Libba Moore Gray

I like "Little Lil and The Swing-Singing Sax" for two reason. the first reason was the language that it was written in. The story portrays a family that lives during the Jazz Age. The uncle plays the saxophone and gives it up when he needs to sell it for medicine so that Lil's mother can recover from her illness. The language is very relevant to the time period including passages such as “At night, he blew into a low-moaning saxophone in a swinging-singing jazz club where he could make the show more people laugh and he could make the people cry when he played that sad-sighing horn.” The second reason I liked the book was for its illustrations. The pages are very colorful and filled with musical inspirations, such as the uncle playing his saxophone. Overall, the big idea of the story is that family is the most important aspect and should always be there to support one another. The uncle gave up his saxophone for Lil's mother's heath, and Lil gave up her sparkling ring for her uncles saxophone again. show less

Why didn't I love this beautiful book? And why are almost all of the reviews by teachers or wannabe teachers? And what would children think of it? I don't know... I'd like some of my GR friends who read picture-books to read & review this....

I enjoyed this book because the story was very touching and inspiring. This book is about a beloved woman named Miss Tizzy. She spent a lot of time with the children in the neighborhood by planning different fun activities for them to do. For example the text states, "On Mondays, Miss Tizzy baked cookies. She let the neighborhood children put in the raisins, and then lick the bowl while the cookies were baking. The children loved it." Throughout the story Miss Tizzy grows ill and is forced show more to stay in bed so the children did everything they could to comfort her. For example, "On Monday, they backed cookies with raisins and brought them to the pink house [Miss Tizzy's house]. On Tuesday, they stood in the yard and help up puppets to the window. They put on a puppet show just for Miss Tizzy." The main idea behind this book is that just one adult in a child's life can provide an outstanding role model for him/her. Miss Tizzy was a role model for all of the children in the neighborhood and even when she grew sick, the children still kept up with the traditions Miss Tizzy made for them. show less

My Mama Had a Dancing Heart was a very enlightening book. It tells the story of a girl and her mother and how the mother served as her role model. The main message in this book is tradition and remembrance. The reasons why I liked this book was the pictures and the plot. The pictures were very dark and the illustrator did a great job mixing the colors and creating a texture. For example, the dresses looked like they were flowing in the wind. I also liked the plot because their dancing was a show more way to celebrate each season. Also their dance was a bond between mother and daughter and that bond was so special to each of them. Overall I liked this book but it was not one of my favorites. show less