Darcy Heart O'Hara is one of the
many children who live in the cottages of Derry Lane, in the Irish townland
of Pobble O'Keefe, in the year 1845. She's one of the many children who gather
at the hearth to listen to Granddad's hushed voice as he spins tales of moonlit
glens and fairy queens.
But Darcy is special. She's a noticer.
Wherever she goes, Darcy recognizes
the precious things around her: A tiny flower, a butterfly wing, a spiderweb
covered with sparkling dew. Even as the potatoes are rotting and the money
is dwindling, Darcy can't help but gaze at the golden buttercups in the field.
But when Darcy's family can no
longer pay the rent, they're forced to leave Pobble O'Keefe forever. And soon,
it's up to Darcy to find a way to bring the small beauties of home across
the wide ocean to America.
From author Elvira Woodruff and
illustrator Adam Rex comes a touching story of courage, family, emigration,
and one young girl's gift for noticing--and sharing--the small beauties of
the world.
Praise
for Small Beauties:
"Woodruff
subtly captures the lilt of Irish dialect, inviting reading the text aloud.
Her smooth and descriptive prose takes readers along on the O'Haras' journey,
capturing joyful times when her father danced a jig in the firelight and Granddad
spun tales in the glow of the peat fire…. Rex's mixed-media earth-tone
illustrations are extraordinarily evocative, offering touching scenes with expressive
faces and deep emotion. Rich in detail of the Irish landscape, the art gives
a deeper understanding of this powerful story." ~ School
Library Journal
About
the Book:
"From
the cover portrait of a sweet-faced child holding a rosary bead to the scene
of the girl's tearful parting with her grandmother, this wrenching picture book
pulls out all the stops of the emigration story. . . . Woodruff's simple, poetic
storytelling combines with Rex's illustrations in charcoal, graphite pencils,
and oil to present the drama through Darcy's eyes, including the rubble of the
family home after eviction, the journey across the ocean and, always close-up,
the little but important things: a pebble, a flower, a hearthstone chip."
~ Booklist