The Library

by Sarah Stewart, David Small (Illustrator)

Overview

Meet an unforgettable bibliophile

Elizabeth Brown doesn't like to play with dolls and she doesnt like to skate. What she does like to do is read books. Lots of books. The only problem is that her library has gotten so big she can't even use her front door anymore. What should Elizabeth Brown do? Start her own public library, of course! With charming verse and watercolors Sarah Stewart and David Small celebrate one of America's oldest and finest institutions.

The Library is a 1995 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year and Outstanding Book of the Year.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374343880
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	04/10/1995
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	448,486
Product dimensions:	9.15(w) x 12.05(h) x 0.35(d)
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Husband and wife duo Sarah Stewart and David Small have worked together on several picture books, including The Gardener, a Caldecott Honor book available from Square Fish. Small has also illustrated other books, including the 2001 Caldecott Medal winner So You Want to Be President?, by Judith St. George. Stewart and Small live in a historic home on a bend of the St. Joseph River in Michigan.

Reading Group Guide

Discussion/Activities for The Library
How does David Small, the illustrator, use the endpapers to suggest what the book is about?
Have students look at the entire book without reading the text. Ask the class to choose words that best describe Elizabeth. Read the text aloud. Ask students to compare their descriptions of Elizabeth with the way she is presented in the book by Sarah Stewart.
Note the black-and-white sketches located near the text on each page (e.g., the stork on page 7). What is the purpose of these motifs?
Elizabeth Brown decides to settle down and begins tutoring for pay. Discuss why tutoring is a good job for Elizabeth Brown. Speculate:
Whom does she tutor? What subject might she tutor?
Ask students to suggest book titles for the children's collection at the Elizabeth Brown
Free Library. Have them share their suggestions in class and explain their choices.
Have the class determine how each book should be classified.
Sponsor a class "readers' olympiad." Ask students to draw up the rules (e.g., the number of books or pages to be read, ways to share the books, how winners are to be chosen). Ask each student to design a bookmark that might be given to a child who participates in the event.
Tell students that the Boston Public Library is the first public library in the United States to lend a book. Encourage students to visit the
Web site for the Boston Public Library
(www.bpl.org), and ask them to find out what programs the library offers children. Students may also be interested in finding out the history of the public library in their community.

Editorial Reviews

Reading has never looked quite so delicious.” —Booklist

“A story told in witty rhyme, about a bookish Elizabeth Brown, who . . . takes her greatest pleasures in life from her literary treats . . . This is a funny, heartwarming story about a quirky woman with a not-so-peculiar obsession. Cheers for Elizabeth Brown, a true patron of the arts.” —School Library Journal

“The author and illustrator have created [a] strong, independent, iconoclastic heroine . . . The illustrations of glorious piles of more and more books and of happy, red-headed Elizabeth Brown and a friend reading by the fire . . . depict the acme of utter bliss for bibliomaniacs.” —The Horn Book

“A joy to look at.” —The New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

In this "blithe yet affectionate portrait of a woman whose life centers on reading," said PW, "Small's airy illustrations charm with historical touches and soothing pastel hues." All ages. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

K-Gr 4When Sarah Stewart's The Library was published (Farrar, 1995), librarians across the country looked at the endearing character of Elizabeth Brown and shouted "That's me!" Anyone who grows up with as intense a love of books as Elizabeth is bound to bond with libraries in one way or another. This sweet, simple story has now been issued in video and audio formats. The female narrator gives a warm, approachable reading to Stewart's gently humorous verse. The sprightly cello soundtrack suits the text perfectly. A few subtle sound effects enhance the story. In the video version, David Small's (Imogene's Antlers) softly shaded line drawings are panned to pick out the details which best describe the text. The whimsical, yet not altogether unrealistic story is a good choice for

School Library Journal