I'll Always Love You

Hans Wilhelm

Children just seem to get the idea of love very easily…especially when love is shared with a pet. This pet is Elfie – “the best dog in the whole world”. Elfie grew up with her boy, even if she did grow a little faster than he did, it didn’t matter to either of them. Adventures were more fun shared together as birthdays were, and naps were too. She was special to everybody in the family…mom, dad, little sister, and bigger brother. They all said so, but only her boy told her he loved her every day and every night. They did everything together, including evading trouble. Then, Elfie stopped growing, and started slowing down. A trip to the vet and Elfie’s family got sad. Elfie was just getting old and her family knew they wouldn’t have much more time together.

The illustrations are muted watercolors to engage the younger age children. So beautifully done, the illustrations even catch the expressions on Elfie’s face. Wilhelm has taken the issue of a pet’s death and gently incorporated it into I’ll Always Love You. Death is a concept, or issue, that small and older children may have a difficult time understanding. Yet, within these pages, her boy tells Elfie every day, “I’ll always love you”, and when her time comes, he knows he did right by his best friend. There’s a lesson here for families everywhere, with or without pets. Remember to tell those you love, that you love them. When you read this gentle love story to your children, love on them and tell them how much you love them also.
As a side note, I first read this charmer to my oldest son, now 29, then my youngest son, now 20, and still have the original copy that was purchased in the mid 1980’s.
The author has informed me it will soon be available by Random House as a hard cover. Wilhelm’s book placed on the 1987 Massachusetts Children’s Book Master List.

BIBLIO: 1985, Random House Books, Ages 4 - 8, $6.99.
REVIEWER: Debby Willett
FORMAT: Picture Book / Easy Reader
ISBN: 978-0-517-57265-8

Streets of Gold

Rosemary Wells
Illustrated by Dan Andreasen

Twelve year old Mary Antin, along with her family, traveled from Russia hoping to being a better life in the United States. The year was 1894, and the Antins were Russian Jews who had escaped the hardships of religious persecution.

As a young child, Mary wrote a long letter to relative left behind in Russia, and shared details of their new life - the success, the struggles, the joys and the tears. Years later, Mary enlarged on that first long letter to write a book of her experience as a young Russian girl, living under the hardships imposed upon Jews in Russia, to a young immigrant building a life in Boston.

Her book, The Promised Land, serves as the basis for author Rosemary Wells’ book, Streets of Gold. Ms. Wells has taken Mary’s story and adapted it into a shorter version for today’s young readers. Streets of Gold is presented in an episode format, so each page represents snippets from Mary’s young life.

At the same time, words from Mary’s original book are included on each page so readers have the opportunity to read Ms. Wells’ adaptation while also reading Mary’s prose.

The illustrations, by Dan Andreasen, are warm and engaging and provide a pictorial journal of Mary’s life. Streets of Gold is a must read for anyone who wants to understand religious persecution and immigration through a child’s eyes.


BIBLIO: 1998, Scholastic, Ages 7 to 10, $16.95
REVIEWER: Debby Willett
FORMAT: Picture Book
ISBN: 0590374877
REVIEWED FOR: Christian Library Journal, Fall 2000, Print Version