Love the art, love the history, love the beautifully integrated themes for conversation and diversity. All of those threads hold the book together, and they do a beautiful job of it. ( )

What a well-researched children's book! I love the illustrations and the variations as the same story is told over 400 years. I'm also looking forward to trying out the recipe! Mmm mmm mmm... ( )

children's picture book (grades k-4th). Simple storyline provides insight into different time periods; kid-friendly dessert recipe included in the back (put them to work!). I liked it, but don't feel it's outstanding enough to be a Newbery contender. ( )

This is a cute way to teach a bit of history, and also make me hungry for dessert. Four families throughout the centuries (in the US) make blackberry fool. We get to see changing technology through the kitchen tools that are used, from a whisk made of twigs to a food processor. We see changing gender and race roles - the second family consists of a mother and daughter making blackberry fool for their slave-owners. They sit in the closet to lick the bowl. It's not until the most recent family that there are interracial relationships and men preparing food. I like that this is a history book that doesn't shy away from the realities of history. It's not a "message" book necessarily...it's not about slavery or the fight for women's rights, but it doesn't pretend that they didn't exist. ( )

This book goes through many decades viewing different families doing similar traditions. The tradition is licking the dessert bowl clean after supper. Who hasn't licked the bowl as a child after their mother baked a yummy dessert? There were some negative opinions about this book featuring a White family with African American servers. The time that part of the book took place was in the 1800s and at the end of the book, the family is mixed with many races all sitting at the table together. I just thought that it was a part of history and just showed how our lives have progressed since then. One thing I liked about this book is that at every family's dinner table there is a black horse statue as the time becomes present. What I took away from it though was that families no matter who you are or where you are, they have this one thing in common. That is baking together and family dinners. ( )