Starred Review ALA Booklist (Sun Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2004)

Starred Review As in their award-winning picture book The Other Side (2001), Woodson and Lewis tell a moving historical story of longing and separation. The setting here is the home front during World War II, and Ada Ruth's mama leaves to find work in the city ("They're hiring colored women in Chicago since all the men are off fighting in the war"). At home with Grandma, Ada Ruth holds on to memories of Mama's love and writes to her. Times are hard, and for a long time "no letter or money coming." Ada Ruth takes in a stray kitten, and even though Grandma says they can't keep it, Ada Ruth does, and its purring softness is big and warm on her lap. The race, class, and gender struggle is part of the larger drama ("A colored woman working on the railroad!"), but for Ada Ruth, it's the waiting, quietly expressed in her simple, poetic first-person narrative. Lewis' beautiful watercolors establish the setting, not the South this time, but a spacious rural landscape with snow and icy storms, and inside, the loving portrayals of the women in warm, neat rooms with an empty chair. Period and place are wonderfully specific; the yearning is timeless.

Starred Review for Publishers Weekly

The creators of <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Other Side set this quietly stirring tale during an unspecified wartime (though details in the paintings suggest WWII). Ada Ruth's mother packs her suitcase in the opening full-bleed painting, explaining to her daughter, "They're hiring colored women in Chicago since all the men are off fighting in the war.... I'm gonna head on up there." Staying with her loving grandmother, the forlorn narrator continues to write to her mother, yet receives no response. Ada Ruth takes solace in her grandmother's embraces and encouragement ("Your mama's gonna be coming on home soon") and in the company of a kitten that appears at the door one snowy morning. Woodson's narrative is lyrical and spontaneous; of the kitten, Ada Ruth observes, "It's a slip of a thing. But its softness is big./ And warm as ten quilts on my lap./ Warm as Mama's hands." Lewis's lifelike, earth-toned watercolors deftly convey the sustaining affection and mutual support between Ada Ruth and her grandmother, as well as the girl's simultaneous loneliness. Well placed cameo-shaped portraits of the mother and her activities provide reassurance to readers. The story ends on a positive note: the long-awaited letter from Mama promises "I'll be coming on home soon" and a final, wordless image reveals the woman making her way through the snow to their door. Ages 5-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Oct.)

School Library Journal Starred Review

K-Gr 3-A beautifully written and illustrated story from the creators of The Other Side (Putnam, 2001), set during World War II. Ada Ruth waits for the return of her mother, who left home in search of a job. "They're hiring colored women in Chicago since all the men are off fighting in the war." Perfectly matched words and illustrations masterfully bring to life all the emotions that the girl is experiencing as she, her grandmother, and a stray kitten that has come to stay all try to comfort and console one another. As snow continues to fall, the large watercolor pages are filled with scenes of wistful longing-looking out the window, bringing in firewood, giving the kitten some milk, knitting, listening to news on the radio, and capturing the disappointment when the postman passes without stopping. Finally, a letter arrives and, with it, some much-needed money. The first line of the letter reads, "Tell Ada Ruth I'll be coming on home soon." Now, images convey a warm sense of anticipation. The final painting shows a woman with her back to readers approaching a house- home. A tender, heartfelt story that will touch readers.-Mary N. Oluonye, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Horn Book (Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2005)

When Mama goes north to Chicago to earn money while the men are fighting in World War II, Ada Ruth must stay home with Grandma, trying hard to be brave. Story line here is spare; this is all about feelings and relationships, and Woodson's gently evocative words are expressively developed in Lewis's watercolors. Lewis captures both people and place with great warmth and humanity.

Kirkus Reviews

In a perfect pairing with Woodson's text, Lewis manages to make his rich watercolors glow with the light of memory in a simple story of another time of war. His figures and objects fill the real space they inhabit, however, and appear fully present in our consciousness. Ada Ruth misses her mama, who has gone off to work cleaning railroad cars in Chicago. During WWII, when the men were fighting, women were needed to work—even, as Ada Ruth's mother says, colored women. When a starving kitten comes to their door, Ada's grandmother doesn't see how they can keep it, but puts down a saucer of milk just the same. The narrative is filled with quietness: as the snow falls; as Ada and Grandma wait for the mail that will bring news and money; as the kitten insinuates itself into mealtimes, skimpy or not. Longing, loneliness, pride, and doing what needs to be done shine off the pages and into the hearts of readers. (Picture book. 5-8)