Henry

The author of Carrie's War and Kept in the Dark, among other books, recounts a story based on real events. A red squirrel is adopted by Bawden's small brother Charlie and her mother during World War II while her father is away and the family is living in Wales. She and her other brother, James, are also fond of Henry the squirrel and are amused by his antics as an indoor pet. When Henry, who has always had the run of the house, begins to show signs that he needs greater freedom, they build a cage. But it is not long before Bawden innocently lets him go. A spirited tale of a beloved pet, this is also a chronicle of a less-familiar erathat of Londoners in exile during the war, adjusting to country life. The war means little more to them than a distant crackling series of reports on the radio and waiting for their father to return. And Bawden creates a stark portrait of her mother: a woman who doesn't always behave in a typically maternal manner, but who is very much her own person. Ages 8-up. (May)