Going Down Home with Daddy

by Kelly Starling Lyons (Author) Daniel Minter (Illustrator)

Going Down Home with Daddy
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

A 2020 Caldecott Honor Book

"On reunion morning, we rise before the sun. Daddy hums as he packs our car with suitcases and a cooler full of snacks. He says there's nothing like going down home."

Down home is Granny's house. Down home is where Lil Alan and his parents and sister will join great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Down home is where Lil Alan will hear stories of the ancestors and visit the land that has meant so much to all of them. And down home is where all of the children will find their special way to pay tribute to family history. All the kids have to decide on what tribute to share, but what will Lil Alan do?

In this rich and moving celebration of history, culture, and ritual, Kelly Starling Lyons' eloquent text explores the power of family traditions. Stunning illustrations by Coretta Scott King Honor-winner Daniel Minter reveal the motion and connections in a large, multigenerational family.

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School Library Journal

Starred Review

Gr 2-5--Inspired by the author's family heritage and traditions, this title follows an African American family as they travel "down home" for a family reunion. Lil' Alan is excited to see his extended family and visit his great-grandma and her farm but is anxious about how he might contribute to the celebration. Sis is planning to sing Granny's favorite song, and cousin Isaiah will read a poem by Langston Hughes, but what can Lil' Alan do? As he goes on a tractor ride, enjoys "love-made" family meals, attends church services, and listens to his father and other relatives share memories and ruminate on the importance of family, Lil' Alan realizes that the answer is in the precious family land, the gifts of which he uses in a heartfelt tribute to his family and its roots. Minter's illustrations, rendered in an acrylic wash, work in beautiful harmony with Lyons's joyful portrait of a deeply loving multigenerational family. Carefully layered images, patterns, and textures reinforce the narrative links between family history, American history, ancestral land and nature, and the bonds of family: "When we go down home with Daddy, everything we see holds a piece of him and us." VERDICT Readers will enjoy this moving celebration of familial love, history, and tradition. Highly recommended.--Lauren Strohecker, McKinley Elementary School, Elkins Park, PA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

In a lushly illustrated tribute to family history, an African-American boy and his family take their annual trip to his great-grandmother's farm for a reunion. The pivotal event is a family celebration during which each individual performs. Lil Alan's cousins have their presentations prepared--one cousin will read a Langston Hughes poem, another will share a scrapbook "in Granny's favorite color blue." Alan, though, is stumped: "I kick a stone and my eyes start to burn." But as he internalizes the energy of the farm, tastes "love-made dishes," and enjoys family, the words come: "Cotton for the quilts Granny made to keep her children warm... A pecan for the trees Pa planted and all the kids love to climb." Lyons's image-rich prose and Minter's powerful acrylics--rendered in shadowy blues and fiery shades--convey a sense of historical struggle alongside cherished tradition while capturing the experience of performance jitters. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"Lyrical...a heartfelt story of family love, shared history, and connection to a place that binds everyone together." —Booklist
Kelly Starling Lyons
A Pittsburgh native, Kelly Starling Lyons attended Syracuse University and worked as a journalist before beginning her career as a children's book author. She has written numerous books for young readers including the Caldecott Honor Book Going Down Home with Daddy and the Geisel Honor Book Ty's Travels: Zip, Zoom! Lyons lives in North Carolina.

Daniel Minter is a painter and illustrator, whose work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. He is the illustrator of several books for children, including Ellen's Broom, for which he received a Coretta Scott King Illustration Honor Award, and Going Down Home with Daddy, for which he received a Caldecott Honor. He lives in Maine.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781682632291
Lexile Measure
660
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Peachtree Publishers
Publication date
May 07, 2024
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV013030 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Multigenerational
JUV011010 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - African-American
JUV005000 - Juvenile Fiction | Boys & Men
Library of Congress categories
Family life
Family reunions
Caldecott Medal
Honor Book 2020 - 2020

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