For My Family, Love, Allie - Hardcover

Senisi, Ellen B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807525391 ISBN 13: 9780807525395

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co, 1998

Synopsis

Full-color photographs dress the story of little Allie's first venture into cooking, as she tries to make a dessert all by herself for a big reunion of her interracial family and becomes the hit of the occasion.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 2-This well-intentioned book is only partly successful. Allie, who has a white mother and black father, wants to do something special for the family gathering that will be held at her house the next day. After helping her mother and grandmother prepare the food, she proudly makes peanut-butter treats all by herself. By the end of the main course, everyone is full, and the child worries that no one will want to eat her dessert. However, her grandmother saves the day with the stern announcement that everyone had better have room to try the cookies. In a succession of full-color photographs, readers see a variety of family members arrive and partake of the festivities together. The photographs are far more compelling than the text. Very few of them look posed and they convey the powerful image of a comfortable interracial mix. Unfortunately, the text is bland and mildly saccharine. Susan Straight's Bear E. Bear (Hyperion, 1995) and Tony Bradman and Eileen Brown's Wait and See (Oxford, 1988; o.p.) offer more in the way of a story, while Arnold Adoff's Black Is Brown Is Tan (Harper, 1973) makes the point through its poetic language.
Linda Greengrass, Bank Street College Library, New York City
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Ages 4^-7. Young Allie narrates this photo-essay detailing the preparations involved in giving an extended family barbecue. Allie's grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins are all arriving from out of town, and she knows that each family will bring a contribution to the meal. Although she helps Grandma Edwards make fried plantains and chicken soup, Allie wants to make something all by herself, too. With Mom's aid, she chooses a dessert she can prepare unassisted. Senisi's clear color photographs extend the text and are especially effective in conveying Allie's ever-changing emotions. Allie's family is biracial, but that's not really the emphasis here; rather, Senisi concentrates on portraying a loving family that values everyone's contributions and feelings. Appended with a recipe for Allie's peanut butter treats, this will be welcomed by preschool and early primary classes studying family life. Kay Weisman

About this edition

• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0807525391
• ISBN 13: 9780807525395
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32