Hot Day on Abbott Avenue

by Karen English and Javaka Steptoe

“Hot days sure can make tempers short,” says Miss Johnson when Kishi... read more

“Hot days sure can make tempers short,” says Miss Johnson when Kishi and Renee refuse to talk to one another. Instead the two girls glare at each other from their respective porches. It’s a hot day on Abbott Avenue, and no matter what kind of distraction the adults concoct to make the girls forgive one another, it’s a “best-friend-breakup day” and a “never-speak-to-her-again-even-if-she-was-the last-person-on-earth day.” Extraordinarily intricate collages of paper cuts depict the people in motion in the neighborhood and create an urban rhythm through the movement of bodies. Finally it’s the sound of other girls jumping rope that lures Kishi and Renee back to their friendship, and when the ice cream man comes selling blue popsicles (the initial source of disagreement) Kishi shares hers with Renee. The last page shows the girls with blue lipped smiles, “feeling-good-about-being-best-friends day.” Highly Commended, 2005 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 5–9)

© Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2005

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