Cherries and Cherry Pits [Paperback]

Vera B. Williams (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 29, 1991 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

When Bidemmi starts to draw, her imagination takes off. Enter her world, look at her pictures, and watch her stories grow and grow. You will never forget her.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The creator of A Chair for My Mother, Something Special for Me and other stories for children introduces us to another irresistible heroine. Bedemmi loves to draw pictures with colored markers and write stories that always start "with the word THIS." Exquisitely decorated and deceptively simple, the book alternates between the narrator's spare descriptions and evocative watercolors, and Bedemmi's own captivating tales and vivid, imaginative drawings. The book's title refers to Bedemmi's storiesall of which involve folks "eating cherries and spitting out the pits, eating cherries and spitting out the pits." What about all those pits? Bedemmi has an "important plan." She will plant them in her yard so they will grow "until there is a whole forest of cherry trees right on our block." Williams's latest work is another glowing tale of the transformational power of a child's creativity and love.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2 Bidemmi, a young black child, draws splendid pictures. "As she draws, she tells the story of what she is drawing," always starting with the word "this." Bidemmi's brightly colored words and pictures introduce children to the man with the nice face that's dark brown; to the tiny, white, grandmotherly lady; and to the tall boy who is much like Bidemmi's own brother. Finally, Bidemmi tells her story, revealing her wish for her neighborhood and her world. Each story involves cherriesbuying, sharing, and enjoying them. The man with the nice face shares them with his children, the tiny lady with her parrot, the tall boy with his little sister. Bidemmi will eat her cherries and then plant the pits, nourish them, watch them grow, and share the fruit with people from all over the neighborhood. Williams uses a first-person narrator to tie these tales together. Very different styles of illustration further define who is speaking. Soft, beautifully-crafted watercolors depict Bidemmi as the narrator speaks. As Bidemmi herself tells her stories, fresh, child-like, highly detailed illustrations done in lustrous colored markers are used. Well formated text and illustrations complement, enhance, and extend each other. All together, this is a fresh and imaginative book which exudes a respect for and understanding of children. Maria B. Salvadore, District of Columbia Public Library
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 40 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books (April 29, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688104789
• ISBN-13: 978-0688104788
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 9.1 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #280,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #69 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Arts & Music > Art > Fiction

More About the Author

Vera B. Williams lives in New York City.

In Her Own Words..."Throughout my childhood I was encouraged to make pictures, tell stories, act, and dance--all of this at a heaven in our New York City neighborhood called the Bronx House.

"Saturdays I painted with a crusading art director, Florence Cane. In her book The Growth of the Child Through Art, I appear under the name Linda. I was sixteen when the book appeared and embarrassed by it. But at age nine I had been totally proud when a painting of mine was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and I was later shown in the Movietone News explaining to Eleanor Roosevelt its Yiddish title, "Yentas."

"In 1945 I went to Black Mountain College in North Carolina, a unique educational community. I graduated in 1949 in graphic art, which I studied with Josef Albers. Along the way I planted corn, made butter, worked on the printing press, and helped to build the house in which I lived with Paul Williams, a fellow student I married there.

"I wanted that connection of art and community to continue. And it did at the Gate Hill Cooperative, a community we built with other Black Mountain people, a poet, musicians, and potters. I lived and worked there from 1953-1970 (after which I moved to Canada). My children (Sarah, Jenny, Merce) grew up there. For them, we branched out into a school, part of the Surnmerhill movement. The gingerbread houses that led to my first book for Greenwillow I first made in sticky variety at our school. I have always liked to teach and have taught art, cooking, writing, nature study, for nursery age on.

"At forty-six, no longer married, living in a houseboat on the bay at Vancouver, British Columbia, I did my first book. But before that could happen, the fates decreed a stint of cooking and running a bakery at a small school in the Ontario countryside. My love affair with Canada included also a 500-mile trip on the Yukon River. Many of those adventures I put in Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe.

"I also write and draw for adults-short stories, leaflets, and posters. As a lover of children, I try to do what I can to help save their earth from nuclear disaster. This pursuit, too, has added its excitement to my biography, including, in 1981, a month's stay in the federal penitentiary in Alderson, West Virginia (an outcome of a women's peaceful blockade of the Pentagon). Perhaps this experience will some day appear in one of my books. So far I've found children's books a wonderfully accommodating medium where any of my various activities might pop up."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is as sweet and juicy as a cherry itself..., May 17, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Cherries and Cherry Pits (Library Binding)

As a teenager not many of my friends like children's books, but I have and always will have a profound affection for them. "Cherries and Cherry Pits" continues to be a favorite of mine- your minds eye can relish on the fresh, colorful drawings whilst you read of the simple pleasures derived from a yummy little fruit. This book always leaves me with a little dance in my step, an artistic itch in my fingers and a mouth watering for cherries

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An all-time favorite, October 28, 2005

By 

M. Flagg (Silver Spring, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cherries and Cherry Pits (Paperback)

I have loved Cherries and Cherry Pits for as long as I can remember. I love how this story tells the story of three different chaacters lives and the lives of their friends and family. I remember it being read me when I was in kindergarten. I love everything about the book down to the hand drawn pictures that depict how many children draw at that age. I still have my original copy of the book and will keep it forever.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Memories, April 20, 2010

By 

Margaux - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cherries and Cherry Pits (Paperback)

This was one of my favorite books as a child. I originally purchased it at my elementary school's book fair. During the course of the years, moving, etc., it was lost. I began looking for it online and located it on Amazon. I absolutely love this book and am glad I was able to find it.