by Mary E. Preece

Created on: May 24, 2008   Last Updated: July 01, 2008

Clarion Books is an imprint of the Houghton-Mifflin Publishing Company who has long been a publisher of school textbooks. Their quality of books is unsurpassed in my opinion.

The two books below are excellent examples of what great quality they look for in choosing their authors and their illustrators.

A Family for Old Mill Farm by Shutta Crum and illustrated by Niki Daly is one of the most enjoyable books for young children I have ever read. A young family in search of a new home due to the addition of a new little one that is due soon embarks on what becomes an adventure of sorts to find just the right home suitable for the growing family. The Realtor takes them first to a home by a lake shore. Breezy Lake Lodge it was called but it was not what the family was looking for. They wanted a place where the trees touched the sky.

In the meantime a raccoon Realtor is trying to sell all his forest friends the idea of settling at old Mill Farm where the trees touch the sky and a perfect place to raise their babies he reported to them.

Next the human Realtor takes the family to Dry River Ranch where the breezes never blow and not a blade of grass will grow. But the family wanted a place where the minnows would flash and the water would flow.

As you can see there's a pattern the story takes and it keeps going this way until the family sees Old Mill Farm, and since the Raccoon sold the idea of Old Mill Farm to all his friends, what could be a more perfect place to raise children they thought and the family decides on the great old farm as the perfect home for them. What a great home for children to play and enjoy all the nature and the animals to befriend.

I think this is a wonderful book for any age to enjoy. It would be a great present for the young parents to be and the new child.

Next another great book by Shutta Crum and published by Clarion Books is My Mountain Song. Gran Pap has always had a song in him that he called his Mountain Song and when Brenda Gail visits with him and Big Ma, He assures Brenda Gail that she too has a mountain song somewhere in her and that with all the memories she will make it will eventually come out of her. Brenda loves the farm and although she is pestered by cousin Melvin she has a wonderful and memorable time at the farm and indeed does find out she has a mountain song in her.

This book is a great book for young readers and is warm with great characters and the pictures are truly beautiful. Both the story and the pictures will truly tug at your heartstrings.

These two books are proof of what a great publisher Clarion Books is.

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