The Library by Sarah Stewart

 The Library by Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small

Rating: 4.5 stars

The great Sarah Stewart has written a book to memorialize her late friend, fellow book lover and librarian Mary Elizabeth Brown.  What a great ode to a reader--to have a book written about her!

This is a simple tale about a girl who, above all else, chooses books.  The clever and funny illustrations by Stewart's husband, David Small, are top-notch.  We don't see the gal's face very often as it is usually hidden by a book.

Of her childhood (what flashlights are for!):

She always took a book to bed,
With a flashlight under the sheet.
She'd make a tent of covers
And read herself to sleep.

Of college life (um, I can relate):

Elizabeth Brown
Preferred a book
To going on a date.
While friends went out
And danced til dawn,
She stayed up reading late.

She eventually stumbles into a small town, and her reading habit takes over her house.  So she does what any good reader does: she shares her books.  She signs them over to her town, and her house becomes the town's library.  She moves in with a friend, and reads for the rest of her days.

This is a charming book--a great book for a child, but also a really good book to give to an adult reader, too.