Tea Cakes for Tosh
Tosh’s grandma Honey shares stories with her tea cakes that always begin with the words, “Long ago, before you and I were born … our people were enslaved.” Honey tells how Tosh’s “great-great-great-grandma Ida” baked tea cakes, too, and had to hide a few in her pockets in order to give her own children, slaves like her, a taste and “a promise of days to come.” When Honey begins to have problems with her memory – forgetting where she parked, a familiar phone number, and even how to make tea cakes – Tosh is able to give back the memories (including the tea cake recipe) she’d shared with him. The loving relationship between Tosh and his aging grandma provides both a reassuring snapshot of a family dealing with a common concern of aging, as well an enduring family history traveling through the generations. Warm watercolor illustrations effectively employ some sepia-toned pages to convey a sense of a time long past, while full-color spreads transport the reader back to the present. Highly Commended, 2013 Charlotte Zolotow Award ©2013 Cooperative Children's Book Center
Illustrated by E. B. Lewis
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 4-8
Age Range:
PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7)
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format:
Picture book
Subjects:
African Americans
Aging
Grandmothers
Memory
Stories and Storytelling
Diversity subject:
Black/African
Publisher:
Putnam
Publish Year: 2012
Pages: 32
ISBN: 9780399252136
CCBC Location: Picture Book, Lyons