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Author: Elvira Woodruff
Darcy Heart O’Hara was a noticer. Living with her family in the townland of Pobble O’Keefe, Ireland in 1845, Darcy noticed the things that her busy, hardworking family missed. She saw the dew-covered spider web across her bucket’s rim and she often stopped gathering eggs to watch the cloud castles pass. Though she lacked pockets, Darcy would secret away “small beauties” such as pebbles, flowers, and butterfly wings in the hem of her dress. As the potato crops failed and the others in her family saw only the devastating effects of the poverty and loss that followed, Darcy continued to collect the small beauties of her landscape. After the landlord burns the family’s cottage and they are forced to accept the Crown’s passage to America, it is Darcy’s collection, pulled from the hem of her dress that brings the family the solace of memory of Ireland. Inspired by a story about Henry Ford retrieving his family’s hearthstone from Ireland and installing in his home in America, Elvira Woodruff’s fictional immigration story is one to which many of us can relate. Rich illustrations by Adam Rex that evoke the time period of the Great Famine, help make Small Beauties an excellent introduction to issues of immigration, memory, and family for very young readers.
Year Released: 2006
Grades K-3