Mardi Gras almost didn't come this year

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Title:

Mardi Gras almost didn't come this year

Author:

Price, Kathy (Kathy Z.), 1957- author.

Williams, Carl Joe, illustrator.

Summary:

Lala, Babyboy, and their parents struggle to cope with the loss of their home to Hurricane Katrina, but find joy again in the celebration of Mardi Gras. Includes facts about Hurricane Katrina and glossary.

Audience:

Ages 4-8.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

48 unnumbered pages : color illustrations ; 23 x 32 cm.

Genre:

Picture books.

Subject Term:

Loss (Psychology) -- Juvenile fiction.

Families -- Juvenile fiction.

Hurricane Katrina, 2005 -- Juvenile fiction.

Carnival -- Juvenile fiction.

Geographic Term:

Louisiana -- Juvenile fiction.

Author(s):

Williams, Carl Joe,

Publisher:

Atheneum Books for Young Readers,

Publication Date:

2022

ISBN:

9781534444256

Publication Information:

New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, [2022]

Call Number:

P PRICE

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003593970	Picture Books	PRICE	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

In this gorgeous and lyrical picture book, a family finds hope and healing in a Mardi Gras celebration after Hurricane Katrina changed their world.

That zany beat in our feet is 'cause of Pop-Pop, our pa. He sure loved himself some Mardi Gras! "It's Mardi Gras weather!" he'd shout out whenever, blaring his horn, tilting it high. Mamma'd laugh 'til she cried. Hands on hips, she'd sashay barefoot, fancy-dancy of the ball.

But Pop-Pop hasn't played his horn, not since the storm.

This vibrant and moving story shows a family struggling to rebuild their home and their spirits following Hurricane Katrina. A young brother and sister aren't sure how their displaced family can move on until one very special Mardi Gras gives them and their parents new hope and belief in a beautiful future.

Author Notes

Kathy Z. Price made her debut in the children's book field with the publication of The Bourbon Street Musicians . She is a Cave Canem Fellow and a recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry. Kathy was awarded an Archie D. and Bertha H. Walker Scholarship with the Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, and received a scholarship award for the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. Visit her at KathyZPrice.com.

Carl Joe Williams was born in uptown New Orleans. At fourteen, he was accepted into The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) where he received his formal training. Williams's work has been displayed in several venues throughout the United States, including "Journeys," an installation at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and Williams's "Sculptural Trees" installation on the median of Veterans Boulevard. Visit him at CarlJoeWilliams.com.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Price (The Bourbon Street Musicians) sensitively explores the lasting impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans through a view of one Black Louisiana family. Residing in "Aunt Henny Peck's old shotgun house" since their home was damaged in Katrina's storm and flood, siblings Lala and Babyboy long for "a thousand beignets, sweet bakes, King Cakes." But though "it's Mardi Gras weather," they fear that the holiday is "not coming, ever." Disappointed when their mother, once "the most fancy-dancy of the ball," doesn't embrace the season, Lala and Babyboy revisit their devastated neighborhood and cry at "the smell of rotting water; houses that once stood proud, bowed under decaying wood or disappeared." When Lala decides to resurrect Mardi Gras for her brother, their parents join in, and revelry returns to Bourbon Street and St. Charles Avenue in an act of familial and communal resilience that focuses on rebuilding. Mixed-media illustrations by artist Williams, making his debut, give overlapping meanings to the characters' conflicting emotions--sorrow and celebration, frustration and hope--in layered, saturated backdrops that commemorate the reality and festivity of life in the Big Easy. Back matter includes a highly useful glossary of terms for readers unfamiliar with the intricacies of Mardi Gras. Ages 4--8. (Feb.)