A Secret Keeps

PreS-Gr 2—A boy travels with his family to his grandparents' farm where his grandpa says a secret awaits him. During the long car ride that night and through the next day, the youngster longs to know what it is. When he finally gets there, he searches the henhouse, the barn, and even the cornfield, talking to the animals as he goes, but the secret eludes him. Finally, unable to sleep, he heads outside pretending to be a pirate boarding a galleon (the barn) where he once again seeks his treasure. This time he finds newborn kittens playing in the loft and happily discovers that the one wrapping itself around his feet is his "secret for keeping." The rhyming text, filled with assonance and alliteration, is lovely. However, while many passages seem authentic coming from the mouth of the youngster ("the moon follows me to the farm"; "cock-ee-doodlely-doo!/Old Rudy crows..."; "jillions of peeper frogs leap and peep"), it is difficult to believe he would describe marshmallows as "molten" or say such things as "Night tucks in around us/and rustles in the dark." The mixed-media spreads, executed in a muted palette, depict a working farm with planted fields, a hay-strewn barn with soaring swallows and frolicking kittens, and a slower pace where family members play checkers and roast marshmallows under a starry sky. Any child who has ever anticipated a surprise or experienced the delight of a new pet will enjoy this story.—Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT