Jewels

Lea Mae loves spending time with her grandparents and treasures their stories of the past, including the tale about Harriet Tubman leading her great-great grandfather to freedom, as if they were rare and precious gems.

Kindergarten-Grade 3?An affectionate intergenerational picture of an African-American girl's summer vacation with her great-grandparents. Lea Mae obviously looks forward to her time with her 'Ma dear and her Pop Henry. 'Ma dear is a storyteller and her tales are "jewels to treasure forever." She spins family stories of her ancestors' escape on the Underground Railroad, her grandfather's service as a Buffalo soldier in the Civil War and the West, and the birth of her own child when blacks were not admitted to local hospitals. Interspersed with these tales are depictions of the simple pleasures of attending church, going on walks, and dancing in the rain. 'Ma dear's short episodic stories proceed in a relaxed, nonlinear progression. Pop Henry offers his great-granddaughter advice: "The secret of life is not to be bitter." The watercolor illustrations underscore the intrinsic warmth of Lea Mae's relationship with her remarkably chipper, aged relatives. Her expressive face is alight with joy. The picture-book format renders the high points of African-American history as snapshots that impart neither sufficient context nor in-depth information about important events such as the Buffalo soldiers, the Jazz Age, or pre-Civil Rights-era discrimination. Therefore, the book might be most useful as a starting point for a closer study of African-American history and for collecting oral family history.?Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Greenwich, CT
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

African-American heritage and history is personally lauded in a summer of stories told to Lea Mae by her great-grandmother Lea Mae, or 'Ma dear, for whom she is named. From her rocking chair on the front porch, 'Ma dear spins generational tales stretching back to slavery, when her ancestor was helped along the Underground Railroad by Harriet Tubman. Additional anecdotes hopscotch in time, to include the birth of Lea Mae's grandmother in a room without electricity, the adventures of her great-great-great-grandfather in the Civil War, and her own 'Ma dear's early days in New York City, surrounded by such musical luminaries as Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Pop Henry approaches a tone of preaching when he imparts the secret of life to Lea Mae, which is not to be bitter in the face of racism. This rosy memory piece paints a fond picture of intergenerational affection, cozily augmented with dappled watercolors; it's a sustaining, family-centered milieu, lovingly reflected in the misty-eyed, dreamy expressions on Lea Mae's and her relatives' faces. (Picture book. 5-8) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 5^-8. The "jewels" of the title are family stories of African American history that Lea Mae hears on her annual summer vacation at the home of her great-grandparents, 'Ma dear and Pop Henry. 'Ma dear's stories are of sorrow and hope: of her great-grandfather's escape from slavery on the Underground Railroad; of her newborn baby who died because the hospital didn't take colored people then; of the next baby who lived, born at home with the help of a midwife; of the Buffalo soldier who fought in the Civil War and then moved out west; and of the joyful night 'Ma dear met Count Basie and the Duke. "The secret of life is not to be bitter," Pop Henry tells Lea Mae as he remembers hard times. The strongly upbeat message is spelled out in the stories and in the bright, joyful paintings of smiling intergenerational connections and community. Like Betsy Hearne's Seven Brave Women (1997) and the books in the READ-alikes column on Immigrant Kids in the February 1 issue of Booklist, this picture book will encourage kids to treasure their own family stories. Hazel Rochman