Today is a special day for Sal because she gets to go to Buck's Harbour with her dad. But when she wakes up to brush her teeth with her baby sister, she discovers something shocking.... Her tooth is loose! And that's just the start of a huge day!

Sal wakes up one morning to discover she has a loose tooth, and so her busy day begins.

I recently read Blueberries for Sal, which was the precursor to One Morning in Maine, but I loved this book so much more. The author includes many details within each illustration for the reader to find, while the story takes us back to a simpler time in small town America. I'm planning to find a copy of this book for my grandchildren. ( )

I wasn't much impressed by Blueberries for Sal but at least it had bears. This sequel is a total snooze about a loose tooth, seabirds, and clamming. Ho-hum. ( )

So, there was a piece on Robert McCloskey on the news, with something about his most famous book, to Bostonians anyway, Make Way for Ducklings. My spouse and I started musing about his other books. Later I looked them up on Libby and found three I could download and read on my iPad.

This is the one I remember least of the three. Basically, Sal has to get ready to help her father dig clams and later on go to town on errands. Along the way she has adventures, one of which is her first loose tooth. She also meets and talks to lots of birds and other animals along the way and muses about whether they have teeth. It's a lovely book, enhanced by the fact that Sal somewhat resembles my adorable granddaughter, Ramona, although Sal is somewhat older. Ramona won't be losing any teeth for a few more years.
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Not the world's most exciting book, but a lovely, gentle slice-of-life story where nothing really important happens: the big event, revealed very early, is that Sal loses a tooth. The rest of the plot is just very honest, carefully observed, tenderly illustrated, normal everyday life. (Slightly more exciting than normal, as they're heading into the small town later in the day, which appears to be only a weekly occurence).

It's a nice book, and while reading it you will be charmed, and not miss wheedling pigeons or magic wardrobes or horcruxes. I suspect it's even more potent now, when the charms of the past are added to the charms of the rural life—the typical parent nowadays will have much to contrast and compare if reading aloud.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve! ( )