"An Apple soup book."

Although she does not get to see her father very often, a girl enjoys the time she and her brothers spend with him one summer while they are visiting their grandparents' farm. Though Dad moves around a lot and his jobs keep changing, a young girl and her brother hold fast to memories of his magical, unexpected visits in this portrait of an African-American family held together by a special bond of love. "This poignant, lyrical story captures the games children play; the anticipation and pleasure of seeing a mostly absent, yet loving parent; and the reality of having no control over what adults do, of never knowing what might happen next, and of parting. Regardless of circumstances, somehow it's always clear to this patient, wise-for-her-years girl that her father loves her. The etched watercolor, charcoal, colored-pencil, and lithograph-pencil art has a dreamy, statuesque quality."