Newbery Honor book 1956
This was in the picture book section of our library. I love the illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon, who have also received the Caldecott medal. It's a beautiful book and both Jabu (10) and Makyala (6) enjoyed it as a bedtime read aloud (took more than one night to read). I found it when I was looking for books about Florida and it does a nice job of depicting rural Florida with it's cypress knees, live oaks, cat fish, and other creatures. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings also wrote The Yearling, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939 (and I have never read, so now want to!) This story was published posthumously and is the only story that the author wrote specifically for children. (Although the Yearling is now considered to be a young adult read, that was not the authors intention.)
The heroine of our story is a little girl named Calpurnia who was "born to be a poet." Hard times have come to the forest and the African American community Calpurnia and her family belong to. Her daddy runs a fish market, but it's looking like the market will have to close. With some instructions from Mother Albirtha, the wisest person in the forest, Calpurnia follows her nose to discover a secret river and brings back fish that turn "hard times to soft times". The real magic in the story though, is uncovered when Calpurnia sets out to find the secret river again. The ending is lovely and I'll save it for you to enjoy in the book!
Love, Louise
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