Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith

Joel lives in Eunice Louisiana and loves when it’s time to celebrate mardi gras. Joel is a cajun and they celebrate mardi gras in a special way. We then learn who exactly the cajuns are and where they came from. The pictures in this book are of joel and his family doing various things at their house like playing by the lake, harvesting crawfish and taking care of their animals. We then learn what exactly mardi gras is and cajun music. Joel’s dad also likes making gumbo and then they eat king cake for dessert. In Eunice people dress up in costumes and they have an activity for the kids where they let a chicken loose and the kids run around trying to catch it. This was a great book on the history and culture of south Louisiana and more specifically Eunice. I also liked how they had pronunciations of how to say cajun words for people who aren’t from here and may not know.… (more)