Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile

The team that introduced the inspiring rural North Carolina teacher in My Great-Aunt Arizona revisits the Blue Ridge Mountains for this tale that pays tribute to a beloved and dedicated librarian from Houston's childhood. Growing up in Massachusetts, Dorothy always wanted to be a librarian and to work in "a fine brick library just like the one in the center of the square in her hometown." But love and marriage derail her grand plan, landing her on a farm in North Carolina and in a community with no library at all. The can-do spirit of her neighbors and Miss Dorothy's passion for sharing books soon blossom into a wildly popular bookmobile operation, and later a small free-standing library. Houston writes with a knowing, warm tone about a woman who touched the lives of many and cherished the ripple effect of her actions. Lamb's bucolic pencil-and-watercolor scenes feel like a family scrapbook of rural mid–20th century life, right down to the design of the hefty but reliable green bookmobile. Ages 6–9. (Feb.)