Award-winning author from Beaver, WV, Cynthia Rylant, creates a touching, sweet story about an old woman who has outlived all of her friends. She keeps from being lonely by naming things in her life she knows she will never outlive-like her house, Franklin, and her bed, Roxanne. Then a shy puppy appears. If the woman is too friendly, the puppy might stay, and she would have to name it. She can’t risk that, so she tells the puppy to go home. But the puppy has other ideas…
Tender watercolors capture the charm of this heartwarming story of an old woman who doesn’t know she’s lonely until she meets a plucky puppy who needs a name–and someone to love.
About the author:
Cynthia Rylant is a Newbery medalist and the author of many acclaimed books for young people. She’s well known for her popular characters for early readers, including Mr. Putter & Tabby and Henry & Mudge. She lives in the Pacific Northwest. www.cynthiarylant.com.
Reviews
“Rylant and Brown together create with affection and lovingly humorous touches a glimpse of old age lived with relish.”
– Booklist
Ages 4-8. An old woman, portrayed with a swirling cyclone of white hair atop her head and cowboy boots, outlives so many of her friends that she decides to give names only to things she cannot outlive. Thus her house becomes Franklin, her car Betsy, and her chair Fred, and when a shy brown puppy comes to the gate, she will feed him but not name him. When the pup stops coming around, the old woman drives to the pound, where she is asked the dog’s name. Faced with the dilemma, the old woman thinks back on her “old, dear friends with names,” and feeling lucky to have known them, she chooses the name Lucky for her new dog. Rylant steps with great delicacy and grace straight into the most difficult of subjects, acknowledging the sadness of loss and the necessity of continuing to love anyway. Brown’s watercolors vividly picture an unconventional old woman surrounded by the objects gathered through a long life and a beautiful seaside garden. Rylant and Brown together create with affection and lovingly humorous touches a glimpse of old age lived with relish.
– Susan Dove Lempke, Bookli
