Grandma’s Purple Flowers

By Adjoa J. Burrowes
Paperback: $11.95

An African American girl who cherishes her frequent visits to her favorite Grandma finds a way to remember her grandmother with hope and joy after she passes away.

Description

Grandma’s house has always been the narrator’s favorite place. On her way to visit Grandma, she plucks daisies and sunflowers, and best of all, purple flowers-Grandma’s favorites. Whenever Grandma sees the purple flowers, her smile grows wide-like the Mississippi River.

Grandma passes away, and all winter long, the young girl is sad, missing her grandmother terribly. When spring finally arrives, and flowers begin to shoot up from the ground, the girl discovers her own special way to accept her grandmother’s death and keep Grandma with her always.

In this moving story, author/illustrator Adjoa J. Burrowes deals sensitively with the difficult experience of death and tells a story that celebrates the triumph of hope and spirit during a difficult time.

About the Creators

Adjoa J. Burrowes
Adjoa J. Burrowes

Adjoa J. Burrowes has illustrated many books for children, including two published by Lee & Low: My Steps, a Child magazine Best Book of the Year, and Grandma's Purple Flowers, which she also wrote, an American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists" selection. In addition, Burrowes has written and illustrated several books for Lee & Low's Bebop Books educational imprint. Burrowes received a Fine Arts degree from Howard University and currently lives with her children in Herndon, Virginia. To find out more about Adjoa Burrowes, visit her website: www.adjoaburrowes.com.

Awards

  • Best Children's Books of the Year

    Bank Street College of Education

Reviews

  • "Expressive and striking cut-paper collages. . . enhance the simple story about two loving African-American relatives."

    - School Library Journal
  • "Bright graphics, which combine cut-paper collage technique with watercolor and acrylics, make some of the action veritably leap off the page..."

    - Kirkus Reviews
  • "Many books for young children deal with death, but few have pictures that are so winning. . . The first person text is simple, moving, and hopeful: 'When I see purple flowers now, I think of Grandma."

    - Booklist

Paperback

  • ISBN 9781600603433
  • Price $11.95
  • Publication Date Oct 01, 2000
  • Trim Size 9 × 10 × 1 in
  • Weight 0.3125 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Word Count 668
  • Hardcover

  • ISBN 9781880000731
  • Price $15.95
  • Publication Date Oct 01, 2000
  • Trim Size N/A
  • Weight 0.4375 lbs
  • Word Count 668
  • Interests

  • Imprint Lee & Low Books
  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JUV / Social Themes / Death, Grief, Bereavement
  • BISAC Category 2 JUV / Social Themes / Emotions & Feelings
  • BISAC Category 3 JNF / People & Places / United States / African American
  • Themes African / African American / Black, Colors, Coping with Death, Earth / Sun / Moon System, Environment / Nature, Fiction, Friendship, Grandparents, Home, Optimism / Enthusiasm, Overcoming Obstacles, Realistic Fiction
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 6 - 9
  • Grade Range Grades 1 - 4
  • Guided Reading N
  • ATOS Book Level 3.1
  • DRA 30
  • Interest Level Grades 1 - 4
  • Lexile Code AD
  • Lexile Level 580
  • Reading Level 2
  • SRC 2.9
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
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