Tumbleweed Baby - Hardcover

Anna Myers is the author of many middle-grade historical novels, including The Keeping Room, Assassin, and Tulsa Burning. She lives in Oklahoma. Charles Vess is the illustrator of many picture books and graphic novels, including Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman and The Cats of Tanglewood Forest by Charles de Lint. He lives in Virginia.

PreS-Gr 3—The Upagainstit family of seven lives in Texas in a dilapidated house surrounded by sand and tumbleweeds. As the five children are walking home from school one day, the "biggish" boy stumbles over a tumbleweed concealing a wild baby. The youngsters agree to take her home, all except the littlest-of-all girl, who thinks they should just put her back. When the kids get back, Mama decides that this wild baby needs a bath immediately, and the much-needed washing is a challenge indeed. The family begins to work together to try to settle the baby into their routine, much to the chagrin of the littlest-of-all girl, who maintains that this addition is a bad idea. Each family member uses his or her unique interests and talents to help the baby assimilate and to make an argument as to why they should keep her. When the final decision is finally made, an interesting change of heart brings it all home. Myers's tall tale is reminiscent of Dust Bowl-era Americana. The characters are warm and likable, and the interaction among siblings is realistically appealing. Vess's beautifully drawn artwork created in ink and colored pencil adds a higher level of emotion to a sweet tale of family life.—Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE