On Rakhi Day in August, Arun explains the Indian holiday to his best friend Michael and tells him that it celebrates the bond of brothers and sisters. Arun wishes he had a sister, and in October, his parents tell him that they are going to adopt a baby girl named Asha from his father’s birthplace, India. Arun loves making paper airplanes and pretends that they are flying his sister home to him. As the months come and go, pictures arrive in the mail, but telephone calls let the family know that the paperwork is not yet through. Finally, during the summer, the letter the family has been waiting for arrives. Arun’s dad flies off to pick Asha up, carrying with him a colorful airplane Arun has made for his new sister. Father and daughter arrive home with a special gift for Arun—a rakhi, a special bracelet for him to wear on Rakhi Day. Appealing illustrations and warm, clear text make this story of a biracial family—Arun’s mother is white and his father is Indian—and international adoption a good choice for any collection. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2006
ISBN: 1-58430-259-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006
A handmade cradle forms the centerpiece of one family’s celebration of the birth of a new baby in this congenial debut from Bond. Skirts bounce, watch fobs bob, and pots and pans swing from the rafters as the members of a family find out the good news—a new baby is on the way. Each one takes part in the construction of a cradle: Father builds it, Grandfather paints it, Grandmother sews a quilt for it, Brother cuts out a mobile to hang overhead, and Mother sets it in near the window, beneath the pearly moonlight. A cumulative refrain marks the completion of each person’s loving task; one family member after another takes a turn climbing into the cradle and is gently rocked to sleep. Rounded, rosy-cheeked, chubby characters spill out of the cradle and skewed, elongated perspectives recall Audrey and Don Woods’ The Napping House (1984). The circle of family surrounding the baby provides more warmth than a fire in the hearth and is more soothing than the hum of a lullaby. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-316-10416-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
A honeyed reminiscence of a real time and place sustains appreciation for its characters, and the gentle humor that informs their daily lives. Little Cliff lives with his great-grandparents, Poppa Joe and Mama Pearl, in a house in the segregated Mississippi Delta of the 1950s. He eagerly awaits Sundays, when Poppa takes him to Greenville, which seems to Cliff “the biggest city in the whole wide world.” Poppa teaches him manners, telling him to stop and talk to the adults who live along their road, but later, when Cliff is sent on his first errand and admonished not to stop along the way by Mama Pearl, he must manage as best he can. He gathers ingredients on the way to buying sweet butter for the candied potatoes Mama Pearl is making. The result is the cooking of a culinary masterpiece, sweet potatoes in just-churned butter with vanilla from New Orleans and nutmeg right off the tree. Each member of the community is authentic and vital, as is the child’s reaction to various dilemmas, including being kissed by an elderly cousin. Lewis’s paintings are homage to a simpler time and a close community; his luxurious watercolors portray houses, landscapes, and a town’s main street lined with beautiful period automobiles. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8037-2174-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
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