Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker. During this time of Covid, many people aren’t able to use the library in the same way as in the past. To help bring more stories to more readers, many publishing companies are allowing books that are normally unavailable for copyright reasons to be read out loud and shared with others until June 30, 2023. The stories that fall under that special permission will all be taken down on that date, so listen now, while they’re available! Today’s story is shared with permission of Penguin Random House Publishing Company.
Blue Willow was written by Doris Gates in 1940, and it won a Newbery Honor award. Ever since the drought and the dust storm drove Janey Larkin and her family out of northern Texas, they have been traveling around so that Dad can find work planting and harvesting crops in California. The small family found an abandoned shack to stay in for awhile while Dad works in the cotton fields. If only they could find somewhere to stay as long as they want to! But even in this hard life, Janey has one beautiful treasure: a blue willow plate that is both a family heirloom and a consolation to her. And now, across the road there is a girl who may well become a friend!
Now sit back, relax, and listen to this story come to life.
Listening to audiobooks really does count as reading, and there's no better way to relax than to hear Stories Come to Life!
Let me know what you think! Please send an email to me at kluker@marshallpl.org. I'd love to hear from you!