ANGEL COMING
by Heather Henson & illustrated by Susan Gaber
In the lilt and cadence of Appalachia, a little girl keeps watch for the angel on horseback her mother says is coming, bringing “a tiny babe.” She watches each day, while her parents wash baby clothes and take down the cherry wood cradle “made for me when I was new.” Aunts come to make a quilt, and Pap plays the banjo. One morning the girl climbs high to look above the fog, and then races home to discover a lady in blue with her horse as tall as Pap and Mama with her new brother. This lovely story reflects the historical reality of 1920s Eastern Kentucky, when trained nurse-midwives of the Frontier Nursing Service made monthly visits on horseback. Gaber’s pictures seem lit from within, both the glowing faces and green and blue landscape of the hills. A few historical photographs and an author’s note enrich the offering. (Picture book. 3-8)