Volume 2, No. 2 (Winter 1998) -- Black History Month Issue

Alice
By Whoopi Goldberg
Illustrated by John Rocco

Meet the coolest girl in town. Her name is Alice. This girl is serious about winning a sweepstake. That is, any sweepstake. She hangs out with her friend Robin, a weird dude that wears an unbelievable hat, and Sal, an invisible rabbit. One day, Alice looks into her mailbox to discover she has won a prize. Big bucks! Being rich! Fancy clothes! Ev.ery.thing money can buy. All she has to do is get to New York to claim her prize. Sound simple? Well, I think not! Come along with Alice and her friends, Robin and Sal, as they travel through the Big Apple. Meet the twins who run the diner and after learning about the win, they want a piece of the action. But they get caught in their shrinking diner. Meet Mrs.Lowdown, who is low down when she tries to con Alice out of her sweepstakes ticket. Meet the fortune teller, who gets Alice to see that she is rich. Rich in friends and people who care for her. (She sees this only after she learns that her winnings are all a hoax.) What’s up with this Alice? Don’t you know that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence? Join Alice and her friends in some ad.ven.tures that are guar.an.teed to tickle your funny bone. As Whoopi says, “This book will mess up your hair.do.” A funny book, a cute story, with a valuable ending. A “must” read.

Imagine a cold winter evening and a little girl sitting at her grandmother’s feet, watching her piece together a quilt. Just think how much Tanya was able to learn about her family from the pieces her grandmother was using to make the quilt. A square from her brother’s shirt, a square from her mother’s dress, a square from father’s old work shirt and a square from Tanya’s Halloween costume. Squares being stitched and woven together with such love and care from a beloved grandmother. When Tanya’s grandmother became ill, Tanya and her Mother took over the task of making the quilt. Even her brother and father lent a helping hand. Tanya added a piece of her grand-mother’s life to the quilt by cutting a square from grandmother’s faded and worn quilt. As you read this book, you can feel the love and the story of a family being woven to.geth.er through the making of a quilt. Each one adds their bit of life to make the woven bonds of the family strong and united. Just like the pieces of "The Patchwork Quilt," you won’t be able to put this book down as you live this story through the illustrations of Jerry Pinkney, who brings this story to life. This book was a winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. Also, this is a Reading Rainbow Book and an ALA Notable Book.