• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #2 April 2001
  Gr. 2-4. This I Can Read Chapter Book is a good introduction to historical fiction. Noah loves the freedom of the prairie when his family moves to Colorado in the 1880s. Why does he need to read? His parents are barely literate and they do all right. But they want him to learn, and when his aunt arrives to visit, she sets up school for him in the sod house. At first he's resistant and he excuses himself to do lengthy chores. Eventually, his aunt, who is confined to a wheelchair, gets Noah to wheel her outside, where they share the joy of the prairie and she shows him that reading can help him know more. Avi's clear, simple language never sounds condescending, and the pictures show the tough kid's bond with those who love him. The adults are a bit too nice and understanding, but new readers will enjoy both Noah's rebellion and his awakening to the astonishing facts, stories, and poetry he can find in books. ((Reviewed April 15, 2001)) Copyright 2001 Booklist Reviews

Douglas Wood is the author of A Quiet Place as well as the New York Times bestselling Can’t Do series. His books Old Turtle and Old Turtle and the Broken Truth were both international bestsellers. He lives in a cabin in the woods of Minnesota. A studied naturalist, Douglas shares his knowledge of nature as a wilderness guide. Visit him at DouglasWood.com.

Doug Cushman has illustrated over 130 children’s books, thirty or so of which he also wrote. His titles have been New York Times bestsellers and won awards including the Christopher Award, the California Young Readers Medal, and two Maryland Blue Crab Awards. Doug was also the recipient of a National Cartoonists Society Newspaper and Magazine Illustration Award, and he has displayed original art in France, Romania, and the United States. Doug enjoys mystery novels, playing slide guitar horribly, cooking, and traveling. He lives in St. Malo on the Brittany coast in France.