SALLY ARNOLD
by Cheryl Ryan & illustrated by Bill Farnsworth
Spending the summer with her grandfather, Jenny meets lots of neighbors in his hill country general store. One old eccentric, Sally Arnold, is particularly mysterious; Jenny suspects she's ``a witchy woman'' and follows her into the woods one day, only to discover that instead of searching for the ingredients for secret potions, Sally is gathering reeds. Resourceful as well as a herbalist, Sally teaches Jenny how to weave a gathering basket, and soon the two of them are roaming the woodlands together seeking out ``mushrooms, ginseng, and wild asparagus.'' The story, though slow moving and predictable, imparts some sense of the region. It's Farnsworth's oil paintings that really shine. Atmospheric and capturing the interplay of light and shadow, these fully convey mountain life and reveal Sally's robust personality early on. (Picture book. 5-9)