Grandma's Purple Flowers - Softcover

Adjoa J. Burrowes

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1600603432 ISBN 13: 9781600603433

Publisher: Lee & Low Books, 2000

Synopsis

Grandma's house has always been the narrator's favorite place. On her way to visit Grandma, she plucks daisies and sunflowers, and best of all, purple flowers--Grandma's favorites. Whenever Grandma sees the purple flowers, her smile grows wide--like the Mississippi River.

One winter day Grandma is too tired to bake, but she rubs her grandchild's back gently and ties a ribbon that unraveled in her hair. Later that night, Grandma passes away, and all winter long, the young girl is sad, missing her grandmother terribly. When spring finally arrives, and flowers begin to shoot up from the ground, the girl discovers her own special way to accept her grandmother's death and keep Grandma with her always.

In this moving story, author/illustrator, Adjoa J. Burrowes deals sensitively with the difficult experience of death, and tells a moving story that celebrates the triumph of hope and spirit during a difficult time.

About this title

About the Author:

ADJOA J. BURROWES received her Fine Arts degree from Howard University and is the illustrator of Lee & Low's My Steps, a Child magazine "Best Book of the Year" and Cooperative Children's Book Center "Choices" selection. Burrowes currently lives in the Washington, D.C., metro area with her three children. This is the first book she has both written and illustrated.

ADJOA J. BURROWES received her Fine Arts degree from Howard University and is the illustrator of Lee & Low's My Steps, a Child magazine "Best Book of the Year" and Cooperative Children's Book Center "Choices" selection. Burrowes currently lives in the Washington, D.C., metro area with her three children. This is the first book she has both written and illustrated.

From Booklist:

Ages 4-8. The young African American narrator adores being with her grandmother, who always has a hug and smile waiting. In the summer, the girl picks purple flowers: Grandma loves purple. In the autumn, the girl rakes leaves. When she asks why they fall and die, Grandma tells her, "Everything has its time." When the snow falls, it is Grandma's time, and the girl endures the winter, thinking about how much she misses her grandmother. Then spring comes, the flowers bloom, and the girl sees the first purple flower poking out from the ground. The girl wants to cry, but she feels happy, too. Many books for young children deal with death, but few have pictures that are so winning. Cut paper, watercolors, and acrylics are combined beautifully to depict each season --falling orange and yellow leaves, drifts of white snow. Although the collages are not as technically sophisticated as in some recent offerings, they burst with life as they capture the smallest nuances of emotion between grandmother and granddaughter. The first-person text is simple, moving, and hopeful: "When I see purple flowers now, I think of Grandma." Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Lee & Low Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1600603432
• ISBN 13: 9781600603433
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Adjoa J. Burrowes