Product Description

Teeka’s family had a picnic this Sunday past. Everyone was there, from mean old cousin Terrance who put fake flies on the sweet corn, to Bible-toting Reverend Luke to Auntie Kim (Teeka’s all-time favorite). And they were all dreading the arrival of Cousin Martha and her pie, which was always a bit on the dry side (but you had to eat every bit so you didn’t hurt her feelings). But this year, where was Cousin Martha? And where was that dried-out apple pie?

Jacqueline Woodson’s warm, lyrical prose and Diane Greenseid’s exuberant artwork bring to life the humor, love, and of course, the wonderful food of the quintessential family picnic.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #850416 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .11" h x 7.33" w x 11.07" l, .34 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Novelist Woodson (I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This) turns to a tale for the younger set with this bouncy story about an annual family picnic. Teeka, the young narrator, accompanies her grandma to the park with a basket of fried chicken and biscuits. Soon her best friend Paulette and various family members arrive, bearing bowls and bags of home-cooked food and desserts. Each is introduced through Teeka's eyes: Reverend Luke, who wields a Bible, "can eat like the devil?strange, since he's such a holy man" and "Moon Pie is really Joseph, but don't he look just like a Moon Pie??came empty-handed, too." But where is Cousin Martha and her infamous, dried-out apple pie? Everyone chows down, and when Martha finally does show up?with a store-bought cake ("No time to bake")?Grandma greets her with a little white lie: "Oh, but Cousin Martha, all year long, I've been thinking about your pie." The snippets of dialogue help keep this story lively, but it's Greenseid's (When Aunt Lena Did the Rhumba) effervescent illustrations, done in candy-bright acrylics, that inject the pizzazz. One hilarious spread shows Auntie Sadie's shocked face when she finds her corn cobs covered with flies (plastic flies, contributed by naughty Cousin Terrance, whom readers see fleeing his parents in the background). In another, roly-poly Moon Pie literally spills across the spread. Readers will enjoy the gentle fun poked at family gatherings here. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3AReaders join Teeka's sprawling urban African-American family for their annual picnic in the park and experience an event so joyous and loving that they'll feel they were there. Electrified, rhythmic language catches one's attention from the first phrase: "Grandma wore her blue dress with all those flowers on it. Brought biscuits and chicken and me." One by one, readers meet the folks who gather and are captured by Teeka's sharp eye and tongue: "Uncle Luther set a loaf of cinnamon bread in the center of things. Grandma, smiling, just as proud, said 'Can't my boy bake himself some bread!'" The observations are loosely bound together by the family's collective suspense about whether Aunt Martha will arrive with her traditionally dried-out apple piesAand by all the other food that arrives at the party. Every vividly hued page reveals a new family member and some small, familiar interaction. The acrylic illustrations on double-page spreads are so energetic that they nearly leap off the pages. Faces reveal warmth and humor. The text, in felt-tip pen and backed by a contrasting border, adds to the casual, open feel of the book. This title will be a great companion to Cynthia Rylant's The Relatives Came (S & S, 1985). This picnic is a grand event for group read-alouds and competent independent readers.ACarolyn Noah, Central Mass. Regional Library System, Worcester, MA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 4^-8. Woodson, best known for her novels, here debuts as a picture-book writer with happy results. Teeka's family is having a Sunday picnic, and the little girl shares, in her first-person narrative, all the fun and foibles of her large family. Mean old cousin Terrance puts fake flies on Aunt Sadie's corn; Aunt Kim brings cookies shaped like angels for her angel niece, Teeka; and everyone watches out for Aunt Martha and the awful apple pie she always bakes for dessert. If this is more character sketch than actual story, the solid acrylic paintings help bring all the people in this African American family to life. Rounded shapes, unusual perspectives, and the display of plenty of action, whether it's passing a platter of chicken or showing a boy break dancing, make these pictures groove. An exhilarating afternoon for everyone involved--and the best part is, Aunt Martha brings store-bought cake instead of her "dried-out old apple pie." Ilene Cooper