Sari-Sari Summers

by Lynnor Bontigao (Author) Lynnor Bontigao (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

In this love letter to the Philippines (and to grandmothers), a young girl comes up with a brilliantly delicious way to attract customers after a heat wave leaves her lola's store empty.

Nora loves spending summers with Lola at her sari-sari store, a treasure trove filled with everything you could need, from hair accessories to toys, creamy yema to sour tamarind candy. And this year, Nora is big enough to help her grandmother. But when a heat wave strikes and no one comes to the store, Nora worries that she won't get to spend the rest of the summer with her lola--until she gets a sweet idea. After all, the mangoes on the tree outside are finally ripe, and with a bit of measuring, mixing, and a good deal of tasting, Nora and Lola have a refreshing way to bring people together--and to the sari-sari store.

With soft, heartfelt illustrations, Lynnor Bontigao's endearing picture book--featuring a recipe for making mango ice candy like Nora's--is an ode to ingenuity and to intergenerational relationships that's as sweet and gentle as a kiss on the cheek.

Select format:
Hardcover
$18.99

Kirkus

Like a sari-sari store, brimming with joy and heart.

ALA/Booklist

Readers get to share Nora's eagerness as they are treated to a two-page spread depicting colorful, delectable items stacked neatly on the store shelves. . . . This sweet story of intergenerational love will resonate with many readers.

Review quotes

Lively text provides an engrossing picture of the Philippines. . . thoughtful portrayals of Filipino customs along with speech bubbles featuring both Tagalog and English lend an authenticity. Bontigao's debut brims with heart-warming delight as the loving intergenerational relationship between Nora and her lola making ice candy shows how food brings a community together.
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 

Lynnor Bontigao
Lynnor Bontigao hails from one of the more than 7,600 islands of the Philippines. She is the illustrator of Jack & Agyu by Justine Villanueva and You Are Revolutionary by Cindy Wang Brandt. Sari-Sari Summers is her debut as author-illustrator. A member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and the winner of the 2020 SCBWI Tomie dePaola Professional Development Award, Lynnor Bontigao lives in New Jersey with her family.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781536226140
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Candlewick Press (MA)
Publication date
April 11, 2023
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV013030 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Multigenerational
JUV030020 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | Asia
JUV050000 - Juvenile Fiction | Cooking & Food
Library of Congress categories
Grandmothers
Picture books
Grandparent and child
Candy
Philippines

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