Major Theme:

Intergenerational love and the need for trust and safety in order for love to grow.

Summary:

A warm family story about a black family, with beautiful illustrations by Floyd Cooper.  A little girl and her grandfather have a special relationship.  Grandpa is an actor with the ability to express everything in his face.  He lives with Tamika's family.  Often Grandpa and Tamika take talk-walks, just the two of them.  They talk about everything they saw, felt and remembered.  One day Tamika is frightened when she peeks in Grandpa's room and sees him scowling in the mirror rehearsing lines for a play.  She is very frightened because she thinks it show a side of him she hadn't seen before.  She feels he may look at her that way and it would mean he didn't love her any more.  She broods and acts out at dinner.  Grandpa discovers the cause of Tamika's misbehavior.  He reassures her he will always love her as she will him.  Tamika feels safe again and loved

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Question #3

This story is told as much through pictures as words.  Reread the story through the pictures.  Pick out your favorite picture and tell why

People express many emotions through body language - especially faces.  What emotions do you see reflected in the faces?

This story, like a poem, uses repetition.  Find examples of repetition

Question #4

Why do you think Tamika was so interested in Grandpa's face?

Question #5

Why wasn't Tamika frightened when Grandpa turned into another person in the play and changed his face?

Question #6

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Question #9

Why was Tamika so upset when she saw Grandpa, changing his face while rehearsing his lines?

At dinner, Tamika acted out.  Why?

Why didn't Tamika answer her daddy when he asked her, "What's this all about?"

What was the main issue of this story?

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Extension #1

Extension #2

Extension #3

Draw faces that show happy, scared, mad, surprised.  Use the book as a resource

The pictures in this story use earth tones and vibrant colors.  Pict a scene from the book and draw it.  Try to use the same colors.

Choose one of the famous black poets/writers listed below or one of your own choice, and write a short blurb about the author to include in a book jacket. 
Gwendolyn BrooksPhyllis Weaver
Eloise GreenfieldToni Morrison
Maya AngelouZora Neale Hurston
Langston HughesFloyd Cooper
Mildred D.  TaylorVirginia Hamilton

Extension #4

The pictures in this story have many details.  Choose a detail from one of the pages and enlarge it.  She the inside cover for an example.

Extension #5

Research book illustration.  Write a paragraph telling what you learned.