Saturdays and Teacakes

February 23, 2004
Laminack (The Sunsets of Miss Olivia Wiggins
) takes a sweet trip down memory lane in this ode to his grandmother, but forgets that his passengers need more than nostalgia to make the journey worthwhile. "When I was nine or ten years old I couldn't wait for Saturdays," the narrator begins. Set in Alabama in 1964, the slice-of-life story reveals the emotional connections forged by a boy's weekly bike trips to visit his grandmother "Mammaw." They share meals, time on the porch swing, yard work and making teacakes (the recipe for which is on the publisher's Web site). Tactile descriptions help engage readers (" was smooth and pale yellow and smelled like fresh cotton candy at the county fair") but the slow-paced, minimal action may lose them. For example, a moment-by-moment itinerary of the boy's bike trip seems extraneous. Soentpiet (My Brother Martin
) creates an appealingly wholesome, Mayberry-esque vision of the town, with flower-filled yards, smiling gas station attendants and Mammaw's gleaming red and white kitchen. A high-intensity light seems to shine on his wide-ranging palette of watercolors, giving a souped-up, faintly surreal glow to these scenes of loving intergenerational ties. Ages 4-8.

April 1, 2004
Gr 1-4-Every Saturday morning, the young narrator pedals his bike through town, passing familiar landmarks like the bank and the gas station, until he reaches his grandmother's house. The two share a special day talking, doing chores, and finally baking and feasting on Mammaw's special teacakes. Drawing on his childhood in Heflin, AL, the author splendidly re-creates these nostalgic scenes, carefully bringing the memories to life by describing the sunny kitchen, the crunch of gravel under bicycle wheels, and the sweet aroma of the cakes. The brilliant watercolor paintings glow with light and idyllically capture the world of yesterday. Older readers may enjoy sharing this book with their grandparents, and teachers might incorporate it into lessons about writing descriptive memoirs.-Linda L. Walkins, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Brighton, MA

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2004
PreS-Gr. 2. Illustrator Soentpiet notes that his model is Norman Rockwell, and this picture book, set in rural Alabama in 1964, certainly evokes Rockwell's idyllic visions of family togetherness. It's Saturday, and everyone is smiling as a young white boy rides his bike through his small town and over the hills to his grandmother's house, where she sits on the sunlit porch: "She was waiting for me. No one else. Just me." Detailed watercolor pictures show the loving bond across generations as the boy mows the lawn in her bright garden, Grandma bakes him delicious teacakes in the kitchen, and together they listen to the calls of the blue jays around them. Most young children won't respond to the nostalgia and period detail, but the pictures are gorgeous, and the bond between child and grandparent is timeless.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)