Wanda's Roses
Brisson ( Your Best Friend, Kate ) creates a lovable new character whose unwavering optimism transforms a rubbish-ridden vacant lot into a rose garden. Convinced that a bare thornbush is really a rosebush about to bloom, Wanda exuberantly cleans up the lot so that the bush will get more sun and air. "You'll see," she says, "in a few weeks that whole lot will be full of roses." Wanda's neighbors are skeptical: "If that's a rosebush, then I'm the queen of England," one thinks to herself; "If that's a rosebush, then I'm the king of France," the next muses privately. Still, charmed by the girl's enthusiasm, they all help her. After a month without blooms but with much camaraderie, Wanda's neighbors contribute rosebushes, and "the whole lot was filled with the biggest, most beautiful, sweetest-smelling roses that anyone had ever seen--just as Wanda had always said it would be." Cheery watercolors complement this upbeat urban tale, genially depicting the city's great variety, from a chubby butcher to a kindly old woman with nylon knee highs rolled down around her ankles. Ages 4-8.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.