Mimi's First Mardi Gras [Hardcover]

Alice Couvillon (Author), Elizabeth Moore (Author), Marilyn Rougelot (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Colorful illustrations of the rich cultural celebration re-create the look and mood of Carnival.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Seen through Mimi's eyes, this pictorial tour of Mardi Gras in New Orleans provides a pleasing introduction to the holiday. Though the inclusion of abundant details may strike some as forced, readers can glean snippets of history and such traditions as the King Cake, a sizable confection with "a tiny baby doll" hidden inside. Preparations for the annual festivities include the all-important choices of costume; though her parents are dressing as clowns, "Mimi had her heart set on being a beautiful princess." The depiction of the parade--with its gaudy carnival atmosphere--vividly highlights the Fat Tuesday food, the trinkets thrown to the crowd and the arrival of Rex, King of Carnival. When the parade is over, an exhausted Mimi joins her cousins for gumbo and jambalaya. While Rougelot's watercolor illustrations are not particularly distinctive, they manage to evoke the many facets of this timehonored extravaganza. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Alice Couvillon and Elizabeth Moore are both Louisiana natives who reside in Covington and graduated from Newcomb College in New Orleans. Together they wrote the Pelican titles Mimiís First Mardi Gras, Mimi and Jean-Paulís Cajun Mardi Gras, and Louisiana Indian Tales.

Alice Couvillon and Elizabeth Moore are both Louisiana natives who reside in Covington and graduated from Newcomb College in New Orleans.

Illustrator Marilyn Carter Rougelot, who also provided the illustrations for Mimi's First Mardi Gras and Mimi and Jean-Paul's Cajun Mardi Gras as well as Portraits of Extraordinary Women, is a native New Orleanian. She began her art training in the city's Vieux Carr and is an accomplished painter specializing in portraiture.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Pelican Publishing (November 30, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 088289840X
• ISBN-13: 978-0882898407
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #87 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Explore the World > United States

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Doughnuts for Fat Tuesday, June 8, 2000

By 

Ilene Kayne - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mimi's First Mardi Gras (Hardcover)

Everyone knows about Mardi Gras in New Orleans, right?

If you don't, or if you want to know more then Mimi's First Mardi Gras is the book to read. Written for a young age level it imparts information for everyone.

In story form the book tells us about beignets ( doughnuts eaten for the holiday breakfast), the different groups that march in the parades, trinkets and doubloons thrown from the floats

Illustrated in the vibrant colors of Mardi Gras ( purple, green and gold)the pictures make the story come alive.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a good book for background information on Mardi Gras, July 15, 2008

By 

Judy K. Polhemus "Book Collector" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mimi's First Mardi Gras (Hardcover)

We live in Louisiana where we celebrate Mardi Gras at the beginning of Lent Season. Parents take their children to our local parades every year. "Mimi's First Mardi Gras" is certainly a nice beginner's book on the events of Mardi Gras, but nothing about religion is included. Since Mardi Gras is based on Lent, not to explain that, even in mention, is a serious omission. As for for reports in school, look further, although this book is certainly helpful. This is, however, Mimi's first Mardi Gras.

As we walk through the story, I will convey the information for your edification. The double title page shows the colors of Mardi Gras--green, gold, purple, throwing of beads with hands upraised, but, ha ha, so orderly. Anyone who has been to a MG parade knows people are standing there almost riotously awaiting a throw for freebie beads and other trinkets!

King Cakes are shown with Mimi discovering the baby figure and knowing the cake presages the parades. They eat the famous New Orleans beignets, a square of fried dough sprinkled with powered sugar and similar to a dough-nut taste. Quite yummy! The family puts on their costumes, as everyone, so it seems, wears costumes to the parades.

When the MG Indians come by, Mimi's dad explains their history: black men form tribes and work on seriously elaborate costumes all year long. The the jazz funeral parade comes by (no explanation). Zulu is next--an African American parade in existence for 75 years. The big treat the Zulu members throw is coconuts.

Mimi learns about cotton candy when her dad buys some. Next the Rex parade with its trappings of splendor arrives. "Throw me something, Mister" is the line that everyone shouts as they try to catch the multitude of trinkets. Mimi tries to catch a gold doubloon, her most wished for freebie and catches one.

I give this book four stars and deducted one for three things that really bothered me (perhaps I am silly for them):
1. In every illustration Mimi's face looks so adult
2. She has anorexic legs that are just pitiful.
3. At the parade Mimi's mother shows up in only one picture and I am not sure that is she. However, a black woman is beside the dad several times. We know that Mimi's mother is a honey-blonde because she is in the pages in the morning.
4. The lack of explanation, even rudimentary, about the religious connection is just too glaring.

None of these things are serious problems. The illustrations are really lovely. I do recommend this book, especially for parents with time to sit, read, and discuss the book.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Mardi Gras book for Kindergarteners, February 26, 2004

By 

Yvette (Coppell, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mimi's First Mardi Gras (Hardcover)

I grew up in New Orleans and this book perfectly describes what Mardi Gras was like in my family. The only difference was that after the parades when we went to my cousins' house, we ate homemade fried chicken! We now live in Dallas but try to celebrate Mardi Gras here with music, beads, and king cake parties. We went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans last year so our children understand it but our friends don't have a clue! I read this book to my daughter's kindergarten class and they loved it. It explained to a bunch of "Texans" what Mardi Gras is all about. I would have given it 5 stars but it's a little too long and the song at the end is weird.