For the first time, four-year-old Julian is old enough to take part in the grape harvest on his family's vineyard. Through Julian's wonder, The Grapes Grow Sweet offers a captivating glimpse of growing up on a family vineyard in wine country. Readers follow the development of the grape from bloom to harvest, and see up close the animal and plant life of the vineyard.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A viticulturist,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Grapes Grow Sweet: A Child's First Family Grape Harvest (Hardcover)
I bought this book not knowing anything about it for my nephew who lives in a large city so he could have a book about what I do out in the country. I was VERY pleasantly surprised by just how nice a book it is. The story is great and the pictures are wonderful. It now tops my list for baby/childrens presents.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gorgeous book about growing up on a family vineyard,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Grapes Grow Sweet: A Child's First Family Grape Harvest (Hardcover)
This is a wonderful book. I love the clear writing and the rich, gorgeous illustrations of a child growing up in a Napa Valley vineyard that has been in the family for four generations. It depicts a safe world, a family grounded in the earth, attuned to the cycles of the growing season. This may be one of the only children's books to include positive images of Mexican farm workers and to gracefully weave their Spanish-sprinkled English into the text. It also is non-sexist. For example, Julian's mother is shown driving the tractor, and his father tucks him into bed after the harvest is done. This would make a great gift. In fact, I bought a copy of The Grapes Grow Sweet for each of the five children in my extended family, from the newborns to the preschoolers, who like looking for the crickets, rabbits, lizards and even a fox hidden in the vineyard. Their parents appreciate the book as well. It teaches values of family unity, hard work, living in harmony with the seasons, and respect for diversity, both in the human world and in the animal/insect kingdom. The water colors are so vibrant and have such sharp edges that I thought at first they must have been done in some other medium. Tuft is a gifted and accomplished artist as well as storyteller. Just as the grapes overflow the gondolas, her illustrations overflow the pages as if there were such an abundance of images that she had enough to lavish several illustration on a page. There may be three, four, and even five overlapping images on some pages and; as some grapes hide behind others in a bunch, some of her images are only partially revealed, creating an extraordinay three-dimensional montage effect. One of the best things about this book is that it is not a made up story. It's based on the lives of actual children, pictured on the jacket with the author/illustrator. They are sitting on a tractor in a russet-colored autumn vineyard against a lush backdrop of the Napa Valley mountains. I recommend this book highly.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful illustrations and writing.,
This review is from: The Grapes Grow Sweet: A Child's First Family Grape Harvest (Hardcover)
"The Grapes Grow Sweet" is well-summarized in the other reviews, so I won't go into that. My four-year old and I really enjoyed this book he received as a present. The pictures are copy an Impressionist-era style (nice for adults) but have a lot going on in them, from the bees that constantly hover over the sweet grapes to the grape pickers rushing to fill the gondolas. I love the fact that the author doesn't talk down to her audience, she talks about gondolas instead of "big trucks" and grape cutting knives instead of "cutters." Every character has a different voice, and the aspects of family life, community pride, migrant farming, and the life of a four-year old are all highlighted without the author shoving it in your face. I highly recommend this book to children 4-8 and their parents.
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