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Another Quest for Celeste

A Story About Abe Lincoln, Honesty, and the Power of Friendship

#2 in series

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Celebrated author and illustrator Henry Cole uses stunningly detailed black-and-white artwork to illuminate a tale of friendship between an adventurous mouse and a boy who would become one of America’s greatest presidents.

In this sequel to A Nest for Celeste, Celeste is hundreds of miles from home following an unexpected journey aboard a Mississippi steamboat. After mishaps and disasters, she finds herself on the frontier in southern Indiana. It's 1822, and Celeste meets a tall, lanky boy wielding an ax: a young Abraham Lincoln.

The journey reveals the harsh realities of frontier life for the Lincoln family. But with the help of Celeste’s new woodland animal friends and some creativity, she may just prove that even the littlest creatures can make a big difference. And it’s in losing her way that Celeste finds herself in a place she never expected—home, finally.

“A stand-alone sequel to A Nest for Celeste (2010), this chapter book has everything that made its predecessor so enjoyable: an inviting format, good storytelling, and at least one large, beautifully drawn shaded pencil illustration on each double-page spread. An inviting entry into historical fiction.” –Booklist

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  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      December 1, 2017
      A timid mouse goes on an inadvertent journey.Cornered by a house cat, Celeste (A Nest for Celeste, 2010) spends the night nestled in a wagon laden with cotton. In the morning, the wagon departs with Celeste aboard, and her home disappears behind her. Her voyage is episodic, featuring new friends, myriad hiding places (a sewing box; a barrel of cornmeal), and dangers (a steamboat that sinks, fur trappers, a season that gets cold). The shy little rodent travels up the Mississippi River from "a long way south," landing someplace with "brilliant fall colors and icicles and snowdrifts." Other animals protect her, and then she's adopted by a white boy named Abe (Lincoln, the author's note confirms), who's portrayed almost romantically as particularly kind, thoughtful, and hungry for education. Descriptions of nature are lush; Cole's black-and-white pencil drawings touch almost every spread, soft and gentle, evocative, sometimes covering entire pages. Unfortunately, the piece ignores an underlying ugliness: in the early 1800s in Mississippi, Celeste's cozy, "safe" original home--a plantation--almost certainly would have been a site of slavery, and the story's only obviously black human--a friendly cook on the steamboat--might have been enslaved.Earnest animal fantasy with exceptionally designed illustrations but uncomfortably set in a time and place undeserving of a rosy glow. (author's note) (Animal fantasy. 6-10)

      COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • The Horn Book

      July 1, 2018
      In the sequel to A Nest for Celeste, the eponymous mouse falls asleep in a wagon near her New Orleans home and ends up on another adventure. Celeste rides a steamboat, climbs trees with squirrels, swims with beavers, and helps a young Abe Lincoln. The accessible animal fantasy's comforting theme--that home is wherever you find happiness--is complemented by Cole's cozy pencil illustrations.

      (Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:4.9
  • Lexile® Measure:720
  • Interest Level:4-8(MG)
  • Text Difficulty:3

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