Tea Cakes for Tosh

Gr 1–3—Tosh and his grandmother Honey share a special bond, cemented by a story that she has been telling him his whole life. It begins: "Long ago, before you and I were born, our people were enslaved." She follows with the story of a plantation cook who sneaked tea cakes out of the master's house in order to give a taste of sweet freedom to her grandchildren. When Honey shows signs of old age and forgetfulness, Tosh himself bakes the tea cakes to share with her, ensuring that the tradition will survive. Lyons does a wonderful job of showing how cross-generational relationships teach us to respect the past and plan for the future. Lewis's watercolor paintings are miraculously realistic, evoking the characters' relationship and spirit and depicting long-ago plantation life in gray and white to emphasize the shift in time.—Lisa Egly Lehmuller, St. Patrick's Catholic School, Charlotte, NC