From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5–A young girl leaves her urban home and joins her extended family for a week at the seashore. Through 15 poems, readers witness the relatives sharing meals, walking on the beach, watching clouds, and strolling to church on Sunday morning. There is an understated chronology of events, but, like lazy summer days, the poems quietly roll into one another. The rhythms and rhymes in many of the selections lend an easy tone to the text. Quattlebaum also experiments with different poetic forms, and it is in a haiku celebrating lightning bugs and a free verse describing Nana's preparations for church that her writing seems the most natural. Shine's dreamy watercolor and cut-paper collage illustrations perfectly depict the windswept setting and the members of this multicultural family. Gently washed hues portray sunny days on the beach and contemplative times spent beneath an ancient maple. A celebration of families and a seasonal ritual, this book could be used to create a summer display along with similar offerings such as Joyce Carol Thomas's Gingerbread Days (HarperCollins, 1995; o.p.) and Marilyn Singer's Family Reunion (S & S, 1994).–Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System, Madison, WI
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Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Gr. 2-3. A phone call from Nana sets up 10-year-old Jodie's summer vacation, a family reunion in June at Grandma's. What follows are 15 chapters of short poems and evocative pictures that chronicle the special moments: rocking in the nineteenth-century chair on the porch overlooking the ocean; coming into the kitchen where Jodie's extended family sits; a relaxed barbeque where adults talk and "stories flow." In the most touching spread, Jodie watches her cousin who has been separated from his father for a long time: "He's a voice on the phone now . . . a name on a postcard." Quattlebaum uses various poetic forms (free verse, haiku, etc.), and while the quality of the poetry is uneven, the poems are easy to read and many are heartwarming. Shine's watercolor paintings glide across two pages and have an impressionistic quality that speaks to memories that are being made. Children younger than the target audience may enjoy hearing this read aloud. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
