When Rosa's mother gets sick, Rosa is sent to live with relatives she barely knows: her Aunt Mookie and Cousin Birgit who live on a farm in the Black Forest. Even though she misses her mother terribly, Rosa soon begins to feel at home on the farm as she gets to know the people and animals around her, and she has her weekly letters from Mami to look forward to. Petra Mathers has based the story on her own childhood experiences, as she was often sent away while her mother struggled with tuberculosis. Her stylized gouache paintings skillfully express a combination of nostalgia, homesickness and a childlike excitement at first-time encounters. (Ages 4-8)

Illustrated in full color. When her mother becomes ill, young Rosa is sent off to stay at her Aunt Mookie's farm in the Black Forest of Germany. Although she misses her mother terribly, Rosa is quickly caught up in all the activity of farm life--from picking blueberries with Mrs. Schmidt to visiting the cows with Cousin Birgit. In between, she sends kiss-filled letters to Mami via Otto the mailman. And one day soon, she knows they will be together again. The illustrations in Petra Mathers's lovingly drawn memoir have irresistible folkloric charm. Here's a book straight from the heart--certain to strike a chord in anyone who's ever been homesick or separated from a loved one.