Anna on the Farm

March 1, 2001
In this sequel to Anna All Year Round, set just before WWI, nine-year-old Anna is happy to spend a week at her aunt and uncle's farm in Anna on the Farm by Mary Downing Hahn, illus. by Diane de Groat. All runs smoothly until she meets Theodore, who calls her a "stuck-up city slicker" and spurs her to prove that she's just as clever and brave as he is.

February 15, 2001
Gr. 3-5. In this sequel to " Anna All Year "Round (1999), nine-year-old Anna travels to spend a week in the country with Aunt Aggie and Uncle George. She is ecstatic (since all her Baltimore friends have left on vacations) until she discovers that her aunt and uncle have taken in a young orphan named Theodore. The rivalry between the children results in a series of pranks, but eventually the children become good friends. Unlike the earlier, more episodic title, the action here is better focused and the characters more fleshed out. Particularly interesting is the contrast between Anna's mother (a rigid woman with definite Old World ideas about ladylike behavior) and Aunt Aggie, who allows Anna to wear overalls for play and encourages her to have fun. The details in the setting (early-twentieth-century Baltimore, Washington, and rural Prince Georges County) add to the richness of the text, as do the illustrations by Diane de Groat. A good choice for easy-chapter-book readers, especially those who have met Anna before.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)