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Overview
On a cold winter afternoon Bess and her doll are having a tea party with melted snow and cookie crumbs, when — falump! — a little bird named Bella falls from the sky. Bella offers treats for a proper tea, and a new friendship begins. Little does Bess know that this is just the first of many delightful surprises to come during that afternoon.
Young readers will be charmed by Bess and Bella and enchanted by Irene Haas's beautiful artwork that brings them vividly to life.
Synopsis
On a cold winter afternoon Bess and her doll are having a tea party with melted snow and cookie crumbs, when — falump! — a little bird named Bella falls from the sky. Bella offers treats for a proper tea, and a new friendship begins. Little does Bess know that this is just the first of many delightful surprises to come during that afternoon.
Young readers will be charmed by Bess and Bella and enchanted by Irene Haas's beautiful artwork that brings them vividly to life.
Publishers Weekly
Haas does for winter in this cozy tale what she did for the year's longest days in A Summertime Song. The dream-like narrative begins with the appearance of a bird, smartly dressed in a striped frock, shawl and straw hat, who drops from the sky as lonely rosie-cheeked Bess and her doll have a tea party in the snow. The winged visitor introduces herself as Bella, and Bess invites her to share her rather meager "tea," consisting of cookie crumbs and melted snow served in a little cracked cup. Bella (who migrated too late, and frost on her wings caused her to fall) pulls out a host of tiny suitcases from which she extracts "babushkas for tablecloths, a teapot of tea, a beautiful bowl of just-baked buttery biscuits." The bright cloths and china patterns transform the small framed paintings from wintry grays and greens to a spread fit for a fiesta, and the tale's tone, too, becomes boisterous with the arrival of a truck carrying canine firefighters and, later, a mouse family. Haas suffuses both prose and pictures with a fairy-tale enchantment, as if the woods exude a wintry spell. The festivities end when Bess is called for supper, but Bella stays with Bess ("until one day it was spring, when birds return to their nests"), and when the bird flies home, a girl appears, asking Bess to play, assuring readers that the heroine will be lonely no more. In this charming tale, Haas hints at the magic in everyday moments. Ages 3-7. (Jan.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Haas does for winter in this cozy tale what she did for the year's longest days in A Summertime Song. The dream-like narrative begins with the appearance of a bird, smartly dressed in a striped frock, shawl and straw hat, who drops from the sky as lonely rosie-cheeked Bess and her doll have a tea party in the snow. The winged visitor introduces herself as Bella, and Bess invites her to share her rather meager "tea," consisting of cookie crumbs and melted snow served in a little cracked cup. Bella (who migrated too late, and frost on her wings caused her to fall) pulls out a host of tiny suitcases from which she extracts "babushkas for tablecloths, a teapot of tea, a beautiful bowl of just-baked buttery biscuits." The bright cloths and china patterns transform the small framed paintings from wintry grays and greens to a spread fit for a fiesta, and the tale's tone, too, becomes boisterous with the arrival of a truck carrying canine firefighters and, later, a mouse family. Haas suffuses both prose and pictures with a fairy-tale enchantment, as if the woods exude a wintry spell. The festivities end when Bess is called for supper, but Bella stays with Bess ("until one day it was spring, when birds return to their nests"), and when the bird flies home, a girl appears, asking Bess to play, assuring readers that the heroine will be lonely no more. In this charming tale, Haas hints at the magic in everyday moments. Ages 3-7. (Jan.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
This charming picture book takes the concept of friendship and provides an uplifting story about where friends can come from and how they enhance our lives. In this particular story, Bess, talking to her doll Rose, wishes for a friend with whom to share her day. Hoping that a tea party of cookie crumbs and melted water (for tea) will brighten her mood, Bess finds her tea party invaded by a magical bird named Bella who offers Bess babushkas and biscuits and, most importantly, her friendship. Eventually, Bella and Bess are joined by firefighting dogs and a family of mice. At the end of the tea party, Bella goes home with Bess and Rose and helps Bess through what would otherwise be a long and lonely winter. Then spring arrives, and as Bella prepares to leave, Bess sees a new girl to the neighborhood. The illustrations are exceptionally sweet, and little girls will love the detail and the soft pastel colors. A very accessible book for young readers. 2006, Margaret McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, Ages 5 to 8.—Jean Boreen, Ph.D.