How Mama Brought the Spring

by Fran Manushkin, Holly Berry (Illustrator)

One wintry morning, Mama tells Rosy a wondrous story about her own mama, Grandma Beatrice, who could bring spring to cold, cold Minsk by making magic in the kitchen. Together, mother and daughter mix batter and sing a song. Then the batter goes into the pan?pour, swirl, swizzle, FLIP! Soon Papa comes in from the cold and the family shares a special treat. (Hint: A recipe for blintzes is included!) In this delightfully cozy tale, Holly Berry?s stunning illustrations evoke charming folk traditions and the warm magic made in Mama?s kitchen.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 24, 2008

About the author

Fran Manushkin is the author of more than fifty books for children, including the Katie Woo series; Big Girl Panties, illustrated by Valeria Petrone; Big Sisters Are the Best, illustrated by Kirsten Richards; The Tushy Book, illustrated by Tracy Dockray; and Baby, Come Out!, illustrated by Ronald Himler and translated into eight languages. She lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Dastiny Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

How Mama Brought the Spring, is a young girl who is over wintertime and is ready for spring. One day, the girl doesn't want to get out of bed because she is so over winter. Her mother convinced her to get out of bed to tell her a story about how her grandma brought spring. Her grandma brought spring during winter by singing songs, baking, cooking, and having a great time with family inside of the house. I can use this book, in my classroom when we talk about the four seasons.

[Laura Aleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shows a girl helping her mom, good example of good behavior. Also I love that the book includes the recipe!

[Eli Self · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a fun book to read then make what they are making and bring it in for the class!

[Sandy Duke · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful little children's picture book! Blintzes in Belarus -- including the recipe! Yum!

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you live in a climate that has distinct seasons, you learn basic elemental truths; at a certain point in any given year you are going to be sick and tired of winter. Usually that point happens sometime in the middle of February. It's after the groundhog has done his whole spot-the-shadow confabulation and you're gearing up for a long stretch of overcast skies, marrow chilling days, and general bleakness. Spring, it seems, is just this beautiful intangible dream. This has been the case for centuries and, global warming permitting, will probably continue to exist somewhere. When this happens, it's nice to have a book like How Mama Brought the Spring to help chase away the chill winds. The kind of book that warms you deep down to your very core.

It isn't that Rosy Levine doesn't want to get up . . . okay, maybe it is. And who can blame her? Outside the sun hasn't shown its face in days and it seems like spring will never come to Illinois. Fortunately Rosy's mother understands, and to cheer her daughter up she tells her the story of how her own mother once brought spring to Minsk. On a day very much like this one Rosy's mother was also buried deep under her covers until she heard her mama up to something. In the kitchen the two of them start to make a mysterious food that involves yellow circles as bright as sunflowers and a blue tablecloth like a deep blue sky. As the two continue to cook the day grows warmer and warmer until the whole family is sitting down to delicious blintzes and the air outside has grown warm and balmy. And so Rosy and her own mother set out to do the same, hoping to bring a little bit of sunshine to a cold Chicago day.

While weeding the "little book" section of my library's picture book collection I happened to stumble across one of Fran Manushkin's earliest titles, Baby. It was a fun spin on a baby fully intent on not leaving the womb, no matter what its relatives promised it. I know some mothers who can relate. Manushkin has always liked the inner workings of a family, to say nothing of the inherent magic in the everyday. And How Mama Brought the Spring really does make blintzes sound like the most delicious food conceived by man, woman, or child. The recipe in the back contains everything a person would need (though what's "farmer cheese"?) and this might mean that the book is a good food related story to include in world food classroom projects.

I wasn't familiar with illustrator Holly Berry's work, though I'd seen copies of I'm a Pig and The Gingerbread Cowboy in my library. She uses a combination of watercolor and colored pencil that happens to complement this particular story very well. Her cold drafty rooms very gray and chilly. Her warm spring winds are the same buttery yellow as the blintzes themselves. And Berry is continually playing with the . . . . should I call it "the borders" of her books? That doesn't seem quite right. When I say "border" you're going to imagine a pattern running up, down, and across the edges of the pages in a neat little fashion. Berry, on the other hand, is hardly so exact. The bottoms of her pages may show a man shoveling snow or the view of a frozen village sometimes. Other times the page skews and we're looking at the wild angle of two different patterned cloths overlapping one another. Speaking of patterns, I was particularly taken with Berry's penchant for giving unpatterned natural objects, like the sun, a style entirely of their own. I was also fond of the blue blintz tablecloth forming the book's endpapers. They're all little touches, but together they give the book zing.

I was a little baffled by the review of this book in the publication Booklist. While almost all the professional reviews have been positive, Booklist wondered why the book didn't discuss the fact that this was a Jewish food created by Jewish people. I'm not entirely sure what the objection is here. I mean, the main character's name is Rosy Levine. Just because the characters aren't dancing the Horah around the table doesn't mean the book is ignoring the characters' roots.

As I stare out my window at the bleak winter weather, I daydream about the warm months. It doesn't hurt to have a couple books to help me with these daydreams. How Mama Brought the Spring is just one of those books that feel good to read when you need a reminder of what's to come. A delicious and warm little book.

Ages 4-8

[Maura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a mother that brings her Belarus past into her daughters life. It was a very cold winter day in Chicago, and this little girl wants it be to warmer. Her mother told her a story about how her grandmother brought spring to the family during winter. The mother told her daughter a story about how he grandmother made cheese blintzes. The descriptive words in this book really made you use your imagination with the setting of the story. While reading this book you felt like you were right there cooking cheese blintzes with her grandmother. I loved the part where it talked about how the dough made the mother feel so warm as a child. It made her feel like spring had came. I love that this book had so many cultural reverences. I would use this book in my classroom when I want to teach my class about different foods from different cultures.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book about being stuck in the middle of winter and being so tired of it, that you want to scream! To shake off the winter blues, Rosy's mother tells her the story of how her mother and grandmother use to make cheese blintzes to welcome the spring, as Rosie and her mother end up doing by the end of the book. The storyline is good, and I've been that cold before, with the layers and layers of clothes put on and never seeming to get warm. I love the illustrations though, esp with the Russian details in the clothes and furniture. They also have a recipe for cheese blintzes a the end of the book. This book is a 2009 Charlotte Zolotow Honor Award winner. Recommended for ages 5-8.

[(NS) Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grade Level: K-3

Set in present-day, wintery Chicago, this imagery-rich picture book is the story of a mother who tells her daughter about how she learned to cook blintzes with her own mother during a harsh winter in Belarus as a child. There are several parts of the book that could be sung, as well as poetic parts for choral reading ("Pour, swirl, sizzle, flip!"). At the end of the book, a recipe for blintzes is included, lending itself well to a delicious extension activity. This book could also be used to for a sequencing lesson.

[D'metria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book for discussing different cultures, because the main character is Russain and therefore her and her families traditions are different from some most common in America. This is also a book that could be used for introducing social skills and acceptance. The book also talks about the different seasons and can be used for imprtant literary use. This would be a good book for discussing the different aspects of a story; characters, setting, sequencing, summarizing, and synthesizing.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never having lived anywhere with actual seasons, it always feels a bit foreign to read about people getting so very sick and tired of winter. Winter in southern California consists of around four rainy days...and those aren't even in a row! So reading about people longing for sunshine is a bit like visiting a foreign country and experiencing their culture. I really liked this book! It was too long to read for storytime, but I read it several times just for my own enjoyment. And I am making blintzes for Mother's Day!

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is nice. I would only read it during the winter season. Probably on a day where it is too cold to do anything outside. I think the kids will enjoy some of the actions words in the book. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them started using them on a regular basis. Being stuck inside doesn't always mean being bored.

[Marla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this. The descriptions are really nice and let you know that not everyone has central heating. The blintz recipe at the end is fantastic, and because of this book, kid1 has insisted on making blintzes often.

[Diem Dangers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love it when I see people appreciating the soulful side of food and how it carries with it deep cultural meanings. This is such a beautifully illustrated book, and I can almost taste the blintzes. Includes a recipe at the end!

[Amy Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story about how mama brings in the spring by cooking a special Russian food. Would be good for Booktrek: the Countries.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seren's favorite! Tender thoughts, although not my favorite illustrations.

[Tina B · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Belarus, cooking, multicultural, Blintz bring the spring in Minsk, mother and daughter in winter"

[Nick Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly a fun book. The collaborative nature and feature of a recipe make the family story and illustration much more enjoyable.

[Melissa Corkum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really fun tale with a recipe in the back. Perfect for a snowy day at home!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book allows students to see into another culture and comes with a response in the back that sound delicious.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

recipe for Mama's Cheese Blintzes in the back