Read this aloud to complement apple units or family trips to the orchard.
Family history reveals itself as applesauce is lovingly made from hand-picked fruit.
Maria narrates the story of an annual family outing. Her white urban family packs their car with the large pot, symbol of this special day, in addition to their bushel baskets. First stop is the apple orchard, where everyone, including toddler Ezra, joins in the picking. Then it’s on to Grandma’s rural house. Grandma wears an old-fashioned apron over her jeans, and everyone else dons one, too. The preparations begin, using the big pot, while Mom reminisces about getting apples with Grandma at a farm stand “in their quiet Ohio town, and how they cooked them in this very pot when she was a little girl.” Grandma talks about “how she helped her mother pick apples from the old apple tree behind their house on the windy Iowa prairie, and how they too cooked them in this pot when she was a little girl.” Observant readers will notice the same aprons being worn for several generations as well. The action shifts back to today. “Crank! Squish! Crankity! Squish!” goes the food mill as Grandma helps Maria and younger sister Hannah prepare the apples once they are cooked. The exuberant, soft-edged paintings show a happy family working together, and the generational continuity lends an extra dimension to a simple story.
Read this aloud to complement apple units or family trips to the orchard. (recipe, additional facts) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8075-0392-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
This warm family story is a splendid showcase for the combined talents of Medina, a Pura Belpré award winner, and Dominguez,...
Abuela is coming to stay with Mia and her parents. But how will they communicate if Mia speaks little Spanish and Abuela, little English? Could it be that a parrot named Mango is the solution?
The measured, evocative text describes how Mia’s español is not good enough to tell Abuela the things a grandmother should know. And Abuela’s English is too poquito to tell Mia all the stories a granddaughter wants to hear. Mia sets out to teach her Abuela English. A red feather Abuela has brought with her to remind her of a wild parrot that roosted in her mango trees back home gives Mia an idea. She and her mother buy a parrot they name Mango. And as Abuela and Mia teach Mango, and each other, to speak both Spanish and English, their “mouths [fill] with things to say.” The accompanying illustrations are charmingly executed in ink, gouache, and marker, “with a sprinkling of digital magic.” They depict a cheery urban neighborhood and a comfortable, small apartment. Readers from multigenerational immigrant families will recognize the all-too-familiar language barrier. They will also cheer for the warm and loving relationship between Abuela and Mia, which is evident in both text and illustrations even as the characters struggle to understand each other. A Spanish-language edition, Mango, Abuela, y yo, gracefully translated by Teresa Mlawer, publishes simultaneously.
This warm family story is a splendid showcase for the combined talents of Medina, a Pura Belpré award winner, and Dominguez, an honoree. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6900-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An expertly crafted, soulful, and humorous work that tenderly explores identity, culture, and the bond between father and...
Thunder Boy Smith Jr. hates his name.
The Native American boy is named after his father, whose nickname is Big Thunder. Thunder Boy Jr. says his nickname, Little Thunder, makes him "sound like a burp or a fart." Little Thunder loves his dad, but he longs for a name that celebrates something special about him alone. He muses, “I love playing in the dirt, so maybe my name should be Mud in His Ears.…I love powwow dancing. I’m a grass dancer. So maybe my name should be Drums, Drums, and More Drums!” Little Thunder wonders how he can express these feelings to his towering father. However, he need not worry. Big Thunder knows that the time has come for his son to receive a new name, one as vibrant as his blossoming personality. Morales’ animated mixed-media illustrations, reminiscent of her Pura Belpré Award–winning work in Niño Wrestles the World (2013), masterfully use color and perspective to help readers see the world from Little Thunder’s point of view. His admiration of his dad is manifest in depictions of Big Thunder as a gentle giant of a man. The otherwise-muted palette bursts with color as Thunder Boy Jr. proudly enumerates the unique qualities and experiences that could inspire his new name.
An expertly crafted, soulful, and humorous work that tenderly explores identity, culture, and the bond between father and son. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-01372-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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