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Letters to Leo
Paperback

Letters to Leo

$20.99
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The joys and trials of fourth grade - and of life with her father now that her mother is gone - play out in charming letters from Annie to her dog, Leo.

Annie Rossi never, ever thought her father would let her have a dog. But now that he’s finally given in, she’s found the perfect ear for the stories of her day. She just writes them in a notebook hidden under the bed and reads them to Leo in her soft night voice, like the one her mother used when reading to Annie at bedtime before she died. And Annie sure has a million stories to tell! There’s mean Edward, who brags about his noble goldfish and gets her in trouble for accidentally lobbing a volleyball into his nose. There’s her best friend, Jean-Marie, who ups and moves to New Jersey (and wants to borrow Leo for company!). There’s the poem Annie writes about her mom, which Miss Meadows asks her to read for the class. And there’s her professor dad, who is finally coming out of his shell, even though he is an elderly forty-year-old with a serious personality.

Genuine and funny, Amy Hest’s first-person narration revisits a winning young character as she takes on a new year - and a new dog - with humor, honesty, and resiliency.

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MORE INFO
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Candlewick Press,U.S.
Country
United States
Date
1 January 2015
Pages
160
ISBN
9780763671655

The joys and trials of fourth grade - and of life with her father now that her mother is gone - play out in charming letters from Annie to her dog, Leo.

Annie Rossi never, ever thought her father would let her have a dog. But now that he’s finally given in, she’s found the perfect ear for the stories of her day. She just writes them in a notebook hidden under the bed and reads them to Leo in her soft night voice, like the one her mother used when reading to Annie at bedtime before she died. And Annie sure has a million stories to tell! There’s mean Edward, who brags about his noble goldfish and gets her in trouble for accidentally lobbing a volleyball into his nose. There’s her best friend, Jean-Marie, who ups and moves to New Jersey (and wants to borrow Leo for company!). There’s the poem Annie writes about her mom, which Miss Meadows asks her to read for the class. And there’s her professor dad, who is finally coming out of his shell, even though he is an elderly forty-year-old with a serious personality.

Genuine and funny, Amy Hest’s first-person narration revisits a winning young character as she takes on a new year - and a new dog - with humor, honesty, and resiliency.

Read More
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Candlewick Press,U.S.
Country
United States
Date
1 January 2015
Pages
160
ISBN
9780763671655
 
Book Review

Letters to Leo
by Amy Hest

by Emily Gale, Jan 2015

The hero of Letters to Leo, Annie, is an upbeat girl in Grade 4 who is quietly confident without being precocious, but as children of that age can often start to become she’s a little hard on herself sometimes, too. Amy is an independent, thoughtful soul and very observant of the people around her. In particular her observations of adult behaviour that perplex or frustrate her caught my attention. Her dad, for example, who has many anxieties and rules. We discover that the root of these anxieties is the death of Annie’s mother. The author handles this very well by neither dwelling on it nor glossing over its impact.

Annie’s sounding board is her new dog, Leo, to whom she writes the numerous letters that form the narrative of the story. She tells Leo her woes, but also frequently reminds him to behave impeccably because she really wants her dad to learn to love him. Eventually Leo works his way into his heart, and for Amy there is the added bonus of her beloved third-grade teacher becoming more involved in her life.

This is a great combination of easy-to-read and lots to think about. For ages 9+.

Emily Gale is the Online Children’s Book Specialist.