My Great-Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston could be a mentor text for children wanting to write about their family history. It's a reason to interview older relatives and learn about the way life was generations ago. This story is an historical reveal via one relative, a great-aunt. By profiling Arizona, readers learn that children danced to a fiddler on Saturday nights, played outdoors, made natural treats from snow and tree sap, and attended a one-room school house. I like the illustrations by Susan Condie Lamb. Their soft, almost dream-like quality transports the reader to a distant past.
Great-Aunt Arizona dreamed of faraway places she would visit some day. But she never did venture far. She was a school teacher her whole life, educating generations of children. "The boys and girls who were students in ther class had boys and girls who were students in her class. And they had boys and girls who were students in her class." She was a cherished teacher. But I close the book feeling a little sad that she never visited faraway places.
