Mary Smith
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Book Overview
Time to get up! Did you ever wonder how people woke up in time for schoolor work in the days before alarm clocks? In the early twentieth century, townspeople in England hired "knocker-ups" like Mary Smith for a few pence a week. Mary Smith traveled through predawn streets armed with a peashooter and a pocket watch, waking her clients at whatever hour they requested by plinking dried peas at their bedroom windows.In rollicking words and pictures, Andrea U'Ren re-creates one busy morning in the life of her intrepid true-life subject - a morning when Mary Smith helps her town start its day in timely fashion, only to receive a rude awakening when she comes home. Could it be that the knocker-up's own daughter has been sleeping in? ? Mary Smith is a 2004 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0374348421
ISBN13:9780374348427
Release Date:August 2003
Publisher:Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Length:32 Pages
Weight:0.70 lbs.
Dimensions:7.8" x 0.4" x 10.6"
Age Range:4 to 8 years
Grade Range:Preschool to Grade 3
Customer Reviews
3 ratings
Recommended by NPR and me & my son too!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 17 years ago
This book, MARY SMITH, was read by Daniel Pinkwater and Scott Simon in late August 2007 on NPR's Weekend Edition. It was great to hear on the radio as well as being a great book to read out loud. My son loves the spread where Mary runs throughout the town waking people up. I didn't notice that there were "little Marys" in the illustration, but my son's eyes spied her. We even found a foot of hers, dodging behind a corner of a house. This book is really interesting because of the fact I knew nothing about "knocker-ups" and it is as Daniel Pinkwater attests, "Deceiving well done." It seems simple, but U'Ren in very few words made a book that is historical, educational, funny, and engaging. A great read for my budding reader, my son. Highly recommended for the story and the art. Thank you NPR for bringing it to my attention!
Great historical fiction
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
This is a wonderful work of historical fiction. The real photo of Mary Smith adds to the engagement of young children. My class loves this book and I do,too. This is a part of history that I had never heard before. Cute ending that the children loved. I buy a lot of books for my classroom; some are "keepers" that I allow the children to use for a few days and are returned to my personal collection while others are placed in the children's collection which they have continual access to. This one is a "keeper".
Delightful!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
Besides an interesting peek into a unique aspect of history this book is charming in it's presentation. The photo of Mary Smith at the beginning of the book immediately gives the book credibility and tugs at the readers curiosity. A surprise ending is light-hearted and an added bonus. Fun and informative!
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