Dinner at Aunt Connie's House - Hardcover

Ringgold, Faith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1562824252 ISBN 13: 9781562824259

Publisher: Hyperion, 1993

Synopsis

Dinner at Aunt Connie's is even more special than usual when Melody meets not only her new adopted cousin but twelve inspiring African-American women, who step out of their portraits and join the family for dinner.

About this title

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 4-A highly imaginative and original picture book filled with stunning artwork. Unfortunately, the blending of fact and fantasy just does not work here. Melody meets her newly adopted cousin, Lonnie, at her Aunt Connie's house one summer. While playing, the youngsters discover 12 paintings in the attic, each of which depicts a famous African-American woman. What is unusual about the portraits is that they can speak. Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Mary McLeod Bethune, Zora Neale Hurston, and the others take turns telling their stories to the two astonished children. At this point, the story gets bogged down by too many pages of biographical information. Plot elements of a family dinner, Lonnie's adoption, and his unusual features could themselves serve as rich story lines for separate books. Beautifully illustrated in the artist's trademark folk style, the book has a profusion of bright and vibrant colors of bold reds, yellows, and blues and muted purples, mauves, and beiges. The human figures are large and blocklike, with rich brown skin color. In the final analysis, Ringgold has tried to do too much. Nonetheless, despite these failings, this offering provides information, has charm, and is visually powerful.
Carol Jones Collins, Montclair Kimberley Academy, NJ
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Melody loves the annual family excursion to Aunt Connie's house: everyone gets to go swimming, share a fabulous dinner and see an exhibition of Aunt Connie's most recent art. This year there are surprises as well: a newly adopted cousin her own age ("I fell in love with him the first time I saw him") and a series of paintings of famous African American women. From their frames on the wall, the pictured women tell of their devotion to civil rights (Rosa Parks and Fannie Lou Hamer), education (Mary McLeod Bethune), literature (Zora Neale Hurston) and other causes and professions. Ringgold's ( Tar Beach ) distinctive primitive style, with its thick strokes and resilient, varied colors, seems especially suited to portraying these women of exceptional substance and strength. The heart of the book--the pages in which the women tell their stories--is at once a magical and a ringing affirmation of their achievements. But the surrounding pages are less impressive. Neither the members of Melody's extended family nor the dinner itself ever seem real, much less "extra special," and the book concludes on an odd, gratuitously sentimental note as the two children discuss their future as a married couple years hence. Ages 5-9.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A history lesson introducing 12 notable African-American women (Rosa Parks, Mary McLeod Bethune, Zora Neale Hurston, et al.) in the guise of a story about a special family dinner: 12 portraits in the hostess's attic come magically to life and speak to the nine- year-old narrator. The result is not particularly effective as fiction, since the slender narrative is overwhelmed by messages about family traditions, self-esteem, and the strength of African- American women, but it's still interesting and useful. Ringgold's art (Tar Beach, 1991 Caldecott Honor) is outstanding, marked by intense color and strong, boldly outlined shapes. The beautiful painted ``story quilt,'' basis for the book, is reproduced at the end with an explanatory note about its transformation into this story. (Picture book. 6-9) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hyperion
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1562824252
• ISBN 13: 9781562824259
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32