Laughs and love abound in this humorous story revolving around a family gathering. For her birthday, Big Mama's daughters want to surprise her by making her favorite dish--oxtail stew. But try as they might, they just can't seem to get the stew just right. It takes Big Mama and her granddaughter adding the secret ingredient to make the stew a success. Full color .
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Authentic and lively dialogue, framed by a perceptive girl's flowing first-person narrative, move English's (Big Wind Coming) savory story along at a snappy pace. Victoria runs errands for her mother and aunts as they prepare a batch of Big Mama's (their mother's) famous oxtail stew for her birthday, but can't agree on the missing essential spice. "You both can't taste. You must be gettin' old," snaps the youngest aunt when her sisters tell her that the cumin she has added to the pot hasn't done the trick. Victoria, of course, knows the secret. Rich's (Annie's Gifts) boldly hued, textured oil paintings add an extra dash of humor to these spirited goings-on, effectively capturing the sisters' frustration and impatience in their facial expressions and gestures. The determinate scope and setting of the plot elicits somewhat repetitive scenes in the artwork, and an uneven distribution of text makes for several word-laden pages. But these minor flaws will hardly prevent youngsters from relishing this tale, which certainly has the requisite ingredients for a satisfying read. Ages 5-9.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3?Just Right Stew is just right for a bedtime story?it will put anyone to sleep. It's Big Mama's birthday and her family decides to surprise her by making her favorite dish, oxtail stew. Unfortunately, no one knows all of the ingredients. The family members bicker about the recipe, each one adding a different spice. Finally, Big Mama arrives. Alone with her granddaughter in the kitchen, Big Mama whips out the secret ingredient, sugar. At dinner she proclaims, "My, my, that's the best oxtail stew I've ever tasted. I do believe this stew is better than my very own." The story is told by young Victoria, who is unable to get any of her aunts' attention to tell them exactly what's missing, for she has watched her grandmother make the stew. Rich's colorful, oil illustrations enhance the text. However, the story misses the mark for several reasons. The family is unflatteringly portrayed as petty and argumentative. The very slight plot gets bogged down in verbose dialogue, and the predictable characterizations leave readers hungry for a little more seasoning.?Malka Keck, The Temple Tifereth Israel, Beachwood, OH
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just right story,
By First grade teacher (NC USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Just Right Stew (Paperback)
This was a lovely story that had my first grade class listing ingredients to make our own stew! A great story to read along with Stone Soup.
5.0 out of 5 stars
just right stew,
By A Customer
This review is from: Just Right Stew (Hardcover)
As a teacher in an urban school, I loved this book! It was a great book for teaching sequence of events. It was also fun to have the children smell the spices/seasonings as they were mentioned in the book, and provided for a very multisensory lesson. The children loved making predictions about if they thought each spice would make the ox-tail stew just right. Illustrations were wonderful. This book is now one of my treasures!
0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
didn't have a very good plot,
By A Customer
This review is from: Just Right Stew (Hardcover)
this book was a ok book but it didn't have much of a riding action or a falling action. i wouldn't really recommend it
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