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Kenya's Family Reunion
Preparing to attend the annual family reunion, which is being marked this year by the fiftieth anniversary of the building of her grandfather's house, eight-year-old Kenya and her young relatives plan a special surprise.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 20, 2023
Review first published on my blog
Dragon Bite Books
.
I’ve now read two books by Juwanda G. Ford: Together for Kwanzaa and Kenya’s Family Reunion. Both are well written stories centering celebrations by Black families, and the stories further center the experiences and feelings of young, Black girls. Both are wonderfully heartwarming stories of familial love. Both are too long to stand out to me as good books for story times (historically story times that I have hosted have been attended by very young children, many of whom aren’t ready to read on their own yet). I was able to paperclip together several pages in Kenya’s Family Reunion to make the story a length that I thought my story time audience could handle. I have not yet been able to use this abridged story for a story time, though I would still like to try it out on an audience of young listeners.
I found Kenya’s Family Reunion in November 2022. In it, Kenya and her extended family gather at her grandfather’s farm, a house that he built fifty years before, for a week-long reunion. Kenya hugs her grandfather, plays hide-and-seek with her cousins, and shares meals with the whole family. Christianity is alluded to in the “Amen” spoken before one of these feasts.
The family gathers after their grandfather has gone to bed and decides to mark his fiftieth year in the house. Kenya proposes the perfect gift—a detailed model of his farm—and the whole family comes together to make it happen, keeping their work a secret from the patriarch until the final day of the reunion when they present their gift to him. Kenya is careful to make sure her youngest cousin is included, which is again heartwarming.
I adore the warmth and meaning of this story. The love that Kenya has for her family is palpable, and I want to join in the festivities. I think some adults readers will appreciate that at not point is anyone in the family seen in front of a large or small screen.
Although set during the summer, I think it is a great holiday season book for its focus on family and family gatherings.
I’ve now read two books by Juwanda G. Ford: Together for Kwanzaa and Kenya’s Family Reunion. Both are well written stories centering celebrations by Black families, and the stories further center the experiences and feelings of young, Black girls. Both are wonderfully heartwarming stories of familial love. Both are too long to stand out to me as good books for story times (historically story times that I have hosted have been attended by very young children, many of whom aren’t ready to read on their own yet). I was able to paperclip together several pages in Kenya’s Family Reunion to make the story a length that I thought my story time audience could handle. I have not yet been able to use this abridged story for a story time, though I would still like to try it out on an audience of young listeners.
I found Kenya’s Family Reunion in November 2022. In it, Kenya and her extended family gather at her grandfather’s farm, a house that he built fifty years before, for a week-long reunion. Kenya hugs her grandfather, plays hide-and-seek with her cousins, and shares meals with the whole family. Christianity is alluded to in the “Amen” spoken before one of these feasts.
The family gathers after their grandfather has gone to bed and decides to mark his fiftieth year in the house. Kenya proposes the perfect gift—a detailed model of his farm—and the whole family comes together to make it happen, keeping their work a secret from the patriarch until the final day of the reunion when they present their gift to him. Kenya is careful to make sure her youngest cousin is included, which is again heartwarming.
I adore the warmth and meaning of this story. The love that Kenya has for her family is palpable, and I want to join in the festivities. I think some adults readers will appreciate that at not point is anyone in the family seen in front of a large or small screen.
Although set during the summer, I think it is a great holiday season book for its focus on family and family gatherings.
Displaying 1 of 1 review