59. The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh

The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh. Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard (buy)

Rating: (3/5)

1954, 2000: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster, 55 pgs

Ages: (7+) A

"In 1707, young Sarah Noble and her father traveled through the wilderness to build a new home for their family. "Keep up your courage, Sarah Noble," her mother had said, but Sarah found that it was not always easy to feel brave inside. The dark woods were full of animals and Indians, too, and Sarah was only eight! 
The true story of Sarah's journey is inspiring. And as she cares for her father and befriends her Indian neighbors, she learns that to be afraid and to be brave is the greatest courage of all."

Purchased a new copy from a homeschool retailer.

This is probably my 4th time reading this book.  It doesn't warrant that many readings but I read it as a kid, read it aloud to my kids and just re-read it now since I haven't reviewed it here yet.  A Newbery Honor Award Winner, ...Sarah Noble is a well-written frontier story set in Connecticut.  It's a nice story based on a true family, that very little detail exists about and has become more legendary than historical fact.  Father and daughter travel across state to settle on new land and this easy to read beginning chapter book details their frontier experiences and the friendly relations with the nearby "Indian" village. A story of Christian people, not like a children's book would be written today at all, with the main theme of having courage even when you are scared.  Nothing happens in the story though.  It's been ages since my last read of this and for some reason I thought a danger was coming but, nope, no scares, just day-to-day wilderness, frontier life; family separates, reunites, the end.  Modern day children would probably find this boring if read by themselves.  Audio or someone with a good storyteller's voice (my children enjoyed mine:-) could read aloud to bring more life to it for them.  

Too good not to mention are Weisgard's illustrations; typical of the time they are monochromatic done in sepia and black and suit the time period and atmosphere well.  I don't like this modern cover at all.  This is the old cover illustration by Weisgard of the book I used to have.