Our Gracie Aunt - Hardcover

Jacqueline Woodson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786806206 ISBN 13: 9780786806201

Publisher: Jump At The Sun, 2002

Synopsis

Johsnon and his sister, Beebee, seem to be all alone in the world. Their mama has gone away many times before, but something tells them that this time she won't be coming back. Then a social worker comes and takes them to meet their Aunt Gracie. Beebee barely remembers her, and Mama never even told Johnson about her. They wonder where she's been all this time--and why she would want to take care of them. Warily, though, the children begin to trust Aunt Gracie. And in the process, they come to a better understanding of what it means to be a family.

About this title

About the Author:

Jacqueline Woodsonis the winner of the 2006 Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement. She is the author of many critically acclaimed books for children, and has received numerous awards, including a Newbery Honor Award for Show Way, a Coretta Scott King Award, and five Coretta Scott King Author Honors. Jacqueline Woodson lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.

Jon J Muth is the author and artist of the 2006 Caldecott Honor book, Zen Shorts. He has illustrated many books, including the New York Timesbest-seller, A Family of Poems, by Caroline Kennedy, and Come on Rain, by Karen Hesse. He is also the writer and illustrator of The Three Questions, which the New York Timescalled "quietly life changing." Jon J Muth lives with his family in Kingston, New York.

From Publishers Weekly:

Woodson's (Miracle's Boys) affecting story introduces a boy and girl seemingly abandoned by their mother. "Sometimes my mama went away for a day. Sometimes for a lot of days. That's how it was with our mama," says Johnson. A kind woman appears at the door, explaining that her job "is to make sure little kids get taken care of"; it sounds good to Johnson, but his more cynical older sister, Beebee, warns him the woman means foster care: "It's when you live with somebody that's not your mama." Eventually, the woman drives the siblings to their mother's sister, who is estranged from their mother. Aunt Gracie is as warm and welcoming as her clapboard house with its sprawling porch, flowerbeds and tire swing. Johnson is enchanted by the idyllic setting and by his aunt, who bakes cookies and tucks him in at bedtime, and even Beebee slowly warms up to her. After a visit to their apparently hospitalized mother, who assures them that Gracie will care for them until she is able to, the two return to Gracie's open arms. Muth's (Gershon's Monster) spare paintings, often set as vignettes against a white background, effectively convey the children's sense of isolation and, later, belonging. Muth evokes the characters' emotions and supplies information that Woodson wisely omits from Johnson's narration (the emptiness of the apartment, with the children's spilled glasses and broken toy; the hospital setting). Because of Woodson and Muth's restraint, the rosy qualities of this tale do not impair its emotional truth. Ages 5-9.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Jump At The Sun
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0786806206
• ISBN 13: 9780786806201
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Jon J Muth