Multicultural

Coming On Home Soon

By: Jacqueline Woodson

Illustrated by: E. B. Lewis

 Putnam Juvenile: 2004

32 Pages

Multicultural

I chose this book because I was told my a friend 

that it was a great story about a girl and her mother that seems timeless. The story is set during World War II in Chicago. The story is about a young girl, Ada Ruth, who waits on her mother to return home from working in Chicago. The women are now doing the men's work while the men are off fighting in the war. Ada Ruth and her grandmother wait for the arrival of her mother. The story conveys a warm sense of anticipation. 

 Water colors are used to create the illustrations for this timeless book. The muted water colors are used with such grace, each picture portrays the emotions felt by the women. The colors used show what a dark and lonely time this must have been, especially to a young girl. The illustrations were done to show that emotion. 

     This book would be appropriate for many ages, but I would say at least kindergarten and up. This would be a great book to use when teaching about the history and how the wars affected us here in the US. The use of language to portray emotion could be used in a language arts lesson. Teachers could also use this book to teach character education. This book has won the Caldecott Award.