The Courage of Sarah Noble was originally published in 1954 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers and then republished by Aladdin Paperbacks, an imprint of Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing. Alice Dalgliesh lived from 1893 to 1979. Born in Trinidad, West Indies, she came to the United States where she was an editor and an author of more than 40 books for and about children. Several years ago, my wife checked out her Bears on Hemlock Mountain from the library and I read it aloud to our older son. I really enjoyed it and wanted to read The Courage of Sarah Noble too, but never did until now.

While looking in a bookstore at children's books for our younger son's recent birthday, I came across copies of both books and bought them for him. The Courage of Sarah Noble, which was a Newberry Honor Book, is based on a true story that occurred in 1707, although the author says, "I have had to imagine many of the details." In it, an eight-year-old girl finds courage to go alone with her father to build a new home in the Connecticut wilderness and to stay with the Indians when her father goes back to bring the rest of the family. Alice Dalgliesh was a wonderful storyteller, and this is a really great book. It depicts not only courage, but also love of family and respect for those who are different.

Language level: nothing objectionable.
Ages: suitable for anyone; independent reading level is 7-10.
My rating: excellent.



--Product Review by: Wayne S. Walker, Missouri State Coordinator, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine