Tea Cakes for Tosh

by Kelly Starling Lyons and E.B. Lewis

With her tea cakes, Tosh’s grandma Honey shares stories that always begin with... read more

With her tea cakes, Tosh’s grandma Honey shares stories that always begin with the words, “Long ago, before you and I were born … our people were enslaved.” Honey tells how Tosh’s “great-great-great-grandma Ida” baked tea cakes, too, and hid a few in her pockets to give her own children, slaves like her, a taste and “a promise of days to come.” When Honey begins to have problems with her memory—forgetting where she parked, a familiar phone number, and even how to make tea cakes—Tosh is able to give back the memories (including the tea cake recipe) she’d shared with him. The loving relationship between Tosh and his aging grandma provides both a reassuring snapshot of a family dealing with a common concern of aging, as well as an enduring family history traveling through the generations. Warm watercolor illustrations effectively employ some sepia-toned pages to convey a sense of a time long past, while full-color spreads transport the reader back to the present. Highly Commended, 2013 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 4–8)

© Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2013

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