We started this book as a family while we were on Vashon Island this August, where Al & the kids would settle in at night and draw while I read. We've read one or two nights more since then, but the story of the family, raised almost entirely by the formidable Mary Sherwood on a modest income, and their remarkable accomplishments in the late 19th & early 20th centuries is highly inspiring. ( )

We started this book as a family while we were on Vashon Island this August, where Al & the kids would settle in at night and draw while I read. We've read one or two nights more since then, but the story of the family, raised almost entirely by the formidable Mary Sherwood on a modest income, and their remarkable accomplishments in the late 19th & early 20th centuries is highly inspiring. ( )