Petite Suzanne

"Ti-Su" Uncle Jacques calls her because it takes too long to say "Petite Suzanne" but whatever she is called, Suzanne is a lively little French Canadian girl whose story, told and pictured by Marguerite de Angeli, is a charming picture of community and family life on the picturesque Gaspé Coast.

Gaiety and friendliness and a jolly spirit of play—these are inherent characteristics of the French Canadian farmer and fisher folk in Suzanne's village, even while they are concerned with the ever-present problem of making a living. Everyone works—from Suzanne to Ol' Batees who can enliven any task with his songs and dances and stories. And one and all, Cipply, Paule, Tante Eugénie; Pepère, the aged grandfather; André, Suzanne's nearest brother, who helps her gather wood in the dog cart and sometimes even lets her go rabbit hunting with him—they share in the vigorous round of daily activities which are part of Suzanne's story.

Marguerite de Angeli, author-illustrator of Henner's Lydia, visited in just such a family as Suzanne's. She watched the farmers at work and the fishermen coming in with loaded boats, she helped the real Tante Eugénie can vegetables for the long winter months, and she shared in the intimate jolly evenings, when stories generations old were recounted for her, when the children and growups, too, danced and sang the same songs their French ancestors brought to the Gaspé Coast.