Common Sense Media Review
By Regan McMahon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Touching story of boy's bond with grandma, family history.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 6+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
Tosh loves it when his Grandma Honey makes her tea cakes -- an old family recipe from his Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandma Ida -- and tells him the story of them, which always begins, \"Long ago, before you and I were born, our people were enslaved.\" Ida would bake the tea cakes for the plantation owner's family, but sneak a few for her own children and other young slaves. \"She risked being whipped to give the children a taste of freedom ... a promise of days to come,\" says Grandma Honey. But when she starts to get forgetful and even forgets the recipe, Tosh asks Mama to help him make the tea cakes and surprises Grandma Honey with not only the tea cakes but also the story, beginning, as usual, with, \"Long ago, before you and I were born, our people were enslaved.\"
Is It Any Good?
TEA CAKES FOR TOSH is a warm, sensitive story that recalls the slave period in American History. It celebrates family ties and the courage of our ancestors, and delicately captures the confusion a kid may feel when an older loved one shows signs of senility or Alzheimer's. Caldecott-winning illustrator E.B. Lewis' gorgeous watercolors are full of emotion and perfectly suited to this gentle, moving tale.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about their own family stories. What brave or funny stories have you heard loved ones tell about relatives you never met?
Have you read other books or seen movies about slaves in the American South? What do know about the U.S. Civil War?
How about asking a grandparent to tell you a family story or make a family recipe together?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : E.B. Lewis
- Genre : Picture Book
- Topics : Cooking , History
- Book type : Fiction
- Publication date : December 6, 2012
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 5 - 9
- Number of pages : 32
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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