A PEN PAL FOR MAX

Young Max and his family live and work on Don Manuel’s Chilean fruit farm. The idea that the grapes his father picks are bound for faraway places fascinates Max, and he secretly stashes a wistful note, “let’s be friends” into an outgoing crate. Some time later, an envelope arrives from ten-year-old Maggie in the U.S., and she and Max become pen pals. After an earthquake threatens his home and damages his school, Max and his classmates receive a note of concern and boxes of school supplies and clothing from Maggie’s class. This is not a look at farm work and living conditions, but at the heartwarming result of a small boy’s effort to befriend the wider world. Especially in these post-Katrina days when children may be trying to make sense of tragedy, worrying about the fate of children just like them and wondering how they might help, this gentle story, accompanied by the late Ted Rand’s familiar, comforting watercolors, may be just the thing. (Picture book. 5-9)