Amy's Three Best Things Hardcover - 2013

Media reviews

Brisk acceptance of the reality of difficult feelings and understated humor make this a fine handbook for children on their way to new and strange places.
—Publishers Weekly

Craig’s wide oblong pictures show enticing night scenes of starry skies over sleeping English villages; her sunlit domestic interiors and grassy playgrounds are full of pastel-colored details — exciting, but not alarming, as a visit with a grandparent should be. … The little girl’s new confidence, so deftly expressed, may inspire apprehensive children to try similar weekends away from home. But there’s more to this story than just that encouragement; more than enough to return to for repeated reading.
—The New York Times Online

Amy ... packs up her trusty teddy, her pajamas and three mysterious objects — her "best things" — and bravely embarks on her adventure. With more than a touch of magic, those three things help her through sudden bouts of nighttime loneliness. Helen Craig couches the fantasy in sturdy down-to-earth illustrations of a thatch-haired youngster, a comfy cardigan-clad Grandma and a tidy landscape of houses snuggled around the village green. And while there’s a moment of genuine anguish, the final scene of Amy astride a carousel dragon is the perfect ending to this gentle story about growing up and growing brave.
—The Washington Post

Citations

• Booklist, 12/15/2013, Page 50
• Horn Book Magazine, 01/01/2014, Page 78
• Hornbook Guide to Children, 01/01/2014, Page 41
• Kirkus Reviews, 10/01/2013, Page 0
• Publishers Weekly, 10/14/2013, Page 0
• School Library Journal, 11/01/2013, Page 86