Sparrow Robinson is a nine year old Dennis the Menace or Ramona Quimby. She likes to dance and move and leap and play. She loves all of the cats that belong to Mrs. LaRose next door. Sparrow and her parents have just moved to a new house in a new town, and she has lots to say and lots of questions to ask. And she sometimes “gets carried away”, as her parents put it.

When Sparrow and Mrs. LaRose get carried way, dancing like butterflies, and Mrs. LaRose falls and breaks her hip, Sparrow is sure that it’s all her fault. The only thing she can do to try to make up for the fall is to take care of Mrs. LaRose’s cats, as she promised. But taking care of the cats, seven of them in all, leads to more complications, a few accidents, and even a big lie. How can Sparrow learn to control her actions and her tongue and make friends in this new place?

If you’re looking for stories for yourself or for your children about perfectly behaved little boys and and girls who would never tell a lie or an exaggeration, who always think before they act, and who never, ever argue with their parents, this book is not the right book for you. Sparrow is a normal nine year old, maybe a little over-active (no diagnoses, please!) And the other characters in the book are refreshingly ordinary, too. Sparrow’s parents are practitioners of “positive parenting”, but as with any parenting technique, the positive doesn’t always stay so positive. When Sparrow sincerely apologizes for one of the mishaps she gets into, her new friend Paloma doesn’t immediately forgive and forget, although she does come around eventually. Some neighbors invite Sparrow and her parents to go to church with them, and they go–to a normal, somewhat boring (for Sparrow) church service and a decent little Sunday School class. It’s good to read about regular kids and parents and neighbors doing regular stuff in an ordinary community.

There’s nothing profound here–just Sparrow being Sparrow, lots of cats, a bit of trouble over broken cups and an inadvertent lie, making new friends, and learning to deal with the ups and downs of life. Kids who are fans of Ramona and Clementine and Clarice Bean will enjoy Sparrow Robinson. And it’s short, clocking in at 178 pages, and new, published in 2024. I loved it.