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Singing with Momma Lou
Nine-year-old Tamika Jordan dreads visiting her grandmother at the nursing home. Momma Lou has Alzheimer's and always forgets who Tamika is. But when Tamika's father shows her Momma Lou's scrapbooks, the young girl gets the idea of jogging Momma Lou's memory. During each visit, she shows her grandmother memorabilia from the scrapbook: Momma Lou dressing Tamika like an angel for a Christmas pageant, marching in a civil rights demonstration, and singing "We Shall Overcome" with other jailed protesters. One day Momma Lou recognizes a newspaper clipping and leads everybody in a celebration of song.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 29, 2009
Singing with Momma Lou, by Linda Jacobs Altman, is the story of Tamika Louella Jordan. Tamika is nine years old…almost ten, and has a very hard time going to the nursing home to see her grandma, Mama Lou. Mama Lou has a disease called Alzheimers, and very often does not recognize her family members. It bothers Tamika that her grandmother does not always remember her, and does not want to go on her weekly visits until her father shares scrapbooks of her grandmother at a young age. Tamika decides that she wants to help her grandmother remember. Each visit she brings a picture or an item from her grandmother’s past and she tells her the story; and sometimes Mama Lou even remembers!
Linda Jacobs Altman has created a very touching story that will help young children to understand this unfortunate disease. This book can also help those children who have family members relate to the character. They will be able to identify with Tamika’s various emotions as she deals with her grandmother’s memory loss. While the story does not have the most happy of endings, I was happy to see that the author tried to help children see the gift Tamika got through her interactions with her grandmother.
Linda Jacobs Altman has created a very touching story that will help young children to understand this unfortunate disease. This book can also help those children who have family members relate to the character. They will be able to identify with Tamika’s various emotions as she deals with her grandmother’s memory loss. While the story does not have the most happy of endings, I was happy to see that the author tried to help children see the gift Tamika got through her interactions with her grandmother.
February 21, 2010
Grades 3-6
Every Sunday, Tamika and her parents visit Momma Lou who suffers from Alzheimer’s and doesn't always recognize them. Tamika dreads these visits, but as time passes and her parents lose hope as Momma Lou declines, Tamika finds old pictures and newspaper articles to try to help her recapture some of her lost memories. This picture book recognizes the brief and rare glimpses of recognition for those suffering with Alzheimer’s, and how once all memories vanish, it is up to those who are left to remember. The acrylic illustrations are bold and at once heartbreaking and beautiful, echoing the themes of the text. The story is not exactly hopeful, as it is a realistic portrayal of the tragedy of Alzheimer’s disease. The sing along at the end is contrived, but overall, it could be used to help a young person cope with the impact of the disease.
Every Sunday, Tamika and her parents visit Momma Lou who suffers from Alzheimer’s and doesn't always recognize them. Tamika dreads these visits, but as time passes and her parents lose hope as Momma Lou declines, Tamika finds old pictures and newspaper articles to try to help her recapture some of her lost memories. This picture book recognizes the brief and rare glimpses of recognition for those suffering with Alzheimer’s, and how once all memories vanish, it is up to those who are left to remember. The acrylic illustrations are bold and at once heartbreaking and beautiful, echoing the themes of the text. The story is not exactly hopeful, as it is a realistic portrayal of the tragedy of Alzheimer’s disease. The sing along at the end is contrived, but overall, it could be used to help a young person cope with the impact of the disease.
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December 1, 2019Text-to- World Connection
Singing with Momma Lou is an amazing children's book. Tamika is a wonderful little girl who does not understand the importance of seeing her aging grandmother who has Alzheimer's. Tamika does not like visiting the nursing home where Momma Lou lives, because her grandmother does not remember much. When she tries to engage her in a conversation, Momma Lou seems disinterested and begins to talk about the civil rights movement. When the family arrives home from the nursing home, Tamika's father shows her old photos of Momma Lou participating in civil rights protest and photos of her when she was a baby with Momma Lou. Tamika decides she wants to help Momma Lou remember important details of her life. Approximately 50 million people globally have Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunately there is no cure for this disease, but there has been some progress. I love the idea of addressing this global crisis through a children's book. Ms. Altman wants young people to understand this is a "tragic experience", however she learned a lesson that there is "power of the human spirit."
Singing with Momma Lou is an amazing children's book. Tamika is a wonderful little girl who does not understand the importance of seeing her aging grandmother who has Alzheimer's. Tamika does not like visiting the nursing home where Momma Lou lives, because her grandmother does not remember much. When she tries to engage her in a conversation, Momma Lou seems disinterested and begins to talk about the civil rights movement. When the family arrives home from the nursing home, Tamika's father shows her old photos of Momma Lou participating in civil rights protest and photos of her when she was a baby with Momma Lou. Tamika decides she wants to help Momma Lou remember important details of her life. Approximately 50 million people globally have Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunately there is no cure for this disease, but there has been some progress. I love the idea of addressing this global crisis through a children's book. Ms. Altman wants young people to understand this is a "tragic experience", however she learned a lesson that there is "power of the human spirit."
November 22, 2020
Book title: Singing with Momma Lou
Author: Linda Jacobs Altman
Illustrator: Larry Johnson
Reading Level: LG
Book Level: 3.8
Summary: Tamika is 9 years old; every Sunday, she travels with her parents to a nursing home where she visits with her grandmother Momma Lou, who has Alzheimer's. Tamika uses photographs and songs to help her grandmother remember pieces of her past.
Bookshelf mentor writing trait(s):
Voice - As a reader, you can tell that the author cares about the topic that she is writing about, which is about learning to approach a family member with Alzheimer's. The tone captures what a child at this age (9/10 years old) would feel in a situation like this. At first, Tamika is unsure of how to act and doesn't really want to visit the nursing home. She gets nervous around Momma Lou. The author, using voice, does an excellent job of writing through these feelings and putting us in the shoes of Tamika. Through this exercise, the author creates a strong connection with the reading audience.
Word choice - One of my favorite parts of this book is the choice of words that the author uses when describing Momma Lou. For example, one sentence that stands out is "Momma Lou smiled then. But just wish her mouth, not with her eyes. Her eyes were empty." Another stand-out line to me is, "What could reach through the darkness that had settled over her grandmother's mind?" I feel that both of these examples showcase the author's strong use of words to describe Alzheimer's. A 9-year-old may not know too much about the science behind Alzheimer's, but reading lines like these allows them to better understand what it is like to be riddled with this disease.
Other suggestions:
I would use Singing With Momma Lou for a lesson on reading comprehension. After reading, there are multiple exercises that students could participate in to measure their reading comprehension. You might start out with some questions to prompt the students with, such as:
1) What does Tamika's family do on Sunday afternoons?
2) What disease does Momma Lou have?
3) What memories are in Momma Lou's scrapbooks?
4) How does Tamika feel about visiting her grandmother in the nursing home?
5) How does Tamika change from the beginning of the book to the end? How does Momma Lou change?
Author: Linda Jacobs Altman
Illustrator: Larry Johnson
Reading Level: LG
Book Level: 3.8
Summary: Tamika is 9 years old; every Sunday, she travels with her parents to a nursing home where she visits with her grandmother Momma Lou, who has Alzheimer's. Tamika uses photographs and songs to help her grandmother remember pieces of her past.
Bookshelf mentor writing trait(s):
Voice - As a reader, you can tell that the author cares about the topic that she is writing about, which is about learning to approach a family member with Alzheimer's. The tone captures what a child at this age (9/10 years old) would feel in a situation like this. At first, Tamika is unsure of how to act and doesn't really want to visit the nursing home. She gets nervous around Momma Lou. The author, using voice, does an excellent job of writing through these feelings and putting us in the shoes of Tamika. Through this exercise, the author creates a strong connection with the reading audience.
Word choice - One of my favorite parts of this book is the choice of words that the author uses when describing Momma Lou. For example, one sentence that stands out is "Momma Lou smiled then. But just wish her mouth, not with her eyes. Her eyes were empty." Another stand-out line to me is, "What could reach through the darkness that had settled over her grandmother's mind?" I feel that both of these examples showcase the author's strong use of words to describe Alzheimer's. A 9-year-old may not know too much about the science behind Alzheimer's, but reading lines like these allows them to better understand what it is like to be riddled with this disease.
Other suggestions:
I would use Singing With Momma Lou for a lesson on reading comprehension. After reading, there are multiple exercises that students could participate in to measure their reading comprehension. You might start out with some questions to prompt the students with, such as:
1) What does Tamika's family do on Sunday afternoons?
2) What disease does Momma Lou have?
3) What memories are in Momma Lou's scrapbooks?
4) How does Tamika feel about visiting her grandmother in the nursing home?
5) How does Tamika change from the beginning of the book to the end? How does Momma Lou change?
December 27, 2019
A beautiful childrens book about Alzheimers.
December 29, 2020
Beautiful story that helps process the feelings of losing someone to Alzheimer's.
April 22, 2012
Linda Jacobs Altman creates a story about love and memories of a young family who has a grandmother with Alzheimers Disease. Every Sunday, Tamika and her family go to the nursing home to visit her grandmother who lives there. At first, young Tamika does not understand why they need to go and visit her every week. Especially since she does not even remember her half of the time. However, Tamikas' parents understand the importance of being their for their mother, so they continue to make Tamika go. After one visit to the nursing home, Tamika's father introduces her to the scrapbook that is all about her grandmothers past. It involved pictures of her singing, as well as participating in Civil Right's movements. This book gives Tamika an idea of how to bring her grandmothers memory back, at least temporarily.
This book follows many standards that are written in order to qualify it as a well-written book. The characters, setting, plot, and theme are all developed thoroughly and in a way that makes it easy for students to understand. The characters are developed through the actions they take, such as how Tamika and her family visit their grandmother every Sunday. They are also developed through their relations with others which could be seen through the interactions between Tamika and her family, as well as Tamika and her grandmother. Not only are all of those included, but the main character is also developed through their sense of themselves. Tamika struggles with her inner-self to understand and relate to her grandmother, as well as her own feelings towards the impatience she feels about her grandmothers disease. The setting is developed through the details given by the illustrations. This book could be classified as being informative, mainly because it has information about Alzheimers disease. However, it does not give factual information so it could not be considered a full informational story. The plot is developed through the conflicts that the characters have, and the situations in which they have them.
I thought this was a very creative, interesting book that covered numerous topics. By including it into the classroom library, children can learn about a tremendous amount of topics. Mainly, teachers could prepare lessons about Alzheimers disease, as well as the events that took place during the Civil Right Movements. I enjoyed this book and all of the information it presented. Many activities could be used to enhance the learning of the students. It can also help with fluency and comprehension of the students. It gives a detailed look into how children tend to understand certain diseases that they might experience in life.
This book follows many standards that are written in order to qualify it as a well-written book. The characters, setting, plot, and theme are all developed thoroughly and in a way that makes it easy for students to understand. The characters are developed through the actions they take, such as how Tamika and her family visit their grandmother every Sunday. They are also developed through their relations with others which could be seen through the interactions between Tamika and her family, as well as Tamika and her grandmother. Not only are all of those included, but the main character is also developed through their sense of themselves. Tamika struggles with her inner-self to understand and relate to her grandmother, as well as her own feelings towards the impatience she feels about her grandmothers disease. The setting is developed through the details given by the illustrations. This book could be classified as being informative, mainly because it has information about Alzheimers disease. However, it does not give factual information so it could not be considered a full informational story. The plot is developed through the conflicts that the characters have, and the situations in which they have them.
I thought this was a very creative, interesting book that covered numerous topics. By including it into the classroom library, children can learn about a tremendous amount of topics. Mainly, teachers could prepare lessons about Alzheimers disease, as well as the events that took place during the Civil Right Movements. I enjoyed this book and all of the information it presented. Many activities could be used to enhance the learning of the students. It can also help with fluency and comprehension of the students. It gives a detailed look into how children tend to understand certain diseases that they might experience in life.
October 28, 2009
Tamika Jordan's grandmother lives in a nursing home and she does not enjoy going to the nursing home to visit her. Her grandmother, Momma Lou has Alzheimer's and which causes her to forget who Tamika is. One day Tamika's father decides to get out Momma Lou's old scrapbooks and show them to Tamika. As she was looking through the scrapbooks, Tamika has the idea of trying to bring back Momma Lou's memories through the scrapbook. Tamika continues to visit her grandmother, each time showing her memories from the scrapbook including the time Momma Lou dressed Tamika up like an angel for a Christmas pageant, marching in a civil rights demonstration, and singing with other protesters. Momma Lou recognizes a newspaper clipping and decides to lead everybody in a song to celebrate. This is a wonderful story about family and the importance of memories.
October 27, 2009
Tamika loves her grandmother very much, but hates visiting her at the nursing home because lately Momma Lou doesn't remember her. Momma Lou has Alzheimer's disease, and it is getting worse everyday. With encouragment from her father, Tamika finds ways to help Momma Lou's memory. She shows her old photos, clippings and sings songs with her. Tamika realizes her grandmother will always love her no matter what happens to her memory and that it is up to Tamika now to remember the good times they had. Grades 2-5
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews