BABY IN A BASKET

Adventure and high drama unfurl in this true story that carries all the seeds of tragedy, but ends happily. In the harsh Alaskan winter of 1917, a mother and her two young children, baby Ann and three-year old Betty, climbed into a horse-drawn sleigh, hoping to spend the winter in the kinder climate of Washington. During a violent snow storm, the horses tossed and scattered the passengers; Betty was pulled out from a swift current under ice, but baby Ann was swept away. Later in the day, two trappers found the baby in a basket floating down the icy river, and returned her, unharmed, to her mother. It's a story of miracle, hardship, survival, and hope that is strongly enhanced by the author's suspenseful telling and the illustrator's exquisite winter scenes. His art is full of detail, from the red-cheeked, cherry-nosed travelers, to the cold clouds puffing from the horse's nostrils, to the evident ferocity of the winter storm. (Picture book. 4-8)