Reviews

I'm surprised by how many review this book as having zero reference to romance. The mother being so worried that her daughter spends all her time with animals, visits the family doctor who asks "How about boys - does she know any boys?" And guess what, the mother doesn't worry about Avery not hanging out with girls... in the same conversation she says "Avery is always fine" and goes on to say how he's always messing about outdoors... though it is a problem for her daughter to act this way. Getting ready for the fair Fern "put on her prettiest dress because she knew she would see boys at the Fair". At the fair, she's wishing "she were in the topmost car with Henry Fussy at her side", which at the end of the book, she tells her brother she can't stop thinking about months later. I think this should be a read aloud for slightly older children and these moments in the story can then be discussed.