There's a particular magic to the way children saw the world in 1865, and Sophie May captures it perfectly in this tender portrait of the Parlin family. When baby Alice arrives affectionately called Dotty Dimple by her adoring older sisters the household transforms. Prudy and Susy navigate the bewildering experience of having a new sibling with all the earnest confusion and fierce love that only children can muster. Their attempts to help, to play, to understand their tiny new sister result in both comical missteps and moments of genuine tenderness. The dialogue crackles with period authenticity: the famous passage where Prudy explains "Don't you love me? This is me, my name's Prudy. I've got a red pocket dress Santa Claw bringed it" captures exactly how children speak, all earnest logic and charming error. This is a book for readers who believe that childhood, with all its small dramas and enormous feelings, deserves to be rendered with kindness.
