Rating: 
Summary: Nice children's book with a happy ending!
Review: Blue Willow is one of the books that I keep in my bookcase and read on a monthly basis because the basic truths it reveals bring you back to real life. It describes clearly the depth of a child's emotions and reminds adults that very few children live in a child's world nowadays. The world is a lot greyer with much less black and white to make decisions easier. I read this and "The Little Princess" often to keep my perspective. It also sets an excellent example of personal integrity. I wish there had been a follow up book with more of Janey's personality explored.
Rating:
Summary: Nice story with sharing and selflessness as theme
Review: From back of book- written in 1940 incidentally:
Janey Larkin can't remember when she's lived in the same place for more than a year. her family has to keep moving so that her father can find work. But Janey longs for a real home and the chance to make friends.When Mom gets sick and the Larkin's don't have rent money, Janey offers to pay rent with her beloved treasure- the beautiful blue willow plate that once belonged to her great-great- grandmother. Losing the plate seems like the end of the world to Janey, but it's really the beginning of something wonderful.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Read-Aloud for the 6-10 crowd
Review: I began reading this book aloud to my daughters, ages 6 and 7. I was very impressed with the quality of writing, and the plot held the attention of all three of us. The best read-alouds are the ones in which the children beg for "one more chapter" and the adult reader enthusiastically complies. This book met both criteria. The most impressive aspect of this book was its ability to be a very upbeat, positive story while not shrinking away from the sad details of poverty. The family was uncomfortable and sometimes sad in the midst of poor housing, a starvation diet, and ill health, while still enjoying the stability and joy of an intact family. It also has a wonderful (but slightly unbelievable) happy ending.
Rating:
Summary: Thought Provoking
Review: I enjoyed reading this book with my 8 year old daughter. It is a very touching story about a family who lives on the move and does not have many of the things that families take for granted...like a real home, friends, the reassuring familiarity of school and daily routines. It is a thought provoking look at a very different sort of life. I think it made my daughter appreciate some of the things she just assumed that everyone has. It's an advanced read. More of a book to read together as the words are somewhat difficult and the storyline sometimes needs some explanation. But the characters are wonderful and good triumphs over evil in the end. We love a happy ending! I'm sure we will read it often over the years.
Rating:
Summary: Excellant book-very accurate description of life in CA
Review: I grew up in the Central Valley in California, among the agricultural life described by Mrs. Gates in Blue Willow. Her descriptions of the heat, the landscape, the people, and the fair are so accurate I feel like I am living there again as a child. Her insights into the life of the itinerate farm worker are so touching and real. I highly recommend this book to anyone who want to see what life was like in the Central Valley.
Rating:
Summary: reminds me of home
Review: I was touched deeply of the courage of Janey Larkin. She knew that one day she would live out her dream of finding a new home just like her prized "blue willow plate". Janey's father moved from one place to another to look for work. Each season ending, he moved. This story depicts courage as a strong and mighty force through the eyes of one little migrant girl, Janey.
Rating:
Summary: I Love Happy Endings
Review: If you are yearning for a book with great adult role models, read this one. It is so refreshing to read about adults who are positive and who persevere during hard times. Written in a time when government handouts were not the norm, the adults take responsibility for just doing what they need to do in order to survive. Their hard work pays off and the reader is treated to a happy ending. You just want to cheer for this family.
Rating:
Summary: I Love Happy Endings
Review: If you are yearning for a book with great adult role models, read this one. It is so refreshing to read about adults who are positive and who persevere during hard times. Written in a time when government handouts were not the norm, the adults take responsibility for just doing what they need to do in order to survive. Their hard work pays off and the reader is treated to a happy ending. You just want to cheer for this family.
Rating:
Summary: A WILLOW FOR WISHING
Review: Janey Larkin has grown up the daughter of migrant workers, with no roots and skimpy education. Her family occupies an empty shack while Dad works in the cotton fields, but she yearns to attend a real school (as opposed to a "camp" school) and live in a permanent home, so she can make friends. Janey's prized possession (from her great grandmother) is a lovely plate with the blue and white Chinese pagoda willow pattern. Her unrealistic dream is to live in such a house by a lovely willow. Then her mother becomes ill and they can not pay the rent (extorted by the vicious, dishonest foreman who pockets the money). Janey contemplates making the biggest sacrifice of her life, to help her parents. This stark tale blends agrarian poverty with a young girl's dreams of self- improvement, happiness and family unity. Despite the despair of the plot--stacked against the squatters--there is hope, as human kindness and rural justice struggle to take root and bloom, like the willow by the creek. Yet how can Janey bear to part with her beloved plate? A thoughtful book that will touch the reader's heart.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Exciting But Useful
Review: Janey Larkin is the girl who has to move to anther place following her father to work. When her mother is sick, the family must live at this place. She lives at Anderson's house. Bounce is a person who collects the rent but he did not give it to Anderson. Janey has a willow plate that she likes it a lot. On the plat, there is a picture of a bridge, a willow, three people and the Chinese house. She wishes that she would have a house like on the plate. One day, her mother is so sick and they do not have money, so she gives the willow plate to Bounce as the rent. After that Mr. Anderson and The Larkin found that Bounce defrauded them. Finally, Janey has a happy life like she wanted, when the family settled in that place of Mr. Anderson and he father get a job that was Bounce. I do not think I like this story because the subject matter is normal, nothing exciting. But, at least, this story teaches the reader to see the value of money, relationship between friends and relation in family. Actually, this book is good for children to know about reality of life.
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