Grammy

I love the way Polacco's books celebrate her heritage, and this is no exception, and their setting in a world far simpler than our own. There is a care and gentleness about her writing that appeals to me. In this story, Babushka lives alone in a little house in the country. She feeds caribou in winter and nurses back to health an injured goose, who becomes her housemate for a time. As the goose returns to health, it lays an egg each day for Babushka's breakfast. Babushka is gifted at painting eggs in the Ukrainian style and carefully blows out each egg before painting the shells. Babushka sees and acknowledges the miracles in the natural world around her, but there is a magical miracle at the heart of this story that will surprise and delight.

Based on the true story of Henry Brown. Born a slave, tells one man’s story of his experience with slavery, with family separation, and of faith and courage. The story is told effectively in poetic form, in six-line stanzas, each with a bold heading that emphasizes the theme of that block of text. Although this is a picture book, the content makes it more for suitable for middle graders and above. It could be used effectively in the classroom for discussions of slavery, trade, nineteenth-century U.S. history, human rights, geography…It would be a shame if this book was overlooked by older readers because it is a picture book. The story comes to life through illustrations by Michele Wood with bold paintings in vivid colors. In both text and illustrations, the book resonates with authenticity of the black experience in America during the early to mid-1800s.

This fantastically buoyant book is sure to delight readers of all ages. I love the playful and whimsical illustrations and the way the text is integrated into some of the illustrations. The book is based on the true story of the evolution of Anthony Sang's wonderful puppets into the enormous balloons that are the trademark of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The problem-solving theme of the book appeals to me, as does the teamwork and reliance on others with expertise to help solve the problems.