This is a
great book about the celebration of a family birthday.
The first
thing that is really evident about this book is the sense of close family.
The setting
is of Grandma’s birthday. It is a happy time and is made obvious by the
pictures and also by the use of verbs by Bates such as “joyful shouts” and “hugs”.
Bates has
based some of the characters in the story on real people. Cora, who is the main
character, seemed to have a special relationship with her Grandma and obviously
spent time learning from her.
The second
thing is the ethnicity of the characters. The family is from a place called
Cape Verde which is a group of islands near the west coast of Africa. They talk
about particular types of food which are familiar to their people such as “munchupa”
and practices as in “mantenhas”-sending a message to someone far away, saying
that you want to keep them in your life.
The
narrative itself is structured in such a way that the climax is at the very
end. Cora suggests to her Grandma about going back to visit Cape Verde and
Grandma is reluctant as the boat trip was long and difficult. Then Cora
suggests an aeroplane trip as being a lot quicker. Grandma shakes her head. At
the end of the story, Grandma takes courage and asks again about the aeroplane
trip and the reader sees that Grandma will go. The excitement is left with the
reader.
The Illustrations
are amazing. They look real to life, and in the beach scene, the sky and ocean
take up the whole two pages. They add to the sense of joy and togetherness that
the book is portraying.
I think that
any younger child from ages 7-10 could enjoy this story and be able to relate
in some way. Concepts of culture, family and separation could be explored.
Alex
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