This author and illustrator has a long-term history of writing award-winning children's books. Her books are based upon her life stories and the way in which she develops the stories are a testimony to a childhood of love and support.

In this story, the character named Stella, developed a love of books at an early age. Like so many of those of us book lovers, we collect more than we can every read. Stella had so many books that her father and community friends lovingly built a room large enough to accommodate her many books.

While she encouraged members of the town to visit her book abode, Stella primarily walked throughout the community and personally gave away books that she thought the recipient would enjoy.

Sadly, when a tornado swept through, her beloved books were scattered far and wide. This heart-warming book focused not only on the love of reading, but also on the love and dedication of the community whose members discovered the books thrown askew in the neighborhood but also helped to build another library for her.

This is a lovely story of the dedication to reading, and a community who supported and nurtured the importance of books.

Called The Mermaid's purse, her grandmother was born with what is known as a caul over the face of a baby when born. Based on the life of her very uniqu special grandmother, the book description notes that Polacco's grandmother became a teacher and librarian. She donated her very special library of books to the public library of Williamson, Michigan. And, as noted, many of the books still remain today.

The love of family, books and community are written in this loving tribute to the power of reading, loving and sharing. ( )

Prolific picture-book author and artist Patricia Polacco once again draws upon her rich family history in this lovely title, setting out the story of her grandmother Estella. Born during a storm, in a "mermaid's purse" - a folk term for an intact birth membrane - Stella loves stories, and eventually books. She collects so many that her father builds her a little free-standing library on their farm, which she christens the "Mermaid's Purse." Sharing her books and knowledge with her neighbors, Stella becomes a popular figure, and her kindness is repaid when a tornado destroys the library, and she receives help in rebuilding and collecting her dispersed volumes...

As both a bibliophile and a storm lover - not to mention a Patricia Polacco fan! - I greatly enjoyed The Mermaid's Purse, both for its themes and for its storytelling. As is so often the case with this author/artist, there were moments where I was tearing up. I appreciated the idea of books and reading as being both imaginative and practical, as Stella entertains the local children with stories, but also helps stricken sheep and drowning boys with the knowledge she has gained from her tomes. I also greatly appreciated the inclusion of a brief author's afterword about the Estella, complete with photographs of her. Recommended to all young book and library-lovers, and to fellow Polacco fans. ( )

I LOVE IT!!! Polacco did an absolute wonderful job with this book as always. The young girl, Patricia's grandmother, shows her little town something that she loves, books. She shows them how wonderful books can be and the amazing things that they can help with. She even teaches an old grumpy man how to read. She loses all of her books in a terrible tornado but the whole town searches everywhere and finds books all over and return them all to her. My favorite line is when the old grumpy man says "you brought the world to us through your book, so we brought them back to you..." I love that! It really shows the wonderfulness of a book. This is why I love to read because I feel like I am in another world and it helps me escape from my own world. ( )

This book is a story is about a grandma named Stella. In 1883, she was born on her parent's farm in Locke Center, Michigan. Stella loved to read book and was very smart! Her Pa, made her a library, Mermaid's Purse, so she could have all her book on display. She didn’t like how the farmers didn’t care about her book, this is the rising action in this story. The climax is when she decides she is going to take her books to all the farmers, so they could read them. No one cared to read them still. The resolution is……One day, a farmer's sheep was laying on its side not looking good. They called Stella over there and she grab two books and ran over. She was able to save the sheeps life by reading the book. The farmer then realized that books are important, and that a book help Stella save his sheep’s life. She also helped save someone from drowning, thanks to her book who taught her how. Everyone started taking her books and wanted to learning things like Stella. A horrible twister came and destroyed her library. She was devastated, what was she going to do without her books? At the end, the farmers rebuilt her a new library, and they all found her books and more and returned them to her! Another really good book! ( )

Summary: This book is about the author's grandmother. She retells her grandmother's life by talking of her love for books and how she influenced many of the farmers in the area to learn how to read.

Critique of Genre: Biography because it's a retelling of the author's grandmother's life.

Age: Intermediate

Media: Pencils and markers