Review: Miss Rumphius

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney.  Viking.  1982.

Something that is hopeful yet frustrating for tweens is that they have come into a time when they begin to question the world.  They question the actions of the authority figures around them (their family, their teachers) and wonder if their is any meaning to their place in the world.

The comforting yet challenging part of the story Miss Rumphius is that there is an answer to that overwhelming question.  Alice, the main character (who is Miss Rumphius as a young girl), has a few dreams up her sleeve.  She wants to travel the world, and when she grows old she wants to live by the ocean, but there is one other thing she must do.  "You must do something to make the world more beautiful," her grandfather instructs the young Alice.

Alice grows up to become a librarian (gotta love that part), until she earns enough money to travel the world.  After traveling far and wide she settles down in a house by the sea.  That is when she begins her final task of how to make the world a beautiful place.  The title of the story is an indication of what she comes up with for her plan.

I think this is a great story to read aloud to 3rd and 4th graders, to introduce them to Barbara Cooney's beautiful illustrations, and give them something to ponder about the lives they are creating for themselves.
ATOS Book Level: 3.8
AR Points: 0.5