Before the story even beings in this book, you see a few pictures of our main character Elizabeth Brown reading in various situations. It gave me a feeling that she, like myself, was almost never found without a book. The story is told with a rhyme and a rhythm that seems to be typical of Sarah Stewart. And what isn't found in the text is shown beautifully in the illustrations by David Small. For example, when Elizabeth Brown goes off to school, we are told the amount of books she brings breaks the top bunk of her bed. We are also shown that the posters she chooses to display in her room are unlike those of what her peers would have. She displays pictures of Virginia Woolf and Tolstoy.
Elizabeth finds herself one day in a city she was unfamiliar with and decides to stay there. She buys a house and becomes a tutor. She lives her life with a book in hand at all times forgetting things like groceries and looking where she walks until one day she realizes that there is absolutely no room for her to have any more books. As the title suggests, she turns her home into a library to allow everyone else to enjoy everything she has ever loved.
I think this book would be fantastic in any aged elementary class. It demonstrates clearly how one can come to love reading and also, how important is is to share that love and enjoyment with other people. This book can be used to teach children about libraries and also about sharing books with their friends.
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