Family

by Isabell Monk

Hope's new and unusual dessert blends well with the traditional dishes prepared by her cousins and Aunt Poogee at their annual summer get-together.

Genres: Family, Picture Books, African American, Fiction, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The intent of this book is a good one, and the illustrations are fine. But the story itself is rather dull. Hope's extended family is all gathering at her Aunt Poogee's house, and each one is bringing his/her signature dish for the group to eat. "Sharing food is a good way of sharing family," says Aunt Poogee. True, but it doesn't necessarily make for a book that children will enjoy listening to again and again, which is my standard for books written for this age.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

About a girl named Hope who goes with her family to visit Aunt Poogee (her mother's sister) and spend the summer with her cousins. There she finds catfish, cabbage, trumpets, lots of aunts and uncles, ice cream, special family food, crab cakes, and fun. They have a big family dinner.

Hope has brought a surprise for her family to eat for dessert! Pickles with a peppermint stick inside, that her cousin on the other side of the family taught her how to make. Hope and her Aunt Poogee talk about family recipes and how Hope's peppermint pickle recipe will now be added to the family's recipes. "Sharing food is a good way of sharing family,...always add a cup of tradition from your papa's family to a cup from your mama's side...add lots and lots of love!" It's a recipe for a family.

The last page has recipes for Aunt Mil's coconut cake, frosting, aunt Poogee's lemonade, aunt Frances's corn pudin' and Hope's sweet and sour pickles.

[Roshini Jeevan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book because it was all about family and reminded me of my family, back in India. It was about a girl who lives away from her relatives (aunts, uncles and cousins) and comes once a year to visit. As she visits, she get to do all the fun activities and spend some quality time with all of them. They come together in the end and make a wonderful family meal. It just shows the importance of family and just how much family love can be passed around. It was a feel-good kind of story.

[Mary Green]

This story was about a family reunion and coming together through family bonds and food. Homemade food which came mostly from the farm were featured and a new tradition of "Hopes sweet and sour pickles" with peppermint inside began. Hope, the main character, was a little disappointed that she was the only one who cooked something that wasn't a family recipe, but she was soon told it was to become a new family recipe started by Hope!

[Bree · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was very long for a picture book. I had to stop halfway through because my 3 year olds were not into it. They looked at the pictures at first but the story didn't seem to keep them entertained. I'm still not sure there was a storyline, but just a bunch of pages explaining what the main character's family was like. I would like to see if an older class would find it more entertaining.

[Crystal Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to share with young children to show how different family traditions can be. Some student may be able to relate to having a big family or a family member that lives on a farm. Also, a great activity to complete after reading this book is to have your students prepare a family recipe at home and bring it to class the next day. The students can each tell the class about their recipe.

[Tarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 4 year old and 2 year old love this book. It's a great bedtime story. My kids loved meeting Aunt Poogie and the rest of the family. I guess it helps that my little guys love pickles too! They make sound effects and motions to go with story. They rock with Auntie's hugs. They make trumpet noises with Gregory.
Illustrations are gorgeous too.

[Benita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to explain some "southernisms" to kids. Liked the multiracial family being just a part of the illustrations, the fact not even mentioned in the text. It's just life as we know it. Want to try some of the recipes included in the back of the book--but not the one created by the narrator!

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second book after one titled Hope. These are the same characters, but there's not much plot here, essentially a good memory of a family dinner & the little girl named Hope bringing a new "family" dish. Again, illustrations are terrific.

[Jackie Douthat]

This was a very long book but I liked that it talked about tradition and the different types of food. This could easily be used in the classroom to talk about traditional foods from other cultures and the holidays or times that they would make them.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book that teaches you the wonderful blessings that come with a loving and caring family. This book would be great to read during Thanksgiving week!!! Family plays such an important in my life, I seriously don't know what I would do without them.

[Lin Lin]

As I planned to teach units on cultural universal concepts, I realized that books I selected on FAMILY LIVING do not represent a variety of races, ethnicities, and cultures. This book entitled FAMILY describes a happy family that cooks, enjoys, and celebrates together.

[Alexyss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently found this book after remembering the one scene where the main character and her grandmother make peppermint stick pickles. I've always wanted to make them since I read this book as a little girl. Overall I feel accomplished that I found the book and cant wait to reread it soon.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good way to explore family traditions that are sometimes yummy, and sometimes odd. Even pickles can become a family tradition.

[Mainchild]

PIC Monk