The Sugaring-Off Party

by Jonathan London, Gilles Pelletier (Illustrator)

A French-Canadian grandmother reminisces about her first sugaring-off party, complete with music, dancing, and lots of food. The primitive-style pictures are lush and colorful.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Cultural, Historical Fiction, Canada

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Jonathan London is the author of several celebrated children's books. His commitment to honoring the wonders of the natural world has been lauded by readers and critics alike. He is the author of more than 70 children's books, many of which are about nature. He's also the author of the popular Froggy series. He lives in Graton, California with his wife and two sons.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonathan London's The Sugaring-Off Party is not so much a story about the sugaring process itself, but rather a tale about the party after the sugaring has been completed and the maple syrup produced. Told as a tale within a tale, and liberally interspersed with French expressions, a French Canadian grand-mère (grandmother) tells her little grandson (who is about to attend his very first sugaring-off party) about the sugaring celebrations of her own childhood and the fun, food, music, dancing and sense of family that were part and parcel to these joyous occasions.

The full-page illustrations by renowned French Canadian folk painter Gilles Pelletier are an evocative, colourful and charmingly naive accompaniment (I think that the Montreal Candiens hockey jerseys worn by the "terrible twins" are a wonderful, whimsical touch). Although in and by themselves the folksy pictures would not be entirely to my liking, they work very well with Jonathan London's engaging narrative, providing a fitting complement and compliment.

I also really appreciate that because The Sugaring Off Party is a story of and about French Canada, a number of French expression are included within the text proper. And although many of them do seem rather self-explanatory within the context of the narrative, I also much appreciate that Jonathan London has actually included a glossary of the French terms with their English counterparts. And I do much like the fact that, although this story is primarily about the French Canadian tradition of going to a cabane à sucre for an annual sugaring-off party, the author also mentions on the glossary page that the term maple or sugar moon is what the Abenaki Indians call the March moon (and that this is considered the main time for maple sugaring). It should not be forgotten that Native Americans and Canadian First Nations were the first to produce maple syrup and maple sugar, and that European settlers learned from them and were taught by them.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it was fun reading this book. Just reading some of the French word made me think I was learning French. It made me think about the different partys I've been to. So I recomond that all children should read this book and get a look of what it would be like to have partys at your Aunt's maple suryp farm.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a heartwarming book about a grandmother sharing a little story from her childhood with her grandson. The tale is fun and it portrays an earlier age. The illustrations complement the story nicely and also depict an old fashioned scene. We really enjoyed reading this story together.

[Ronda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the vivid folk illustrations. They are perfectly paired with the vivid use of figurative language with smatterings of French in a sweet (I know, I know) story told by grandmother to grandchild about a tradition that continues to be part of the family. I often do a lesson where I pair The Molasses Man with video of the molasses making process. I think this will be an excellent picture book to pair with similar video of maple sugar making. For my 4th and 5th graders, I hope to have them find the examples of metaphor, simile and onomatopoeia as well as using the glossary of French terms in the back and hope that my laughing stumbling through the pronunciations might be heartening to my struggling readers as well. I also love sharing a DVD called Let's Go To the Farm, with Mac Parker, by Vermont Storyworks. It had a wonderful segment showing maple syrup making from gathering the sap using a horse drawn sled to the boiling and then the hot syrup on snow. As an added bonus, the music throughout includes Pete Sutherland's old-time fiddling.

[Naomi Korzeniowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this sweet retelling of a family tradition from a grandmother to her grandson. While this story doesn’t tell as much about the process of making syrup, it’s a great story to pair with so many other books that do tell about the process. My 4 and 2 year old were very engaged the whole story and we all loved the great illustrations.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a cozy book! I would love to curl up in the winter time in front of a fire and read this to my nephew and fall asleep on the floor. Great vocabulary for visualizing the story.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for learning about the French-Canadian heritage! Lots of French words sprinkled throughout.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlotte wouldn't even let us finish this one. She REALLY didn't like the art. And the French pronunciations left it awkward for me to read to her out loud. I did enjoy both the art and the story, though. A little slow for the 6 yr old.