Our Little German Cousin

Step into the Black Forest with three German children who make the distant feel wonderfully near. Bertha, Gretchen, and Hans live in a village where toys are carved by hand, where morning fog rests on the valley, and where every season brings its own celebration. This is turn-of-the-century Germany as seen through young eyes: the music drifting from village squares, the architecture of steep-roofed houses, the Lore and customs that give a community its shape. Wade writes with the tender curiosity of someone who has been welcomed into a family's hearth. The children are not exhibits but guides, leading readers through a world of craftsmanship and connection. What emerges is a portrait of childhood in another time and place, where work and play intertwine, and where the simple acts of making and sharing hold deep meaning. For young readers curious about the world beyond their own doorstep, or for anyone who remembers when books were windows into lives far away, this remains a gentle invitation to cross oceans and centuries and find cousins waiting.