The Honest-to-Goodness Truth
Written by: Patricia C. McKissack
Illustrated by: Giselle Potter
Recommended for children 4-8.
$10.99 Aladdin Paperbacks

As young Libby Louise learns, telling the truth can sometimes be tricky. When asked by her mother if she has fed the horse, Libby tells her mother that she has when really she hasn’t in order to get to her friend’s house to play. Libby’s mother suspects the truth may not have been told. Upon further questioning Libby reveals the truth and quickly realizes that this simple fib caused her great punishment. Libby is told that she must always tell the truth no matter what. As children do, Libby takes her mother literally and begins to tell truths that maybe aren’t appropriate at particular times and places. For instance, in front of a group of friends, Libby tells her best friend that she has a hole in her sock. This embarrasses Ruthie Mae and causes a rift in the friendship. She also tells the entire class that Thomas doesn’t have lunch money and has to get it from the teacher and that Daisy forgot her speech at the Christmas concert and cried in front of all of the parents. When asked by old Miz Tusselbury what she thought of her garden, Libby took a moment to remember what her mother said about telling the truth. Much to her neighbour’s surprise, Libby told her it looked like a jungle. 

Not knowing what she had done wrong, Libby explained to her mother exactly what had happened. It was a perfect chance for her Mom to explain that the truth has to be told at suitable times and sometimes it is best to keep the truth to yourself if it can be hurtful to others. Libby understands her mother and goes back to apologize to all of her victims while at the same time she learns a valuable lesson about the human race.

This is a fairly straightforward story that even preschoolers will understand. It is great for talking about other peoples’ feelings and how fragile we all are, if not handled with care.