Letters to the Wind: Classic Stories and Poems for Children

Kelly L. Green is editor of the Canadian Book Review Annual’s
Children’s Literature edition.

Toronto author and storyteller Celia Barker Lottridge has selected some
30 classic stories and poems for this “children’s treasury” of
American literature. Divided into four sections—Once Upon a Time, All
Kinds of People, All Kinds of Animals, and Fantastic Worlds—the
anthology includes traditional stories like “Rip Van Winkle” and
“Pecos Bill”; chapters of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Beverly
Cleary, Katherine Paterson, and L. Frank Baum; and poems by Robert
Frost, Langston Hughes, and Ogden Nash.

Lottridge has made her selections with care and precision. The book
represents literature for children (and literature written for adults
that has been claimed by children, such as Tom Sawyer) from virtually
every historical era and geographic region. For those who have little
exposure to the jewels of American children’s literature, this book is
a fine and welcome introduction. Those well acquainted with American
classics should not expect any surprises.

The book’s illustrations are the one disappointment. Though
competently done, they often pale in comparison to the original or
better-known illustrations of certain selections, such as Garth
Williams’s classic illustrations of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s work and
Louis Darling’s illustrations of Beverly Cleary’s. Nevertheless,
this enchanting anthology will introduce Canadian children to the finest
in American children’s culture (a definite step up from Disney).
Highly recommended.