Bigmama's

Bigmama's is a happy story about a family that goes to visit their Bigmama each summer and the good times they have. As far as this book being a mentor text, in the classes I am subbing, we are teaching the children punctuation. There are plenty of question marks, periods, exclamation marks, and ellipses Also, there are portions of dialogue that are shown with quotation marks, which would also be a good lesson for young readers. I don't believe they have learned what dialogue or quotation marks are.
The story is a familiar one, the happiness and fond memories associated with visiting grandparents in the summer months. I really enjoyed the illustrations in this story, they really helped to help show the journey they take to Bigmama's show more house each year. All of the pages show exactly what is happening in the story, making it very easy to keep up with the story. I also enjoy the family-centered theme of this book. They are all so happy to see one another and cannot wait to visit. The book ends with our narrator as a grown man fondly remembering those summers spent at Bigmama's house. Readers are shown that those good times are very special, and are even missed many years later. I can say that personally I miss spending the summers at my grandparent's house, exploring the woods and seeing my family. I really enjoyed this book, and recommend it. It may be a great read before the end of school year to discuss the different kinds of summer plans students have. show less

Bigmama's book is probably one of my favorites I have read in a long time. Even being an adult, I loved this book. The genre of this book would be realistic fiction. The illustrations in this book were so vivid. The way the kids would play outside, doing chores, running around with any shoes and socks on; reminded me of how I grew up outside all the time. I feel like children could look at the pictures in the book and have the feeling of wanting to go outside. When I was looking at the pictures, they were in very grave detail, and it made me want to go play at the house with them as a child. The theme of this book could be family. This could resonate with children by making playing outside be fun, and have a want to do that. I feel like show more children these days stay in a lot and are always on some type of technology device. show less

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The story told the tale of a man reminiscing on times of the past. In the past, every summer, the man would visit his grandmother for a summer full of adventure and excitement. As an adult, I recall experiences from childhood, hoping that those moments will one day return-although they never will. I loved that the book provided the reader with a real feel of emotions as the story progressed. The author writes of the initial interaction upon arrival to his grandmother's house. The words fill the readers mind with emotions of love and affection as big mamma coos over her grandkids. As a reader, one does not initially know that the story character is a grown man reminiscing. It allows for the reader show more to accurately be in the moment and have a genuine personal experience of reminiscing. The big picture of the story is to not take anything for granted and enjoy each moment of life as it is constantly shifting. show less

I enjoyed the book for multiple reasons. I really liked the elaboration on the illustrations in the book, the descriptive writing the author uses and how believable the author made the characters.
The illustrations in the book emphasize the importance of setting throughout the story. The story takes place at "Bigmama's" house, which is the narrators grandmother. The setting is very important because the premise of the story is about the exciting things the narrator does during his summer at Bigmama's. The illustrations in the book need to portray the setting being described by the narrator and the illustrator does an excellent job of that. The narrator at one point talks about digging for the worms he needs to fish in the pond behind show more his grandmothers house. The illustrator helps the reader visualize this, by drawing exactly where the narrator digs the worms and then drawing the pond the narrator fishes in.
The characters in the book were very believable because they participate in activities such as fishing, playing in the yard and watching the stars, which are all activities readers may do in their everyday lives. The narrators excitement about summer can be very relatable to the reader as most children enjoy summer and all the exciting things that are associated with it.
The author uses descriptive writing throughout a lot of the book. When the narrator talks about bigmama's house, he goes into detail about "the sewing machine, with the pedal like a bicycle", still being in the same place in bigmama's house. The usage of detail when describing the other items around the house catches the readers attention and gets the reader engaged.
The main idea in this story was about reflection. The story is centered around all the enjoyable activities the narrator did as young boy at Bigmama's house. On the last page of the story he says, "Some nights even now, I think that I might wake up in the morning and be at bigmama's with the whole summer ahead of me". With the narrator being an adult now, he reflects on how much he enjoyed his summers as a young boy at Bigmama's. show less

Four African American children travel with their mother, and when the train arrives in Cottondale, Florida, the summer at Bigmama's house begins! Donald Crews brilliantly evokes the sights, sounds, and emotions of a memorable childhood experience.

This is a classic, Black southern folktale where the author provides this image of, 'Bigmama' as this prominent person in the children's lives. It all starts at Bigmama's house every summer in Cottondale, Florida, nothing ever changes. "Some nights, even now, I think I might wake up in the morning and be at Bigmama's with the whole summer ahead of me." Even at the end simply reflecting, he says he often imagines waking up at Bigmamas. The main idea for the story is somethings never change and you can always look back at the great memories you have created with those you love.

The story of "Bigmama's" did a great job in showing, in great detail, what was happening every day at Bigmama's house. Every summer, for these children, it would be the same thing that happened to them. They would get to Bigmama's house and do the same activities that they were so fond and familiar of. I somewhat felt like the details of everything in the story was not entertaining. I am not sure why everything had to be mentioned throughout the house and yard. It did not make me feel connected to the story, I somewhat felt like an outsider. They described almost everything in the house, from the kerosene lamps, the Sears Roebuck catalogs to the big clock over the fireplace. I would have preferred if the author mentioned more about show more those objects around the house so I could get a sense of their importance. Although the beginning of the story seemed to drag on for me, I did enjoy the ending when the whole family came together. It reminded me of my family at Thanksgiving. The family is so chatty that they "...talked so much [they] hardly had time to eat." That was my favorite line of the story because it showed more imagery then the beginning of the story did. The author seemed to save the unique imagery for the end when he describes the night time sky as "Jet black except for million of stars". Even though that is somewhat over used in describing the night sky, I still enjoyed it because it was simple and to the point. show less