The Honest-To-Goodness Truth

From Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Patricia C. McKissack comes a humorous and poignant picture book about the right time to tell the truth.

"Tell the truth and shame the devil," Libby's mama has told her. So whatever is Libby doing wrong?

Ever since she started telling only the truth, the whole world seems to be mad at her. First, it's her best friend, Ruthie Mae, who gets upset when Libby tells all their friends that Ruthie Mae has a hole in her sock. Then Willie gives her an ugly look when she tells the teacher he hasn't done his homework.

It seems that telling the truth isn't always so simple. Can Libby figure out what it really means to be truthful and make amends?

Author: Patricia C. McKissack
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published: 02/01/2000
Pages: 40
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.02lbs
Size: 11.31h x 9.33w x 0.52d
ISBN: 9780689826689
Audience: Ages 4-8

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 3.8
Point Value: 0.5
Interest Level: Lower Grade
Quiz #/Name: 35034 / Honest-To-Goodness Truth


Award: Golden Sower Award - Nominee


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Review - Children 12/01/1999 pg. 1887
Booklist 12/15/1999 pg. 774
Publishers Weekly 01/10/2000 pg. 67
School Library Journal 01/01/2000 pg. 108
Black Issues Book Review 05/01/2000 pg. 76
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2000 pg. 275 - Recommended, Satisfactory
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2000 pg. 275 - Recommended, Satisfactory

About the Author
Patricia C. McKissack is the author of many highly acclaimed books for children, including Goin' Someplace Special, a Coretta Scott King Award winner; The Honest-to-Goodness Truth; Let My People Go, written with her husband, Fredrick, and recipient of the NAACP Image Award; The Dark-Thirty, a Newbery Honor Book and Coretta Scott King Award winner; and Mirandy and Brother Wind, recipient of the Caldecott Medal and a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri.

Giselle Potter has illustrated many books, including Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne, an ALA-ALSC notable book; The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter, a Parents' Choice Gold Award winner; and Cecil the Pet Glacier by Matthea Harvey. She is the author and illustrator of Tell Me What to Dream About and This Is My Dollhouse--both inspired by her daughters--and The Year I Didn't Go to School, about traveling through Italy with her parents' puppet troupe when she was eight. Giselle also illustrates "Ties," a weekly column in the Well section of The New York Times. She lives in Rosendale, New York, with her husband and two daughters. Visit her online at GisellePotter.com.