Ernestine's Milky Way

by Kerry Madden-Lunsford, Emily Sutton (Illustrator)

Overview

An empowering picture book set in the 1940s about a determined five-year-old girl who embarks on a journey to deliver milk to her neighbors in the holler.

Every morning, Ernestine shouts out her window to the Great Smoky Mountains, "I'm five years old and a big girl!" When Mama asks Ernestine--who helps with chores around the farm while Papa is away at war--to carry two mason jars filled with milk to their neighbor, Ernestine isn't sure she can do it. After all, she'd need to walk through thickets of crabapple and blackberry by the creek, not to mention past vines of climbing bittersweet. But Ernestine is five years old and a big girl, so off she sets. Along the way, one mason jar slips from her arms and rolls down the mountainside into the river, and Ernestine is sure it's lost forever . . . until her neighbor's son shows up with a muddy jar--and there's a surprise inside! With tons of flavor and a can-do spirit, here is a celebration of American history and a plucky girl who knows that helping a family in need is worth the trouble.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781524714864
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	03/05/2019
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	24 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

KERRY MADDEN is the author of the Smoky Mountain Trilogy, which includes Gentle's Holler, Louisiana's Song, and Jessie's Mountain. Gentle's Holler was included on the Bank Street College Best Children's Books list. Her first novel, Offsides, was a New York Public Library Pick for the Teen Age. Up Close: Harper Lee made Booklist's Top Ten Biographies for Youth list. Her first picture book, Nothing Fancy About Kathryn and Charlie, was illustrated by her daughter, Lucy. Kerry directs the creative writing program at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Visit her on the web at kerrymadden.com or on Twitter @kerrymadden.

EMILY SUTTON was born in Yorkshire, England, and graduated from the Edinburgh College of Art. She is the illustrator of Clara Button and the Magical Hat Day, The Tale of the Castle Mice, One Christmas Wish, The Christmas Eve Tree, and Tiny: The Invisible World of Microbes, which won an AAAS award for best picture book. Her work can also be seen on textiles for St. Jude's fabrics, for which she won an Elle Deco award for best surface design. Visit her on the web at emillustrates.com.

Editorial Reviews

01/14/2019

Ernestine and her Mama live on a valley farm within view of the Great Smoky Mountains. Ernestine’s father is off fighting in WWII and Mama’s expecting twins, so when their neighbor Mrs. Ramsey asks for milk for her children, delivering it is up to Ernestine. Though she’s strong-minded (“I’m five years old and a big girl,” she likes to say), it’s a daunting journey. “You’ll have to walk through the thickets of crabapple and blackberry by the creek,” Ernestine’s mother tells her, “and through the barbed-wire fence.” Madden-Lunsford (Gentle’s Holler) blends mild suspense (“she heard a snuffa-snuffa-snufflin’ along the path”) with relief and then triumph—especially when the jar of milk Ernestine thinks she’s lost is found and yields a treat. Thoughtful and precise ink-and-watercolor artwork by Sutton (Lots: The Diversity of Life on Earth) shows Ernestine toiling along the path through the varied landscapes her mother has described, with scrub, trees, dense foliage, distant hills, and foraging creatures (none dangerous). The homespun tale gracefully highlights themes of living off the land, helping neighbors, and conquering fear—and the delights of dairy in Mason jars. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown Ltd. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

It seems like the recipe for Ernestine’s Milky Way is to fill a mason jar with the words of Kerry Madden-Lunsford and the pictures of Emily Sutton, add a spoonful of Barbara Cooney, William Steig, and Virginia Lee Burton, then shake it up into this fresh concoction of classic storytelling and energetic art. This book reads like butter.” – Marla Frazee, two-time Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator


"This delicious period story with its warmly inviting illustrations has some surprises that get us right into the heart of the story. And what a good heart it is!” -Jane Yolen, author of Owl Moon, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight, and A Bear Sat On My Porch Today.

From the Publisher

03/01/2019

PreS-Gr 2—Ernestine lives with her mama on a remote farm in the Great Smoky Mountains, where they are waiting for Daddy to return from World War II. Ernestine helps around the farm, but, most of all, she keeps watch over Mama, who is very near giving birth to twins. Ole Peg is the heartiest cow around, and when their nearest neighbor needs milk to feed her children breakfast, five-year-old Ernestine sets off with two jars to share. She doesn't share with the skunks, whistle-pigs, and raccoons along the way, but by the time she arrives, she drops one of the mason jars and watches helplessly as it rolls down the hill. Grateful for even the one surviving jar, the neighbors sit down to breakfast when the oldest boy turns up with the errant milk jar. Its lengthy tumble has turned the milk into butter! This refreshing book shows neighbors caring for one another and even the smallest children doing their part. The illustrations portray the beauty of the mountainous terrain and are deftly rendered in ink and watercolor. The endpapers display the Milky Way, which Ernestine would see most nights. When Ole Peg is being milked, she is disproportionate to the barn and the people, which is jarring. The starry endpapers emphasize how we are all one in this great world. Ernestine's private Milky Way is the path she follows daily delivering her milk. VERDICT A lovely read-aloud that teachers can use to introduce the historical era, milk's connection to butter, and so much more.—Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA

School Library Journal

2018-11-26

Ernestine lives on a farm in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Her father is away in "the war" (identified in an author's note as World War II), and her mother is expecting twins very soon. Ernestine's days are filled with chores, and at night there is warm milk and comfort in Mama's assurance that Daddy is looking up and seeing the same stars they are viewing. When Mama assigns her the task of bringing two large mason jars of milk to a neighbor family, she is ready for the task. As she makes the trek she hears scary sounds and imagines dangerous animals lying in wait. She reassures herself by shouting her mantra, "I'm five years old and a big girl," and each time discovers only small, benign creatures instead of fierce beasts. She drops one milk jar, which rolls away, but arrives safely at the neighbor's home with the remaining one. The lost milk jar is found, containing a delightful surprise, and a joyous breakfast ensues. The author employs lovely lilting language to describe the rural setting. Descriptors of the path's vagaries are repeated as Ernestine makes her way, taking readers along with her through the "valley of doghobble and devil's walking stick." Sutton's brightly hued watercolor-and-ink illustrations effortlessly convey the time period, setting, and events, and they express Ernestine's every emotion.

Ernestine is a sheer delight in this nostalgic, warm memory of a special time and a remote place. (recipe) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews