Mim’s belly-hum jam is one of the highlights of Christmas for young Saraleen and Royce and their father, Pap. Just one taste, and Pap starts “whistling a deep, hooty tune.” But this year, Pap is off in New York City, helping to build the subway, and he won’t be home for Christmas. “Let’s make a batch of belly-hum for Pap,” Mim suggests to her children to cheer them up. They send the jam off to Pap in New York, where the mean-tempered foremen of the dig site have ordered everyone to work on Christmas Day. But when Pap gives Mean and Evil, as the workers call the two foremen, a taste of Mim’s spectacular jam, they change their minds — Mim’s jam is that good. Andrea Davis Pinkney deftly blends warmth and humor in this story about a proud, loving African American family in 1915. An author’s note provides a very brief history on the building of the New York Subway. Brian Pinkney used luma dyes and acrylic on scratchboard to create his distinctive illustrations. (Ages 5–8)

The best part of Christmas is the whole family savoring Mim's belly-hum jamtogether. But this Christmas, Pap is far away in New York City, digging a hole for something called the subway, and his family is missing him something awful. Pap aches to be home, but the heartless foremen of his dig site have decided there will be no break, not even for Christmas. It looks like it's going to be one lonely holiday for everyone . . . until young Saraleen and Royce send their pap a gift that may just inspire a Christmas miracle.
The recipient of a Coretta Scott King Author Honor and a two-time Caldecott Honor illustrator have created a warm and magical holiday classic about the power of love, complete with the recipe for Mim's Christmas jam.