Gingerbread Days

Children's Literature - Jan Lieberman

Joyce Carol Thomas's Gingerbread Days, illustrated by Floyd Cooper, is a joyful evocation of family love throughout the year. From the mouthwatering molasses smell of gingerbread that permeates "A Gingered January" we head to February's "Twisting twisters...that scare me speechless...[until] Daddy takes my hand." December's Christmas poem is a paean to the protagonist's bricklayer daddy who is "...a gift all by himself / His hands ungloved / His heat, his love." See also this creative team's Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3The author and illustrator of Brown Honey in Broomstick Tea (HarperCollins, 1993) again have teamed up to create a collection of verses and paintings. This one celebrates the passage of a year within the circle of an extended African American family. From Grandma's cozy kitchen in January to the sparkle and noise of a July Fourth commemoration to the appreciation in December of a father's strength and love, a young boy thrives on the nurturing of his caring relatives. Over the months, he experiences a mother's healing hands, father's protection in a storm (and in life), sister's reminder that she's her own boss, Grandpa's gift of his heritage, and everyone's loving encouragement on his first day of school. Together they read, worship, and play in both word and luminous pictures. As the boy himself realizes in a Thanksgiving prayer, God has blessed him with this family. Readers will agree.Meg Stackpole, Rye Free Reading Room, NY

Susan Dove Lempke

The poems in "Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea" (1993) focus on the African American experience and center on a young girl. In this companion volume, the poems follow a little boy in a similar nuclear family through the year, with a poem for each month. The exuberant boy bites into gingerbread in January, rules as the king in March, attends church in June, goes horseback riding in August, drinks "love for breakfast" in October, and celebrates his father, "a gift all by himself," in December. Cooper's paintings glow with light and warmth, conveying a strong sense of joy in living. With its large pictures and simple (sometimes thought-provoking) poems, this will work well with groups.