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Gr 1-5 The people of the village mostly ignore odd Larky Mavis, who is always "mooning about," ragged patches on her skirt, holes in her sagging stockings. That changes when she finds a baby she names Heart's Delight in a peanut shell. She ardently protects and nurtures her charge with no help from the village leaders. In fact, they complain, "What a pest that Mavis is!" and begin to fabricate increasingly threatening stories about Heart's Delight, whom they can't see...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

It seems as if an infant Skellig has dropped into Brock Cole's latest picture book to add an enchanting spiritual dimension to his usual blithe farce. The title character, a lilies-of-the-field innocent, is "mooning about, mooning about," as is her wont, when she stumbles over three peanuts in the road. The first peanut tastes like "liver and onions," the second like "bread pudding," and the third? "'Well!' [Mavis] said, laughing. 'I won't eat you!'" Cole's sprightly ink and watercolor artwork depicts Mavis as a lovable red-headed vagabond, although most of the other characters in this antiquated setting consider her a ditzy pest. Her peanut-shell "baby," on the other han...Log In or Sign Up to Read More