  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 05/01/2015 K-Gr 2—Filled with heartfelt homespun sentiment, Derby's latest picture book is an homage to imagination and familial love. It is Sunday night, and young Evie and her grandmother don their pajamas, crawl into bed, and grab a pair of scissors and a newspaper for their weekly shopping adventure. Grandma wears her feathered blue hat, and Evie carries her big black purse. As they turn the newspaper pages, they make believe. First, they purchase a ham from Hook's Grocery—it's on sale today! And Hills's Furniture is closing. They could use a new rug. At Pace's Jewels and Treasures, Evie finds a beautiful box, perfect for the necklace Mama gave her before she left for the army. And the shopping continues, all purchases paid for with brightly colored "bills" that Grandma allocates for each shopping trip. Children and adults alike will find a little bit of their own upbringing in the shared adventures with Grandma and Evie. Grandma's wise advice and nurturing manner are comforting and familiar without being overly sentimental. Strickland's illustrations are a vibrant mix of watercolor, acrylic, and wax pencil, digitally interspersed with fanciful, oversize images of whimsy and delight. VERDICT A splendid choice for collections in need of picture books that feature African American characters, but, more significantly, a lovely title that celebrates imagination and the importance of family.—Carol Connor, Cincinnati Public Schools, OH - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Bulletin for the Center... - 07/01/2015 Every Sunday night, the narrator, Evie, and her grandmother indulge in their favorite ritual: they curl up together in Grandma’s bed and pretend-shop the circulars in the Sunday paper. Evie cuts out ads for ham, a new sofa and TV, some new clothes, and other delights, paying with money from her purse (“Our shopping dollars are easy to tell apart because they’re all different colors”). Evie finishes by secretly “buying” her grandmother a cutout floral bouquet, which she leaves on her grandmother’s nightstand to wake to in the morning. The scenario is inviting: Evie and her grandmother have a close and comradely relationship, and the game is a delicious combination of a shared pretend and a cut-and-collect craft. Strickland’s mixed-media art effectively differentiates real from pretend; reality offers cozily domestic views in a softly edged circle, with African-American Evie and her grandmother sprawled comfortably in bed as the cat wanders through the proceedings. Pretend, on the other hand, stretches out across the pages in full-bleed and electric scenes of plenty, with a cornucopia of layered collage elements freely playing with scale in cheerfully surreal and energetic scenes. The illustrations hint that Evie’s with Grandma because Mom’s away on military service, but even kids with everybody at home will enjoy the imaginative game and the idea of one-on-one closeness with a beloved grandparent. DS - Copyright 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Loading...
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