Authors: Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison
Illustrator: Joe Cepeda
Publisher: Simon and Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Publication Date: 2009
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Reading Level: 4th-5th Grade
Brief Overview: When Mama leaves Nana in charge for the day none of her instructions are followed. Instead, Nana makes an ordinary afternoon exciting and fun, ending the day making Peeny Butter Fudge. When Mama comes home, she is upset that her children are not in bed and didn’t follow her directions, until she smells the Peeny Butter Fudge on the counter and remembers making the fudge with Nana when she was a little girl. The rhyming text and colorful illustrations add to the playful nature of the story about Nana’s visit.
Integrated Activity: Students will be asked to think of a time when a particular smell brought back memories. Students will write a paragraph about the memory and use all five senses to describe the memory in the paragraph.
Reviewer’s Name and Affiliation: Erica Hicks, Valdosta State University
Labels: Realistic Fiction, Picture Book, Multicultural, Diversity
