Review: The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh

genre: children's literature

Sarah's father is going to build her family a new home out in Indian Territory. He takes Sarah, his oldest child, with him to cook and be a companion for him. This story is their journey to that new land and their experiences with the native people who live there. Sarah, as an eight year old, sees and hears many things that are worthy of her fear, but she works so hard to be brave and "keep up her courage."

This is a charming book. I read it out loud over a couple nights to my 7 and 1/2 year old son and we both really enjoyed it. The language is sparse but not boring and it doesn't drag (it's easy enough that he could have read it to himself with no problem, but I wanted to read it too :). The adventures are mild but it's an interesting enough time period with interesting enough things happening that it kept his attention. I really loved its message that children can do hard and brave things - and that just because someone looks different, it doesn't mean we have to be afraid of them. No wonder this is a classic.