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Overview
Ada Ruth's mama must go away to Chicago to work, leaving Ada Ruth and Grandma behind. It's war time, and women are needed to fill the men's jobs. As winter sets in, Ada Ruth and her grandma keep up their daily routine, missing Mama all the time. They find strength in each other, and a stray kitten even arrives one day to keep them company, but nothing can fill the hole Mama left. Every day they wait, watching for the letter that says Mama will be coming on home soon. Set during World War II, Coming On Home Soon has a timeless quality that will appeal to all who wait and hope.
A 2005 Caldecott Honor Book
Synopsis
Ada Ruth's mama must go away to Chicago to work, leaving Ada Ruth and Grandma behind. It's war time, and women are needed to fill the men's jobs. As winter sets in, Ada Ruth and her grandma keep up their daily routine, missing Mama all the time. They find strength in each other, and a stray kitten even arrives one day to keep them company, but nothing can fill the hole Mama left. Every day they wait, watching for the letter that says Mama will be coming on home soon. Set during World War II, Coming On Home Soon has a timeless quality that will appeal to all who wait and hope.
Child Magazine
It's World War II and "they're hiring colored women in Chicago since all the men are off fighting in the war." Waiting for her mother to return to their rural home, Ada Ruth takes comfort in her grandma, a scraggly new kitten, and-at last!-a letter from her beloved Mama. This is another finely tuned, emotionally rich tale by Coretta Scott King medalist Woodson. (Ages 6 to 8)
Child magazine's Best Children's Book Awards 2004
Editorials
From The Critics
It's World War II and "they're hiring colored women in Chicago since all the men are off fighting in the war." Waiting for her mother to return to their rural home, Ada Ruth takes comfort in her grandma, a scraggly new kitten, and-at last!-a letter from her beloved Mama. This is another finely tuned, emotionally rich tale by Coretta Scott King medalist Woodson. (Ages 6 to 8)Child magazine's Best Children's Book Awards 2004
Publishers Weekly
The creators of The Other Side set this quietly stirring tale during an unspecified wartime (though details in the paintings suggest WWII). Ada Ruth's mother packs her suitcase in the opening full-bleed painting, explaining to her daughter, "They're hiring colored women in Chicago since all the men are off fighting in the war.... I'm gonna head on up there." Staying with her loving grandmother, the forlorn narrator continues to write to her mother, yet receives no response. Ada Ruth takes solace in her grandmother's embraces and encouragement ("Your mama's gonna be coming on home soon") and in the company of a kitten that appears at the door one snowy morning. Woodson's narrative is lyrical and spontaneous; of the kitten, Ada Ruth observes, "It's a slip of a thing. But its softness is big./ And warm as ten quilts on my lap./ Warm as Mama's hands." Lewis's lifelike, earth-toned watercolors deftly convey the sustaining affection and mutual support between Ada Ruth and her grandmother, as well as the girl's simultaneous loneliness. Well placed cameo-shaped portraits of the mother and her activities provide reassurance to readers. The story ends on a positive note: the long-awaited letter from Mama promises "I'll be coming on home soon" and a final, wordless image reveals the woman making her way through the snow to their door. Ages 5-up. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
During World War II, Ruth's mama reluctantly leaves her with her grandmother to go to Chicago where she can earn money. Ruth keeps writing to her, but is distresses as the time passes with no word. Times are hard. Ruth watches the snow fall and pets a stray kitten they really can't afford to feed, fighting back tears as she waits while the cold days go by. She realizes that her mother is lucky enough to get a chance to work as a black woman because of the war. There is joy when a letter full of both money and love finally arrives, along with the promise of "coming on home soon." There's a poetic feeling in the text which is partnered in Lewis's full-page and vignette watercolors. He creates the hominess of the rural setting, but it is his portraits of the three women which mainly carry the strong sense of generational love and faith in the future. He handles his medium with conviction, particularly in controlling the light in each scene to enhance the narrative flow. These are real people; the illustrations invite us to know them. 2004, GP Putnam's Sons, Ages 4 to 8.—Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz