Clara and the Bookwagon

by Nancy Smiler Levinson

Book Overview

Papa will not allow Clara to learn to read--he says Farm people like us do not have time to read. But when the traveling bookwagon, with persuasive Miss Mary at the reins, arrives at their farm, Papa realizes he must change his mind. Based on the true story of America's first 'bookmobile.'

The free library in a nearby Maryland village is off-limits to the curious child, but Clara's chance encounter with librarian Mary Titcomb...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0064441342
• ISBN13: 9780064441346
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.5" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Great book for all lessons

I used this book to develop a lesson plan for all core subjects for a class I'm in at UNCG, school of education. I thought the book provided the excited feelings reading can create when it is intrinsically encouraged. Great book!

Seven year old boy loves it

I have a seven year old boy who is an excellent reader. The problem is getting him to read. If it is not about lizards, he's not interested. This book was sent today as part of his K-12 curriculum. I told him to read the first 11 pages. He read 40 before putting it down. I've never seen him read a fiction book like that. I thought perhaps he was just skimming since he was reading it quickly, but I quizzed him and he actually read it! I'm very pleased.

Excellent easy chapter book that promotes books & reading!

This easy reader chapter book promotes books and reading with an appealing story set in 1905 Maryland. Inquisitive Clara desperately wants to learn to read, but there are no schools nearby, and her father says she's too busy with farmwork to waste her time on books.Levinson makes historical fiction very appealing to younger readers, with a fine eye to the details of rural life, without getting bogged down in old-fashioned terms. While the story is simple, the characters and plot are realistic. In the process, the reader is introduced to the very first "bookmobile," a horse-drawn wagon, based on historical fact.In our library, this title doesn't get checked out until it is read-aloud or otherwise introduced to the children. After that it gets a lot of use. Recommended.