Forced to leave their farm after Grandmother dies, Concepcion and her family move to the city, a forbidding and hostile place, until Concepcion comes up with a way to tend her grandmother's legacy, a collection of seeds.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
When her grandmother dies, all Concepcion possesses is a bag of beans, corn and chilies, and her grandmother's advice: "Save enough seed for the next planting... then you will always have something to eat." With nowhere else to turn, Concepcion joins a band of orphans who live next to the dump and steal food for survival. But Concepcion plants a garden and eventually teaches the barrio children to do the same. Without sensationalizing, this tale presents a gritty picture of Latin American children living in poverty, idealizing only their instant solidarity and not their surroundings. First-time illustrator Garay's intriguing combination of paint and cross-hatching is theatrical, posed and yet honest, akin in its tone and scope to the work of Diego Rivera. In both these masterly illustrations and in Hughes's (Hunter in the Dark) text, the children are dignified and even heroic in their self-reliance. A bittersweet, well-crafted story, it gently opens eyes to the very different lives children lead. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3?Concepcion, a young Hispanic girl, is forced by her grandmother's death to move to the barrio. There she meets a group of orphans who offer to teach her how to survive in the city by picking through garbage and stealing from merchants. Instead, she plants her corn, beans, and chilies in the hard ground to grow food the way she learned from her grandmother. One day the garden is trampled by the other children as they are being chased and beaten by the police. With the seeds that are left, they help Concepcion replant the garden, and plan to sell their surplus vegetables in the city. They have a feast and meet another gang of hungry orphans, and Concepcion gives them some of her food, seeds, and knowledge. Hughes's well-written narrative does not hide the ugliness of life in the barrio. However, the easy resolution of Concepcion's problems makes the story seem like a fairy tale. Nonetheless, it is a good vehicle for introducing a difficult subject, and Garay's expressive, textured illustrations, done in rich earth tones, give it depth and feeling.?Maria Redburn, Irving Public Library, TX
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Your kids will love this!,
This review is from: A Handful of Seeds (Hardcover)
This book has valuable lessons for a child to learn. The main character in the book loses her Grandmother and learns how to cope with the loss by helping others and sharing what little she has. It's a touching story and I especially recommend it to Latino parents and parents looking to add a little cultural adversity to their child's reading.
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