(4) 1-3 Illustrated by Thomas B. Allen. When their parents travel north to find work during the Depression, five-year-old African-American narrator Pearl and her brother remain in Florida, where they help their grandmother run her store. Overt moralizing and a protagonist significantly younger than the target audience may turn off some readers, but others will find the story engrossing. Serviceable charcoal drawings appear throughout.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Harvey Stevenson. Alone with her pregnant mother, going-on-eight Sugar Plum must race across the nighttime terrain for Mis' Hattie, the midwife. The next day, Mama recognizes that her daughter has grown beyond the "secret way of talking to children about a big wonderment," and that it's also time to call her by her real name, Wilhe'mina. Daubs of bold color transform the southern setting into a van Gogh spectacle and reflect the emotional intensity of the narrative.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 1999

(3) K-3 A little girl spends her days cared for by the loving Mis' Lela while her mother works. After Mis' Lela dies and Sugar Plum begins school, she continues to remember her caretaker by saying "Hi" as she passes her house. Large textured paintings and a rich, exemplary text portray the warm intergenerational friendship. The artist's and author's careful attention to detail humanizes Mis' Lela, Sugar Plum, and her mother.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.