Seaside Dream

K-Gr 2—Cora's grandmother's ocean-side house is well stocked with friends and family who've come to celebrate the woman's 70 birthday, but it is Cora who finds a way to make the event special. Later, as she and Grandma take a moonlight stroll along the coast, the girl learns of her grandmother's longing for her sister, Aura, who stayed behind on Cape Verde when the rest of the family immigrated to the United States. The sisters vowed to send mantenhas—messages—to one another but did not keep in touch. (The cell phone generation may find it difficult to understand why the women have not communicated.) That night Cora dreams of an elderly lady just like her grandmother who kisses a seashell and tosses it into the water. In the morning, she tells Grandma, "I think Aura sent you a mantenha in my dream last night." Grandma, who has been reluctant to travel back to the island, reconsiders a flight to Cape Verde if Cora will come along. Davis's realistic acrylic paintings are filled with warmth and the colors of the sea. The marvelous illustrations have vigor and the tidbits of Cape Verdean culture make this picture book valuable for multicultural representation.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA