tunnell is also the author of Beauty and the Beastly Children. He and his wife, Glenna, have four children and one grandchild. Ted Rand has illustrated several dozen books. including Keepers by Alice Schertle. Mr. Rand lives with his wife, Gloria, on Mercer Island in Washington State.

Review

"A folksy quality and a ring of truth that holds children's interest." - ALA Booklist"

Kirkus US Review

Based on a true story is this old-fashioned account from Tunnell (with George W. Chilcoat, The Children of Topaz, 1996, etc.), about five-year-old May's railroad journey via parcel post across the rugged Idaho mountains to visit her grandmother. Unable to purchase a first-class train ticket, May has 53 in stamps glued to the back of her coat and joins the packages and letters in the mail car. Even a cranky old conductor cannot deter May from making it to Grandma Mary's for lunch. A little-known detail in the history of the postal service inspired this 1914 period piece, and while children may wish for more suspense, the matter-of-fact telling is sure to bring quiet smiles as understanding dawns. Rand's illustrations of homey, wood-grained, braided-rug interiors and bundled-up wintry scenes bring warmth to the narrative; sepia-toned illustrations mimicking old photographs add to the notion of the book as part story, part historical record, while a photograph of the real Charlotte May Pierstorff appears on the jacket. (Kirkus Reviews)

Prizes

Short-listed for California Young Reader Medal (Primary) 2001
Short-listed for Georgia Children's Book Award (Picture Storybook) 2001
Short-listed for Buckeye Children's Book Award (Grades K-2) 2001
Short-listed for Young Hoosier Book Award (Grades K-3) 2000

Details