The True Story of Four Sisters and the Magic They Built
March 1, 2023
A true story of how four California sisters turned childhood dreams into architectural reality. Inspired by fairy tales, Mildred, Harriett, Brenda, and Wilma Moody envisioned rustic cottages in which they pretended to sleep every night, and so years later, when Mildred needed an art studio, they got together to build one--followed by dozens more as community interest in their designs grew. The romanticism is laid on with a trowel in the first part of the narrative: Brenda "liked to count things she found" on the beach and, voila, grew up to be a banker; Harriett liked to build sand castles and so became an architect; and a line at the end about unexplained "things that happened" in the cottages evokes more confusion than magic. But the story itself, laid out in greater detail in a long afterword, is of both historical and current interest, as it features four women who grew to adulthood in the first quarter of the 20th century to have professional careers, to run several businesses, and to build distinctive houses that thriftily recycled materials and decorative elements salvaged from area mansions that were being demolished during the Great Depression. There's no need to embellish those achievements with flights of fancy. Potter offers both inside and outside glimpses of at least one cottage along with views of the gracefully posed White-presenting sisters at various ages and in period dress. (This book was reviewed digitally.) An overwrought but inspiring tale of dreamers who were also doers. (Informational picture book. 6-9)
COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
March 27, 2023
It’s 1902 in Santa Barbara, Calif., and the Moody sisters, four young siblings who love fairy tales, are sitting on the beach doing what they like best: Mildred draws, Harriett builds sandcastles, Brenda counts beach detritus, and Wilma pushes sand with a toy steam shovel. Though they can’t inhabit the stories they invent at bedtime, Wilma suggests, “We could imagine fairy tale houses and pretend we live in them.” When the four reach adulthood, they build artist Mildred a studio with a roof “like a mother hen’s wings,” and then collaborate to create life-size fairy tale cottages that eschew the time period’s cold modern aesthetic. Harriett, now an architect, designs, Mildred decorates, Brenda takes care of business, and Wilma handles bookkeeping and sales, a rare enterprise in an era when women’s professional options were particularly sparse. In vintage-inflected gouache spreads, Potter (Cher Ami) lavishes detail on the sisters’ clothing, on the California landscape with its palms and gardens, and, as they are built, on the cottages themselves. In a biographical portrait of lifelong collaboration that builds on childhood interests, Ray (Vrooom, Vrooom!) tells a heartfelt story about a group of women whose work unites the gifts of its members. An author’s note offers more context regarding the Moody sisters’ “pixie cottages.” Ages 4–8.
May 1, 2023
Preschool-Grade 2 Set in Santa Barbara in the early 1900s, this charming picture book is based on the true story of four sisters who grew up enjoying the magic of fairy tales. Vibrant double-page spreads depict the sisters engaging in activities at the beach (drawing, counting, building sandcastles) that hint at their later careers. As adults, the Moody sisters--Mildred, Harriet, Brenda, and Wilma--combine their professional skills as artist, architect, banker, and businessperson to construct pixie cottages inspired by the sense of wonder they experienced as children. The ink-and-watercolor illustrations echo the rosemaling Norwegian folk style favored by Mildred when she painted furniture. An author's note highlights how unusual it was for the sisters to enter professions that were dominated by men at the time. The author also describes personally meeting Mildred in 1989, when the only living sister was 93 years old. This wholesome story shows a strong bond between sisters and demonstrates how working as a team can turn imagination into reality.
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