A Long Road on a Short Day, written by Gary D.Schmidt and Elizabeth Stickney, reviewed by Judy Hauser

Summary: This is a charming story about a boy, Samuel, and his papa on a mission to bring a milk cow home to mama. They set out on a cold, wintry day and make many stops to visit neighbors in hopes of trading for a milk cow. Papa begins the trading by exchanging his best knife for two lanterns. As Samuel and Papa go house to house they trade one item after another until they have what they need to trade for a milk cow. There are poignant scenes in which Samuel is given a pony and cart, which he loves, only to have them traded at the next house. Papa does not trade these items away in a cruel way but they do teach Samuel lessons about doing the right thing and keeping the end goal of the mission in mind. The illustrations by Eugene Yelchin are perfect. They wonderfully depict Samuel and papa, neighbors and items traded and, of course, the cold, wintry short road. Family, friends, hard work, weather, politeness and accomplishment are all represented so nicely in this story. It is an exceptional "feel good" book and will be popular with children. 

Straight Talk for Librarians: A lowkey but excellent book about family, hard work, doing the right thing and friends and neighbors. I can imagine a lot of discussion with children on these topics and more.