WARM AS WOOL

An Ohio family's successful effort to avoid another uncomfortable winter like their first, in 1803. In the drafty new cabin, the children put on all their clothes and huddle under bearskin; still, they're cold. When a drover comes by, their mother Betsy produces the stocking of money she's saved and buys eight sheep. What with wolves and accidents, only three survive, but one of these gives birth to start a flock; meanwhile, Betsy shears the unlucky dead and makes her children garments to protect them from the cold. Sanders (Aurora Means Dawn, 1989) narrates with energy, in a colorful style spiced with concrete words. In the gentle spirit of Garth Williams, Cogancherry provides softly colored, precisely delineated illustrations; her figures are realistic, yet have unusual grace. Based on a real frontier incident; attractive and authentic.