Woo hoo! It’s Perfect Picture Book Friday!

I have a book to share today that caught my interest right away!

A while back, I read a novel I really enjoyed called LIGHT TO THE HILLS by Bonnie Blaylock, which was set in the same time and place as today’s PPBF pick. LIGHT TO THE HILLS is about a young woman who was a Packhorse Librarian in Kentucky – the story of a brave and self-reliant woman that is also about horses and books/literacy. What’s not to love? 😊 So when I was offered a chance to review this book, I was eager to see how a children’s writer had turned the subject into a picture book.

It won’t be out until mid-August, but you can get a glimpse now and see if it’s a candidate for your to-read list!

I hope you enjoy it!

Title: Hope Rode

Written By: Lauren H. Kerstein

Illustrated By: Becca Stadtlander

Publisher: Union Square Kids, August 12, 2025

Suitable For Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: narrative nonfiction, US history, literacy

illustration copyright Becca Stadtlander 2025, Union Square Kids

Opening:
“From the ashes of the Great Depression
rose a NEW DEAL, and a dream.

A vision of a new world WHERE BOOKS TOUCHED LIVES
EVERYWHERE.

Where Packhorse librarians passed written words and recorded stories
from person to person. . . to remember forever.”

text copyright Lauren H. Kerstein 2025, illustration copyright Becca Stadtlander 2025, Union Square Kids

Brief Synopsis: The Packhorse Library Project of the 1930s and 1940s relied on resourceful, brave, resilient Kentucky women to carry books to homes throughout the wilderness, through harsh weather, over rough terrain filled with wild animals, in order to spread literacy and offer both children and adults access to books and the opportunity to read.

Links To Resources: the book contains a significant amount of informational back matter including a map (see above), an Author’s Note with 7 Q&As about the Project, a number of black and white photographs showing the Packhorse Library Project in action, and a bibliography that includes a list of interviews conducted.

text copyright Lauren H. Kerstein 2025, illustration copyright Becca Stadtlander 2025, Union Square Kids

Why I Like This Book: This book is about an interesting, lesser-known moment in American History when, in an effort to promote literacy and provide jobs for women during the Great Depression, Eleanor Roosevelt and Elizabeth Fullerton created the Packhorse Library Project. Through beautifully-written text and illustrations that enhance the story, young readers get a glimpse of what it was like to be a Packhorse librarian. These women were brave, determined, self-reliant, and resourceful, traveling 100 miles a week through the Kentucky wilderness in all kinds of weather with no one but a horse for company. Some of the people they approached were excited and happy to see them. Others wanted nothing to do with them or their books, thinking that time spent on reading was time not doing the critical work of the farms and mines. But they soldiered on, committed to spreading literacy. It’s an inspiring tale.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 😊

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific blog links (and any other info you feel like filling out 😊) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 😊