LET'S GO, DARBY!

A disabled boy at the turn of the 20th century takes a bold step towards healing, finding friendship and dignity in the process in Rosenbaum’s illustrated children’s book.

The author draws on the true stories of Georgie Titus, a 10-year-old boy with clubfoot in Uxbridge, Ontario, who hitched his dog to a sled and rode 40 miles to Toronto in the winter of 1898, as well as other patients at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children. Georgie is home in Uxbridge when he first hears his parents whispering about a “miracle surgery” that could straighten his legs and allow him to walk. He and his dog, Darby, regularly go on a paper-delivery route, but this time, they sled along the train tracks that head all the way to the big city. At the hospital, Georgie is introduced to the other kids in the care of kindly Nurse Underhill. They have simple conditions, such as cleft palate; accidental injuries, such as burns; and diseases, such as tuberculosis—all often exacerbated by poverty. The conventional treatment for Georgie’s condition is a monthslong process involving plaster casts; the doctor turns down his requests for surgery, saying that the boy is too old. “But no one has tried it on someone my age,” Georgie protests later. He doesn’t want to be an object of pity, despite the grim fact that putting on a pitiable spectacle generates more donations for the hospital. His hope for a surgical cure is effectively shown to be tied to his hope for a life of independence. Although the story takes place in 1898, the book’s strength lies in how it comments on lived experiences today. Georgie’s world sparkles with historical curiosity, from horse-drawn carts traveling gaslit streets to the children’s diet of stewed prunes, porridge, and “beef tea.” However, it’s the emotional realities—especially characters’ anxiety over the cost of health care, as well as concerns about pride and respectability—that make this a particularity acute and timely tale. Klunder’s occasional pastel illustrations depict a handful of notable characters.

A charming, sensitive story about the trials of health care and the importance of social welfare.