Cooney, a two-time winner of the Caldecott Medal, spent three years researching this story. A principal source of information was the Roosevelt Library at Hyde Park, where many family letters, photographs, and memorabilia are stored. Her research pays off in a wealth of detail that evokes not only the opulence of a charmed Victorian upbringing, but also the heartache of Eleanor's lonely, ivory tower childhood.

Left motherless at the age of eight, and deprived of the company of the father who adored her, Eleanor grew up ill at ease with other children. Though she relied on her family, she found disappointment at home as well. During a walk with her rarely seen father and his dogs, he decided to stop in his club. Eleanor and the dogs waited for him. After six hours, the club's doorman walked Eleanor and the dogs home. Eleanor forgave him, because she knew, despite his faults, that she loved him and that she stood first in his heart.

Her departure from home for school in England started her transformation from ugly duckling to swan. Thanks to the help of her sympathetic headmistress, Eleanor began to discover in herself the qualities of intelligence, compassion, and strength that led to her becoming a remarkable woman. All her life she kept her father's letters and a photo of the wonderful headmistress who taught her self-confidence.

Eleanor also held onto the lessons learned in childhood about the importance of helping those less fortunate than herself.

She and her father served Thanksgiving dinners for poor newsboys. At Christmastime, Eleanor travelled with her aunts and uncles to some of the poorest neighborhoods in New York to trim trees and sing carols. These experiences helped make Eleanor an ardent champion of the poor and underprivileged. Her compassion would later be recognized worldwide.

At the end of Eleanor's life, Adlai Stevenson said of her, "She would rather light candles than curse the darkness."

An inspirational gift for any child, age 5 to 10, this gracefully written and beautifully illustrated book is available at local stores.(NAPSI)