Ellen did not think, when it started, that it would be a wonderful year at all. Her father was ill and they had to leave their Kansas home for a fruit-farming ranch farm away in Colorado. But Ellen's mother looked forward to the change, and though she knew they'd have to live in a tent until their house was built, she insisted on taking the old velvet carpet, the walnut bed and the carved piano. The horse Billy and the dog Bobby and the canaries and the goldfish went along, too.

But almost before Ellen had a chance to be homesick, all sorts of wonderful, strange, and exciting things began to happen. The apple trees had to be planted, the cantaloupes packed, and the new house put in order. There were the snakes, the flood, the fire; and picnics, and excursions with Ronnie, and the new hat Ronnie had picked out for her. Knowing Ronnie, the English boy who lived on the next ranch, was a wonderful thing for Ellen, almost as wonderful as the miraculous business of growing up, changing from a little girl into a young lady.

Kate Seredy's pictures capture the spirit and happiness of the story so faithfully that they become an essential part of the book, complementing the text as only perfect illustrations do.

From the dust jacket