Ida and the Wool Smugglers (Tr

by Sue Ann Alderson

Book Overview

Although her family thinks she is not big enough to participate in the annual sheep run, Ida proves she is big enough to outwit the smugglers trying to steal her favorite sheep. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0888991193
• ISBN13: 9780888991195
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Groundwood Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 7.5" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 4 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

Great for young girls that long to grow up

I would not have chosen to read this book with my 4yo except for a suggestion in another book. I was concerned based on the title that it would be too scary for a young child. But my daughter really loved this book. She identified with the child who believed that she was able to do more grown-up things while the adults around told her she was too little. She also identified with wanting to take care of animals and babies. After reading this book, she immediately wanted to act it out, so we turned it into a play. Another great aspect to the book is that it does not lay out the ending but allows for the assumption that everyone goes home safely, the smugglers are dealt with, and Ida goes on the next sheep run. Consequently, I was able to guide my daughter in extrapolating what happened after the text of the book ends, which was a great exercise for her in terms of her intellectual development.

a great book for girls

I never would have come across this book on my own. I was lucky enough to be guided by a truly great reference book called _Great Books for Girls_ (Kathleen Odean). Ms. Odean suggests that the book would be good for 2-5 year olds. I thought it would be a bit much for my 2 1/2 yr old daughter, but it became an instant favorite.From an adult point of view, this is a nice book, perhaps a bit stiff in the text. It is a historical story in the Red Riding Hood tradition about a little girl who is ready to be grown-up and brave in a Canadian pioneer village. What my daughter truly loved was the encounter with real bad guys: adult wool smugglers from mainland Canada, known to shear a sheep to steal it's wool, and even to slaughter the sheep for dinner. Ida is a responsible, thinking kid, who finds herself alone with a ewe and twin lambs just as the smugglers signal each other with a characteristic whistle from the cover of the woods. Ida runs the sheep on her own (usually this is done with many people and a whole herd of sheep, much faster and less effort). She gets them corraled safely and still completes her delivery of bread to a family with a new baby. Her reward is to get to hold the baby while the infant's mother fixes her a snack. This was also a big deal to my daughter, who takes the handling of little babies very seriously. The dramatic tension was the real draw, though. Hard to find in books about a girl, written for very young girls.I think a child as old as 8 still would enjoy this story if s/he was reading on his/her own. It is not an easy-reader, but some kids are ready for a challenge, and the age-appropriate material is a plus. I figure Ida for about 5 or 6 herself, but it is hard to read her age. An older kid could still identify with her, especially, as Ms. Odean says, a kid who longs to be older.Boys will also find this book fun. It can be read by anyone, but girl readers will be harder-pressed to find a story like this starring a girl like them.