cover image NANA'S COLD DAYS

NANA'S COLD DAYS

Adwoa Badoe, , illus. by Bushra Junaid. . Groundwood, $15.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-88899-479-0

Eye-catching, eclectic collage artwork by debut children's book illustrator Junaid is the hallmark of Badoe's (The Pot of Wisdom: Ananse Stories) tale of adjusting to a new country and climate. Nana, just off the plane from Africa, finds it hard to adjust to a North American winter. " 'Br-r-r,' she said. 'It's too cold for living things.' With that, she buries herself under three blue top sheets, three red blankets and three pink comforters, and she wouldn't come out for anyone or anything." Junaid evokes the cold season by enshrouding the sleeping Nana in a top sheet pieced from several photographs of leafless, silvery-blue birch trees. Nana's family, each wearing distinctive clothing cut from pictures of palm trees, pine forests, mountains and beach grass, lovingly bundle her up and, later, try unsuccessfully to wake her. Their faces, composites of black-and-white images, sport wide, toothy smiles, and large, black pupils provide expression. Junaid's unique mixing of color, form and texture sparks visual curiosity. Badoe infuses a rather uneventful tale with a spicy sampling of African culture, describing "hi-life music from Africa" and traditional palaver sauce and plantains. Nana eventually surprises her family when, after developing the croup (the remedy for which is breathing in cold air), she throws open the window and reveals that she's been wearing a snowsuit under her robe. What little readers learn of the characters is conveyed through the artwork from this impressive first-time artist. Ages 3-6. (Oct.)