Joe Cepeda

A young boy finds a po-go stick at a garage sale and goes on adventures hopping through town.

This book is designed for the earliest of readers who are just learning sight words. Each page spread is just one simple sentence, such as “I hop.” or “I see apples.” or “I pay.” This is all well and good but it’s dull. Also, the book doesn’t follow its own structure, with “I pay.” only used one of the times, making it seem like the child doesn’t acquire the other items, which he does.

The illustrations are fine but overall the book is pretty lackluster; it’s really only good for the most basic readers who need sight words practice and I guess this is slightly better than just rote memorization.… (mehr)

Joyful exuberance abounds in this mother-son collaboration that celebrates family ties and the joys of eating peanut-butter fudge. Mother leaves her three children in the care of Nana with a long list of virtuous instructions (lunch: peas, carrot sticks, fish fingers) that seems imperiled by a grandmother who wears high-top red sneakers. And in danger they are. To a playfully rhyming text, the whole crew starts out with a nap, followed by a story, a potato-sack hop, a yummy lunch (biscuits and ham; no carrot sticks visible), dancing, games and finally the fudge recipe, which is a “family secret.” Mother returns and—thank goodness—memories (in misty black and white) of preparing that same recipe quickly erase her horror. Cepeda’s brightly rendered oil paints in hot shades of green, pink, blue and yellow can barely contain the mayhem and mess. A fast-paced read-aloud that celebrates intergenerational love with a mixing-bowl–ful of humor and just a teaspoon of irreverence. Fudge recipe included. (Picture book. 4-7)

-Kirkus Review… (mehr)

This is a vibrant book about three children who stay with their
grandma while mom is away at work. Before she leaves, mom insist they
eat healthy

Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford;
February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist
noted for her examination of Black experience (particularly Black female experience)
within the Black community. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.
Slade Morrison was the late Toni Morrison’s son. He died at 45 years old
of pancreatic cancer in 2010… (mehr)