The table is where this loving Black family enjoys the first meal of the day; it\u2019s where the children do homework and make cookies and where everyone prepares for fish fry Fridays. Extended family shares space here during somber moments, such as deaths, and on happier occasions, including birthdays, Kwanzaa, and other holidays. Grandpa regales the young protagonist (who narrates) with stories of Mom and Dad\u2019s past as the child listens intently. And when it\u2019s time for Mom to braid the youngster\u2019s hair, this, too, happens at the table. \u201cThe process is exhausting for both of us, and I sometimes struggle to sit still,\u201d but \u201cwhen she is finished, I feel so pretty\u2014and thankful that it\u2019s done.\u201d In her authorial debut, Washington relies on the cut-paper collage technique that won her a Caldecott Honor for Choosing Brave (2022), written by Angela Joy. Her images boast bright colors, rich textures (the grain of the wooden table is particularly eye-catching), and a level of detail so intricate, it\u2019s hard to believe the artist relied on cut paper alone. Her straightforward prose often ripples across the page, conveying warmth and visual verve. Photos of Washington\u2019s own family table close out the work.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The table is where this loving Black family enjoys the first meal of the day; it\u2019s where the children do homework and make cookies and where everyone prepares for fish fry Fridays. Extended family shares space here during somber moments, such as deaths, and on happier occasions, including birthdays, Kwanzaa, and other holidays. Grandpa regales […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5939"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}