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Pinkney, Gloria Jean. 1992. Back Home. Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Dial. ISBN 0-8037-1169-7.

This warm, understated picture book tells the story of Ernestine, who takes a train to visit her aunt, uncle, and cousin in the country for the first time. She wants to prove herself to her cousin Jack, who teases her for not knowing about life on a farm. Before it’s time for Ernestine to leave, the two of them come to an understanding and it’s clear that Ernestine will be glad to return to the farm next summer.

The Pinkneys emphasize family ties, an important theme in African-American culture and literature. Although Ernestine has never visited these relatives before, she knows things about them (like the name of her uncle’s truck, Ole Lizzy) because she has heard stories about them, presumably from her mother. Ernestine reacts with pride and pleasure when she’s told that she looks like her grandmother. On the last day of her visit, the family goes to church and then takes Ernestine to put flowers on her grandmother’s grave.

Speech patterns reflect the rural south, such as “pulled the door to” for shutting the door and “give some sugar” for giving a kiss. The style of speech is consistent throughout the story, both in the sections of dialogue and in the narrator’s words, making it seem natural and authentic.

The book is full of Jerry Pinkney’s watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations, often taking up most of a two-page spread. Details in the pictures add depth to the story, such as the picture of Ernestine arriving at her aunt and uncle’s house barefoot, holding her fancy shoes; the luggage tag buttoned to her dress while she’s on the train, presumably because she’s a child traveling alone; the family portraits on the bedroom wall; and the picture of a beautiful ripe peach when Ernestine is helping her aunt can peaches.

The clothing in particular is very detailed and reflects the late 1930s or early 1940s down to the prints on the fabric of Aunt Beula’s dresses. The cover, showing an African-American Pullman porter helping Ernestine down from the train, is a nice touch that gently highlights the importance of this particular job at a time when it was one of the highest-paying jobs open to African-American men.

Shirley Wilton said in School Library Journal, “This is more a reminiscence than a plotted story, warm with Southern summer and family affection, a vignette of times gone by and roots rediscovered. Jerry Pinkney's full-page watercolors complement this account of a young girl's journey several decades ago. Their sketchy, impressionistic style softens the rural poverty and strengthens the genuine family feelings that greet Ernestine. Like Donald Crews's Bigmama's (Greenwillow, 1991), Back Home draws on personal history and celebrates the lives of an African-American family.”

I would display this book with Snapshots From the Wedding by Gary Soto, another warm family book from a different culture which also happens to have a lot going on in the illustrations!

Wilton, Shirley. School Library Journal. Qtd. in Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Back-Picture-Books-Gloria-Pinkney/dp/0140565477/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-5676480-3776938?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182712960&sr=1-1