Mary Smith
Time to get up! Did you ever wonder how people woke up in time for school or work in the days before alarm clocks? In the early twentieth century, townspeople in England hired "knocker-ups" like Mary Smith for a few pence a week. Mary Smith traveled through predawn streets armed with a peashooter and a pocket watch, waking her clients at whatever hour they requested by plinking dried peas at their bedroom windows.
In rollicking words and pictures, Andrea U'Ren re-creates one busy morning in the life of her intrepid true-life subject -- a morning when Mary Smith helps her town start its day in timely fashion, only to receive a rude awakening when she comes home. Could it be that the knocker-up's own daughter has been sleeping in?
Mary Smith is a 2004 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
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Description
"Set against a background of early-morning blues and grays and traditional English buildings, U'Ren's well-drawn characters are full of humor, especially the robust Mary, who takes her job seriously, indeed. " -- Booklist
"The opening archival photograph establishes the woman as a historical figure, hand on hip, aiming a peashooter. What follows is a colorful tale of one day in her life, told with energetic prose and delightfully bold color illustrations.... The ending has a humorous twist. Outlined in black, U'Ren's art has a clean, graphic appearance that perfectly complements the simplicity of the story. Particularly amusing are the expressions on the characters' faces. A historical note gives supplemental information about the real Mrs. Mary Smith and the role of the knocker-ups. A rollicking read." -- School Library Journal
Product Details
| Recommended Age | 4 - 8 |
|---|---|
| Author | Andrea U'Ren |
| ISBN | 0374348421 |
| Publication Date | Aug 13, 2003 |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) |
| Language | English |