A few children's books on Diligence

Without intending to, I realized I checked out 3 books from the library this past week that featured Diligence. They were wonderful, rich books that my guys loved, and I wanted to share them with you.



The Plant Sitter is from one of my favorite authors, Gene Zion, who brought us Harry and the Dirty Dog. The pictures are also done by Margaret Bloy Graham, who brought Harry to life. In the Plant Sitter, a little boy named Tommy decides (much to his parent's annoyance) to take on a summer job taking care of other people's plants who go on vacation. The house is full of plants, and the job becomes overwhelming. Tommy gets tired, and finds himself wishing people would come back from vacation. He musters his strength, however, and goes to the library to learn more about how to tame the jungle in his home. The people come home to find their plants healthier than ever, and then Tommy and his family decide to take a much needed vacation themselves!



Sophie's Masterpiece is by Eileen Spinelli, who is quickly becoming a favorite author (check out her Thanksgiving with the Tappletons this November for some holiday fun). The delicate illustrations are by Jane Dyer. Sophie is a spider, but no ordinary spider. She is a master spinner who creates beautiful works of art. "Someday, they said, she's going to spin a masterpiece." Sophie moves into a boarding house where she spins beautiful curtains and a suit, but keeps getting kicked out of rooms when people who hate spiders kick her out of the room. She finally crawls to the third floor where a young, single mother is about to have a baby. She sews a final masterpiece for this new baby, and dies after the effort. Her death is obscured, if you little ones are nervous about death, but this is a beautiful tale about diligence, and working hard to complete a vision even in the face of danger and rejection.



Angelo is by David Macaulay. This one is a bit lengthy, perhaps better for a 7 year old, but Angelo is an old man who works restoring the facade of a once-beautiful church in Rome. He finds a wounded bird whom he nurses back to health. This bird becomes his lasting friend who stands by him as he gets slower completing his work. Angelo finishes his masterpiece before he dies, but just barely. There is a sweet surprise at the end of this story that I won't spoil for you, but again, another story of an artist who works really diligently to complete his masterpiece, despite difficult circumstances.

Happy Reading, friends!