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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The poster boy for relentless mischief-makers everywhere, first encountered in No, David! (1998), gives his weary mother a rest by going to school. Naturally, he’s tardy, and that’s but the first in a long string of offenses—“Sit down, David! Keep your hands to yourself! PAY ATTENTION!”—that culminates in an afterschool stint. Children will, of course, recognize every line of the text and every one of David’s moves, and although he doesn’t exhibit the larger- than-life quality that made him a tall-tale anti-hero in his first appearance, his round-headed, gap-toothed enthusiasm is still endearing. For all his disruptive behavior, he shows not a trace of malice, and it’ll be easy for readers to want to encourage his further exploits. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-48087-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
There is something profoundly elemental going on in Smalls’s book: the capturing of a moment of unmediated joy. It’s not melodramatic, but just a Saturday in which an African-American father and son immerse themselves in each other’s company when the woman of the house is away. Putting first things first, they tidy up the house, with an unheralded sense of purpose motivating their actions: “Then we clean, clean, clean the windows,/wipe, wipe, wash them right./My dad shines in the windows’ light.” When their work is done, they head for the park for some batting practice, then to the movies where the boy gets to choose between films. After a snack, they work their way homeward, racing each other, doing a dance step or two, then “Dad takes my hand and slows down./I understand, and we slow down./It’s a long, long walk./We have a quiet talk and smile.” Smalls treats the material without pretense, leaving it guileless and thus accessible to readers. Hays’s artwork is wistful and idyllic, just as this day is for one small boy. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-316-79899-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
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