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Written and illustrated by Barbara Cooney
Not written by a P.E. Islander, not even set on Prince Edward Island...but with its seaside setting and beautifully illustrated pages of lupins, this classic treasure surely has a prominent place on an " Island books" shelf. If you see P.E.I. in late June/early July* when lupins abound by the ditchful, or even fieldful, you will see why it seems like a book about here. In truth, the setting is in coastal Maine and the Maritimes do have a long history of geographic and family ties to our coastal neighbor. The story is a quite autobiographical and personal favorite of Cooney's - her great-grandfather did paint and he allowed his daughter (the author's grandmother) to try her hand at creating the clouds and seascapes in their view. In this story Alice is (in part) this granddaughter. In her close chats with her granfather he also encourages Alice to see the world and above all to make it a more beautiful place. Alice does see the world, returns to her shoreline cottage, and turns her thoughts to that third and last piece of the promise - something to make her world more lovely. Now I know that at this point you can guess what that proved to be and as lupins tend to do, her scattered seeds are still enduring!
In 1983 Miss Rumphius won a National Award for Picture Books. In honor of Miss Rumphius, the Maine Library Associatiion established a Lupine Award for children's books written by resident authors or with Maine as their subject. Miss cooney has also been the recipient of other awards including the esteemed Caldecott Award for the best illustrated book published in the United States in a given year.
* If you wish to see the Island lupins be sure to come in early summer...When I was a storyteller at Avonlea, one very disappointed lady was appalled that we might have cut them all out, She was openly relieved when I assured her we still has plenty of lupins but she had just missed the breath-taking blooms recently gone to big black pods of seeds for the next summer!
ISBN: 9780140505
Published: 1982