Mary Smith

This book, MARY SMITH, was read by Daniel Pinkwater and Scott Simon in late August 2007 on NPR's Weekend Edition. It was great to hear on the radio as well as being a great book to read out loud. My son loves the spread where Mary runs throughout the town waking people up. I didn't notice that there were "little Marys" in the illustration, but my son's eyes spied her. We even found a foot of hers, dodging behind a corner of a house. This book is really interesting because of the fact I knew nothing about "knocker-ups" and it is as Daniel Pinkwater attests, "Deceiving well done." It seems simple, but U'Ren in very few words made a book that is historical, educational, funny, and engaging. A great read for my budding reader, my son. Highly recommended for the story and the art. Thank you NPR for bringing it to my attention!

This is a wonderful work of historical fiction. The real photo of Mary Smith adds to the engagement of young children. My class loves this book and I do,too. This is a part of history that I had never heard before. Cute ending that the children loved. I buy a lot of books for my classroom; some are "keepers" that I allow the children to use for a few days and are returned to my personal collection while others are placed in the children's collection which they have continual access to. This one is a "keeper".

Besides an interesting peek into a unique aspect of history this book is charming in it's presentation. The photo of Mary Smith at the beginning of the book immediately gives the book credibility and tugs at the readers curiosity. A surprise ending is light-hearted and an added bonus. Fun and informative!