THE NAME OF THE CHILD

Confronted with illness, a terrible storm, and nearby woods filled with wild animals, Lloyd must reach deep inside himself to find the courage to do what he needs to do to save the life of his unnamed cousin. Lloyd’s parents decide that it would be safer for him to spend some time in the country with relatives rather than live in their city home in the middle of the flu epidemic of 1918. Frightened of traveling alone; of being forgotten at the train station; and then of the howling coyotes in the woods surrounding his aunt and uncle’s home, Lloyd decides to try and sing a song to himself to make him less fearful. After meeting his brand-new cousin, the obvious choice seems to be “Rock-a-bye Baby.” Unfortunately, Lloyd’s groundless fears become too real as his aunt and uncle become ill with the flu and he must travel alone with the baby to a distant neighbor’s house to find milk. A thunderstorm makes the trip even more daunting, and then the horse-drawn cart lands in a ditch. Singing loudly, Lloyd struggles on foot to the end of his journey. Darkly colored paintings rendered on textured paper illustrate this turn-of-the-century tale of brave pioneer families struggling in an uncertain time, but they fail the story. Static and gloomy, they look so old-fashioned that they will turn off the intended audience. Too bad, because the story is a gripping one set in a period and place not often seen in American picture books. (Picture book. 4-8)