Mama's Sleeping Scarf

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Author) Joelle Avelino (Illustrator)

Mama's Sleeping Scarf
Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

The first children's book from the best-selling author of We Should All Be Feminists and Americanah--a tender story about a little girl's love for her mother's scarf, and the adventures she shares with it and her whole family.

Chino loves the scarf that her mama ties around her hair at night. But when Mama leaves for the day, what happens to her scarf? Chino takes it on endless adventures! Peeking through the colorful haze of the silky scarf, Chino and her toy bunny can look at her whole family as they go through their routines. With stunning illustrations from Joelle Avelino, Mama's Sleeping Scarf is a celebration of family, and a touching story about the everyday objects that remind us of the ones we love.

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Solidly reassuring.

Publishers Weekly

A mother's scarf helps a child navigate a day's beats in this reiterative garment-focused picture book from Grace-James (Americanah, for adults, as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) and illustrator Avelino, both making U.S. picture book debuts. Green with "big red circles and little blue circles," Mama's silky sleeping scarf helps "to keep her hair all soft and nice." When Mama has to leave for the day, she offers up the scarf as a plaything, an action that catalyzes further connection with the child's other family members. Bright, pattern-forward domestic spreads depict Chino as wrapping stuffed companion Bunny in the scarf while playing doctor, using the scarf to play peekaboo with Papa, waving it around on a walk with Grandpa, and having it tied around Chino's own head by Grandma. When dinner is served, the textile even inspires Chino to eat vegetables that mimic its pattern. Conversations between Chino and Bunny sometimes echo narrative lines, leading to a feeling of repetitiveness, while appealing household details ("fresh fruits all sweet and nice. Yellow bananas and green mangoes") contribute fresh sensorial observations. This straightforward yet lively telling illustrates how a simple object used to maintain and accessorize hair supports both a child's sense of autonomy and a Black family's powerful bond. Ages 3-7. (Sept.)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie nació en 1977 en Nigeria. A los diecinueve años consiguió una beca para estudiar comunicación y ciencias políticas en Filadelfia. Posteriormente cursó un máster en escritura creativa en la Universidad Johns Hopkins de Portland, y actualmente vive entre Nigeria y Estados Unidos.

A día de hoy Literatura Random House ha publicado sus tres novelas La flor púrpura, ganadora del Commonwealth Writers' Prize y el Hurston / Wright Legacy Award; Medio sol amarillo, galardonada con el Orange Prize for Fiction (llamado actualmente el Women's Prize for Fiction), y nombrada su "Winner of Winners" en 2020, y finalista del National Book Critics Circle Award, y Americanah, que recibió el elogio de la crítica y fue galardonada con el Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize 2013 y el National Book Critics Circle Award en 2014, y nombrado uno de los 10 mejores libros del año del New York Times. Ha publicado también en esta editorial la colección de relatos Algo alrededor de tu cuello, el ensayo Todos deberíamos ser feministas (el reconocido TEDx Talk que se ha convertido en uno de los discursos feministas más divulgados y leídos de todos los tiempos), el manifiesto Querida Ijeawele. Cómo educar en el feminismo, su primer discurso, El peligro de la historia única, y su último ensayo, Sobre el duelo.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780593535578
Lexile Measure
450
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Knopf Publishing Group
Publication date
September 05, 2023
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV013030 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Multigenerational
JUV051000 - Juvenile Fiction | Imagination & Play
JUV011010 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - African-American
Library of Congress categories
Picture books
Love
Blacks
Mothers and daughters
Scarves

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