From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4?Based on an incident in the childhood of the author's Greek-American mother, this appealing story has elements that will be familiar to many youngsters. Electra is sent on the grown-up errand of buying six charlotte russes, little confections topped with whipped cream: five for the guests at her mother's tea party and one for herself. Careful carrying gets her almost home, but she trips over the neighbor's cat and jolts the desserts. She sculpts the whipped cream with her finger, then her tongue, to make them all look alike again, and soon the cakes are bare. When the guests arrive, Electra is unable to eat one of the desserts. The most endearing aspect of the story is the response of Electra's mother, who understands everything without a word. "'Remorse and too much whipped cream,' said Mama, 'always cause tummy aches.'" The soft, pastel-like paintings capture the Bronx in the 1920s and the facial expressions of the people Electra sees on her errand. The last page needs no text; it is a picture of the girl on her mother's lap, getting some loving reassurance after a hard day.?Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, ME
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
A funny tale to which most readers will relate, that gets off to a great start and then trails off, though realistically. Electra is sent to the bakery by her mother to collect six charlotte russes for company. Careful though Electra is, she trips, and three of the pastries are damaged. What follows are her attempts, by smoothing, licking, lapping, and shaping, to make all six look the same. One look at the now-naked pastry and Mama asks ``Electra, what happened to the whipped cream?'' ``I don't think they're making them with cream anymore'' is the less- than-artful dodge. Mama holds her tongue and Electra holds her belly, where an ache is starting to grow. After tea, Electra's mother guesses at her child's distress and delivers a kindly lesson about honest mistakes. Garland conjures a 1920s city setting in electronic art that is most notable for how indistinct it is from conventional illustration. A real problem is the pacing of the words and art: Some pages are heavy with text, others have only a line or two, and the text of the last scene is separated from its illustration by a full-page close-up of a parrot. (Picture book. 7-9) --
Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
