The High Street

K-Gr 3—In this Scottish cumulative tale, Sally wanders along High Street as she tries to check off items from her shopping list. Each storefront folds out to reveal a fascinating array of merchandise within, begging readers to pore over the delicious details. The girl makes her way from a bakery to a china shop, and from a green grocer's to a hardware store, all the while exposing readers to some interesting vocabulary. The music shop has bagpipes and bassoons while the pet store has hamsters that bustle and rabbits that rustle. The cross sections of each shop will intrigue young readers while the rhyme scheme will help them gain confidence when they correctly guess what Sally finds next. After she fails to find her last item, she "trudges home on heavy, aching feet, towards the public gardens on the corner of the street…." What she discovers there gives this tale a satisfyingly unique ending. The inventive format and crisp retro details will put this at the top of every curious little girl's reading list.—Jenna Boles, Washington-Centerville Public Library, OH