You all know how much I love to welcome new books to the world. And it’s always an especially joyful celebration when it’s a story I got to see early on…and even had the pleasure of being part of the early path to publication. Back in 2019, a Boston writer reached out to me with a wonderful manuscript about a doll that sailed to America in 1773. Sitting in the window of a Boston shop and then owned by a young girl, this doll observed the activities that led up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. And the most amazing thing about this TRUE story is that the doll is still in existence – on display at the Old State House in Boston. As soon as I read the manuscript, I knew this was a story kids would love to hear and I encouraged Rick Wiggin to keep going. I’m happy to say that he did…and today we are singing a very rousing Happy Book Birthday to POLLY SUMNER: Witness to the Boston Tea Party, written by Richard C. Wiggin, illustrated by Keith Favazza, and launching from Lawley Publishing.