Adjoa J. Burrowes

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Book Description

Grandma's house has always been the narrator's favorite place. On her way to visit Grandma, she plucks daisies and sunflowers, and best of all, purple flowers--Grandma's favorites. Whenever Grandma sees the purple flowers, her smile grows wide--like the Mississippi River.

One winter day Grandma is too tired to bake, but she rubs her grandchild's back gently and ties a ribbon that unraveled in her hair. Later that night, Grandma passes away, and all winter long, the young girl is sad, missing her grandmother terribly. When spring finally arrives, and flowers begin to shoot up from the ground, the girl discovers her own special way to accept her grandmother's death and keep Grandma with her always.

In this moving story, author/illustrator, Adjoa J. Burrowes deals sensitively with the difficult experience of death, and tells a moving story that celebrates the triumph of hope and spirit during a difficult time.

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Awards and Honors

Kids' Pick of the List: American Booksellers Association

Children's Book of the Year: Bank Street College

2001-2002 Master List: Florida Reading Association

Paterson Prize for Books for Young People

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Interview

Read Adjoa's BookTalk interview!

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Editorial Reviews

BOOKLIST

The young African American narrator adores being with her grandmother, who always has a hug and smile waiting. In the summer, the girl picks purple flowers: Grandma loves purple. In the autumn, the girl rakes leaves. When she asks why they fall and die, Grandma tells her, "everything has its time." When the snow falls, it is Grandma's time, and the girl endures the winter, thinking about how much she misses her grandmother. Then spring comes, the flowers bloom, and the girl sees the first purple flower poking out from the ground. The girl wants to cry, but she feels happy, too. Many books for young children deal with death, but few have pictures that are so winning. Cut paper, watercolors, and acrylics are combined beautifully to depict each season--falling orange and yellow leaves, drifts of white snow...[T]he collages...burst with life as they capture the smallest nuances of emotion between grandmother and granddaughter. The first person text is simple, moving, and hopeful: "When I see purple flowers now, I think of Grandma."

KIRKUS REVIEWS

Bright graphics, which combine cut-paper collage technique with watercolor and acrylics, make some of the action veritably leap off the page...

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

Expressive and striking cut-paper collages...enhance the simple story about two loving African-American relatives.

NEWPORT THIS WEEK

This is a comforting story that celebrates the joy of unconditional love and life-giving memories that will help a child to put into perspective the experience of losing a treasured loved one. Adjoa Burrowes' distinctive illustrations affirm the influence a grandparent can have on the inner life of a child. They are rendered in a cut-paper collage technique that incorporates a beautiful, joyful pallette of watercolors and acrylics.