Synopses & Reviews
Each morning as the sun brightens the West African sky, mother and child prepare to start their day. They spend it bound together, the child riding on the mothers back watching their world go past. Pounding millet, drawing water from the well, visiting friends, shopping at the outdoor marketdays are shared in perfect step with one another. And even when the child grows big enough to go off and explore their world, the everlasting embrace endures.
Illustrated with E.B. Lewiss stunning watercolors that bring to life the land and people of Mali, Gabrielle Emanuels tender story celebrates the universal bond between mother and child.
Review
--CHILD, January 1997
To children who ask "Who do you love best?" this book offers the perfect balm. The setting for eloquent text and watercolors is a day spent fishing--and competing to be number one. Each child, a mother tells her two sons, is beloved for his own special ualities. The deliberate Julian is loved "the bluest," ebullient Max "the reddest," for a combined love that is "the purplest."
--PARENTS, December 1996
When two brothers ask their mother which one she loves best, she comes up with a wise and loving answer. This book is a tender reminder that have a special place in their parents' hearts.
--BOOKLIST, October 15, 1996
Further probing the theme of her Seprember 16, 1996
The setting is idyllic as two brothers and their Mama go fishing in the lake near their cabin until stars sprinkle the sky and the water turns dark as night. Max is boisterous; Julian is quieter and both of them are rivals for their mother's attention and her love. Who's the best fisherman? they ask Who's the best rower? At the end of the day, who does Mama love the best? Each time she answers them to show that she loves them both for their own special selves. Whyte's double-page-spread watercolors show the warm family scenes in a landscape filled with light and color. A soft affectionate story to confront the hard edges of sibling rivalry.
--CHILD, Best Books of the Year, December/January 1997 To children who ask, "Who do you love the best?" this book offers the perfect balm. The setting for eloquent text and watercolors is a day spent fishing--and competing to be number one. Each child, a mother tells her two sons, is beloved for his own special qualitites. The deliberate Julian is loved "the bluest," ebullient Max "the reddest," for a combined love that is "the purplest."
Review
"Lewiss dappled watercolors both ground the story in the details of its specific setting—fishing boats resting by the shore, vibrant clothing—and reflect the characters mutual, unconditional devotion, which stretches across borders." —
Publishers Weekly
"Commendable. . . Lewiss paintings. . . capture the affection of mother and child, the brightly patterned cloths, the busy market stalls." —School Library Journal
Synopsis
Two boys discover that their mother loves them equally but in different ways.
Synopsis
Early in the evening two young brothers and their mama finish supper in the sturdy red cabin and set out to fish. While digging for worms, rowing the boat and pulling in fish, each brother asks his mama which one is the best at each task and, as they are being tucked into bed, which one she loves the best.
Barbara Joosse's heartwarming text is beautifully complimented by Mary Whyte's engaging watercolor illustrations. Readers will delight in the tender message that every child holds a special place in a parent's heart.
Synopsis
Early in the evening two young brothers and their mama finish supper in the sturdy red cabin and set out to fish. While digging for worms, rowing the boat and pulling in fish, each brother asks his mama which one is the best at each task and, as they are being tucked into bed, which one she loves the best.
Barbara Joosse's heartwarming text is beautifully complimented by Mary Whyte's engaging watercolor illustrations. Readers will delight in the tender message that every child holds a special place in a parent's heart.
About the Author
Gabrielle Emanuel lived in Mali for a year after graduating from Dartmouth. She worked in the health sector in the small town of Bandiagara and later in the capitol of Bamako. She would often read to one little girl, and was dismayed that none of the books available reflected the landscape and culture of the country. For the next two years she was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford studying public policy; she now works at NPR in Washington, D.C., where she currently lives. Gabrielle has always loved traveling and storytelling.
The Everlasting Embrace, her first book, gave her the opportunity to combine those loves.
E.B. Lewis has illustrated many acclaimed picture books, including his collaborations with Jacqueline Woodson: Each Kindness, The Other Side, and Coming On Home Soon, which was named a Caldecott Honor Book. He received the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for Talkin About Bessie by Nikki Grimes. He teaches at the University of Arts in Philadelphia and makes his home in Folsom, New Jersey.