Back Home (Picture Books) - Softcover

Pinkney, Gloria Jean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140565477 ISBN 13: 9780140565478

Publisher: Puffin Books, 1999

Synopsis

Even though eight-year-old Ernestine lives with her family up North, "back home" is Lumberton, North Carolina, the place where she was born and where her mama grew up. From the moment she steps off the train, Ernestine feels right at home in the lush, green countryside, working on the family farm, and spending time with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. This nostalgic, sweetly humorous visit home--based on Gloria Pinkney's own childhood memories--is perfect for intergenerational sharing.

About this title

About the Author:

Gloria Pinkney was born in Lumberton North Carolina where she set her first book Back Home. While attending high school in Philadelphia she met her husband illustrator Jerry Pinkney who attributes much of his success to her long-standing involvement in his work.

Over the years Gloria and Jerry have has collaborated in making quality books for children. She has hired his models,  assembled costumes,  photographed sets,  and helped him research. Today, she continues to be closely involved with the illustration process. Back Home marked a new collaboration between the Pinkneys -- the first book written by Gloria and illustrated byJerry the product of a long happy and productive partnership.

The Pinkneys have four adult children, all of whom are working in the creative arts.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 2-4-- A long train ride takes Ernestine to visit her great-uncle and aunt in North Carolina, to sleep in the house where her mama grew up, and to visit her own birthplace. Cousin Jack teases her for her city ways, but she quickly learns about raising goats and canning peaches, and by the time she has been to church and visited her grandmama's grave, Ernestine looks forward to a future visit. This is more a reminiscence than a plotted story, warm with Southern summer and family affection, a vignette of times gone by and roots rediscovered. Jerry Pinkney's full-page watercolors complement this account of a young girl's journey several decades ago. Their sketchy, impressionistic style softens the rural poverty and strengthens the genuine family feelings that greet Ernestine. Like Donald Crews's Bigmama's (Greenwillow, 1991), Back Home draws on personal history and celebrates the lives of an African-American family. --Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0140565477
• ISBN 13: 9780140565478
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Pinkney Jerry