Miss Rumphius
Recommended. Age: 7+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
A girl makes a promise to her grandfather and keeps it for a lifetime. She hurts her back, grows old, and still sows flowers for people who think she is odd. Cooney's paintings are lovely. One reservation: the book names beauty as life's purpose and never says where beauty comes from. A parent can finish that sentence.
For parents
Read aloud from 4. Independent reading from about 7. Nothing here needs a preview. Ask what Alice gives her neighbors that they did not ask for. Ask who made the lupines beautiful in the first place, and what your child could do to pass that beauty on.