Sugaring

Nora and Gramp are collecting sap from maple trees to make maple syrup. The horses, Bonnie and Stella, are working hard, too, pulling the heavy sap tank through the snow from tree to tree. This third story about Nora and her grandparents brings the beautyof a Vermont farm in early spring vividly to life.

Nora wants to find a way to give the horses a special treat for helping her grandfather and her gather sap to make maple syrup.

Nora and Gramp are collecting sap from maple trees to make maple syrup. The horses, Bonnie and Stella, are working hard, too, pulling the heavy sap tank through the snow from tree to tree. This third story about Nora and her grandparents brings the beautyof a Vermont farm in early spring vividly to life.

Children's Literature

For those of us who've never witnessed it, there is a charm and timelessness to the process of sugaring maple trees. Maybe that's why there are so many picture books on the subject. This is one of the best. There's something for everyone here. There are illustrations that bring the reader right up close to the action. There are short descriptive passages that simply explain a complicated process. And there's a satisfying story of how one girl, her grandparents, and their horses perform the alchemy that turns tree sap into sugar.

Jessie Haas is the author of numerous acclaimed books for young people, including Unbroken, which was a Publishers Weekly Best Book, a School Library Journal Best Book, a Parent's Choice Gold Award winner, a Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, and CCBC Choice. Her most recent novel, Shaper, won a Golden Kite Honor Award.