The Baby on the Way - Hardcover

English, Karen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374373612 ISBN 13: 9780374373610

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2005

Synopsis

By the Coretta Scott King Honor author
In an urban rooftop garden, a young African American boy named Jamal initiates an intriguing conversation with his grandmother when he asks her if she was ever a baby. Turns out Grandma was even once ?the baby on the way,? and she proceeds to tell the story of her birth, the tenth child in a poor farming family. As she discusses the events and traditions that accompanied her welcome to the world, from the fetching of the midwife to a folkways ritual of drinking water from a thimble, vivid, expressionistic paintings from a talented new illustrator evoke the past.

A gentle and satisfying book that will inspire young readers to gather other stories about being the baby on the way.

About this title

About the Author

Karen English is the author of many children?s books, including Speak to Me (And I Will Listen between the Lines), which was a School Library Journal Best Book of 2004. She lives in Richmond, California.

 

This is Sean Qualls?s first book.  He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3–A boy asks his grandmother if she was ever a baby. Grandma answers yes, and that once she was even the baby on the way. The woman goes on to narrate the story of the day she was born and beyond. One day, Big Sis runs to the field to tell her father that the baby is coming. From there she runs to get Aunt Nannie and her birthin' bag full of secret things. Quall's painterly, mixed-media illustrations capture the anxious looks of the children who know that something is up, but not what. The solitary silhouette of the father pacing back and forth on the porch conveys the sense of worry, waiting, and anticipation. English incorporates old African-American practices such as the takin' up ceremonies–somethin' probably passed down from slavery times, which culminates in the naming of the baby, and the smoking of mama's clothes to help her regain her strength. When Grandma finishes her story, Jamal asks if someday, somebody will ask him if he had ever been a baby. Grandma assures him that someone probably will, and that he will then be able to tell them his story. This is a gentle, sentimental book that addresses an age-old question and the curiosity that children have about their grandparents.–Mary N. Oluonye, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
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About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0374373612
• ISBN 13: 9780374373610
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Qualls Sean