Author: Valerie Flournoy
Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney
(1) "Tanya's Reunion" is a sequel to Flournoy's book "The
Patchwork Quilt." In this story, we learn more about Tanya and her grandmother as they go ahead of the family to Virginia. In Virginia, they will be joining their extended family for a reunion. Tanya is at first very excited to be going with her grandmother, but once she arrives, she is disappointed at what she sees. The farm is not nearly as impressive as she thought it would be in her mind and her cousins are either too young, or not playful enough. Throughout this experience, Tanya learns to appreciate the things of the past and she learns from her grandmother in the process. Pinkney's illustrations in this book are very soft. The pictures are larger than life; they seem to work as a snapshot, capturing frames of the reunion. One of my favorite illustrations (shown below) is when Tanya finds the room with all of the memories of the past. Her expression is priceless and almost like a "kid in a candy shop."
(2) I have read one other book that was illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. This was "The Old African", which was written by Julius Lester. Surprisingly, I favor the artwork of "The Old African" to that of "Tanya's Reunion." Likely, it is because the story of "The Old African" is so emotional, that it is hard to not become attached to those illustrations.
(3) Jerry Pinkney (above) has illustrated many children's books since he began in 1964. Some of these books are listed below.
"John Henry"
"The Talking Eggs"
"Mirandy and Brother Wind"
"Little Red Riding Hood"
"Aesop's Fables"
"Noah's Ark"
"The Little Red Hen"
"The Ugly Duckling"
"The Sunday Outing"
"The Jungle Book"
"The Nightingale"
"Back Home"
and many more.
Images courtesy of http://images.google.com.
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