Traci Dant
About the Book
My father, Melvin Dant Jr., inspired me to write the poems in Some Kind of Love. He is the one who grew up attending every Mother's Day reunion in Hannibal, Missouri. He is the one who told stories about aunts and uncles and cousins I'd never met. He is the one who told me that every family reunion was a carnival of cousins, a never-ending banquet, and a giant sleepover. He is the one who made sure my brother and I attended Mother's Day reunions so we would have stories to tell our own children. And because of him, I was able to share these stories with you.
Reviews of Some Kind of Love
Publishers Weekly
All opening with the line, “Must be some kind of love,” lyrical yet plainspoken poems describe a large African-American family’s reunion in Missouri, while Velasquez’s expressive oils make the family members feel alive. Though there’s not much sleeping room (“We sleep four boys to a bed. Head to foot and head to foot”), each activity affirms the spirit of love and mutual understanding. Cousins fish with cane poles, Aunt Lois’s two-bedroom house becomes a “space large enough to hold 100 people for a fish fry,” stories are shared and connections strengthened. Even good-byes are cause for celebratory hugs and kisses, driving home the message about unbreakable ties. Ages 5–9. (Apr.)
Booklist
"Must be some kind of love." That is the refrain that starts off each moving poem in this picture book about an annual African American family reunion, told in free verse from the viewpoint of a nine-year-old boy. Handsome oil paintings show the "giant sleepover," with group pictures of multiple generations, as well as close-ups of cousins sharing bikes, eating fried chicken, and sleeping four boys to a bed, "head to foot and head to foot."
School Library Journal
Gr 1–6—In this moving tribute, 15 poems describe the joy of one African-American family's annual reunion weekend. It begins with the words of Grandma: "Always come home/Come home so I can see your faces./Your brown, your cream, your peach,/your purple, your midnight faces. Come." The poems take readers through the anticipation of everyone's arrival, crowded sleeping arrangements, fishing, telling stories, and more until the time to say goodbye. Velasquez depicts this warm, inviting party in oils, and the illustrations are rich with color and emotion. Each selection begins by calling attention to the love that binds this family. A rich celebration of togetherness.—Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA
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