Mimmy and Sophie All Around the Town - Hardcover

Miriam Cohen is the author of thirty books for young readers, including Will I Have a Friend? She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Thomas F. Yezerski has written and illustrated several picture books for children, most recently A Full Hand. He lives in Rutherford, New Jersey.

Gr. 2-3. Like Mimmy and Sophie (1999), this gentle chapter book about two sisters in Brooklyn, New York, during the Depression creates a strong sense of the time and place, and, as with all good writing, the particulars will connect with readers today. Mimmy protects her little sister, Sophie, from the neighborhood kids, but Sophie can also be a real pest. In one chapter the children get front seats at the cinema, but then Sophie gets lost on her way to the bathroom. On a trip to Coney Island, the girls glimpse their parents' love for each other. In another chapter, the kids have fun squelching in the mud, but they feel guilty that Momma has to scrub their clothes. Yezerski's black-and-white illustrations do a great job of creating the neighborhood details (including a glimpse of Momma at the laundry tub) as well as the bond between the sisters. Grandparents and great-grandparents will appreciate the nostalgia, and preschoolers will enjoy the stories of a past that speaks to them. A good story to read to younger children. Hazel Rochman
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