PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Daniel Bernstrom, a visually impaired writer, loves stories that have rhythm and music; stories, as Uri Shulevitz once said, are the soundtrack to the child's silent film. This story of the eucalyptus tree came to Daniel late one night while working as a janitor at a preschool. The eucalyptus tree (a favorite of his mother's), which grows along the coast of Northern California, tickled his tongue and imagination. The animals in the tree populated the preschool where Daniel worked, waiting patiently atop the shelf at the back for the next day of play. The strange combination of a tickly word and an odd assortment of stuffed animals spawned this undulating syncopated story of impossibility, darkness, and hope. Shane W. Evans is the illustrator of more than thirty picture books for children, including The Way a Door Closes by Hope Anita Smith, a Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award winner, and the author and illustrator of Olu's Dream. He has exhibited his art in West Africa and Paris and in Chicago, New York, and other major U.S. cities. He lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where he runs Dream Studio, a community art space.
Bernstrom's colloquial text captures the warm relationship between Big Papa and his grandson. --Horn Book Magazine Love and reverence for history and family radiate from Bernstorm's words. --Kirkus Reviews This imaginative and inventive tale walks a child through African American history by way of his grandfather's past. An excellent choice for reading with grandparents or for a first-day-of-school storytime. --Booklist Big Papa takes his grandchild back in time to see what bravery looks like in this tender story by Bernstrom (Gator, Gator, Gator!) . . . Wide angles give the spreads visual power, while soft pastels convey the journey's otherworldly atmosphere and the stories' intimacy. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) A unique perspective in a beautifully executed book about starting school. A must-purchase. Bernstrom's latest book digs deep, with a story about a child facing fears by discovering a grandfather's difficult past . . . In the first-person narrative, written largely in dialogue that features African American Vernacular English, the child poses questions, and the knowing grandparent responds with sage, though not preachy, one-liners. Sometimes you gotta walk with giants if you ever gonna find out what you made of. Evans's signature style animate(s) the story in a joyous way that uplifts the text. --School Library Journal (starred review)
