Amber was Brave Essie was Smart

Essie is smart. She can read hard library books and make cocoa. Amber is brave. She isn't afraid of the rat in the wall or of climbing up in high places. Amber and Essie are sisters and best friends. Together, they can do anything.

A series of poems tells how two sisters help each other deal with life while their mother is working and their father has been sent to jail.

Vera B. Williams began her career in children’s books by illustrating Hooray for Me!, written by Remy Charlip with Lilian Moore. Her beloved A Chair for My Mother won multiple awards, including a Caldecott Honor, and “More, More, More,” Said the Baby also received a Caldecott Honor. Vera B. Williams was the recipient of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award; she was awarded the 2009 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature; and she was the US nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2004. Vera B. Williams died on October 16, 2015, shortly before this book was completed.

• Jane Addams Book Award Honor Book
• Publishers Weekly Best Book
• School Library Journal Best Book
• New York Public Library's “One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing”
• Horn Book Fanfare
• ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice
• Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Honor Book
• Riverbank Review Children’s Books of Distinction Award