Saturdays Are For Stella

by Candy Wellins, Charlie Eve Ryan (Illustrator)

Overview

George loves Saturdays.

That’s because Saturdays mean time with Grandma Stella. The two of them love going on adventures downtown to visit the dinosaur museum and ride on the carousel! Even when they stay in, George and Stella have fun together, making cinnamon rolls without popping open a tube and sharing the biggest, best hugs.

Then one day Stella is gone, and George is ready to cancel Saturdays. But when a new addition to the family arrives, George finds a way to celebrate the priceless memories he made with his grandma—while making new ones too.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781624149214
Publisher:	Page Street Publishing
Publication date:	08/11/2020
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,097,214
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

Editorial Reviews

06/01/2020

K-Gr 2—Just because Stella is George's grandmother doesn't mean that she can't also be his best friend. Their special day is Saturday, when they spend time together going to the park or the museum and always walking past the toy store. Stella makes going downtown exciting, she gives the best hugs, and she never tires of reading George's favorite books. But one day George's parents have sad news; Stella has passed away. Although George now hates Saturdays—he has crossed them all out on the calendar—he tries to remember the fun things he and Stella did together. Then, one day, a new Stella comes into his life; a new baby sister. She is definitely not like the old Stella, but George is happy to show her the world his grandmother introduced to him. Saturdays are sweet again. The mixed-media illustrations convey the characters' emotions well, allowing readers to feel to their bones George's good and bad times. VERDICT An endearing story, and a necessary purchase.—Martha Rico, Yselta ISD, TX

School Library Journal

★ 2020-04-12
George loses his grandmother but gains a baby sister in this touching picture book about family connections.

“George loved Saturdays. Saturdays were for Stella,” George’s grandmother, a black woman with a short, curly white Afro. Whether they spend the day out—at the park or the museum, or doing fun things downtown—or stay in and play and bake, days with Stella are filled with fun and love. One Saturday, however, the bespectacled brown-skinned boy is ready for his day with Stella, but he finds his parents (a black man and a white woman) crying. They explain that he won’t be seeing Stella again. “From then on, George hated Saturdays.” His favorite things become reminders of sadness and loss. But his parents are preparing for something—his mother is pictured in a maternity dress—and one day, a new Stella appears in his life: a brown baby with a light Afro. With baby Stella in his life, Saturdays become as much fun as they once were; George shows Stella everything he learned from his grandmother. This lovely story uses repetition and charming detail to celebrate life’s cycles and family connections that never end. The text and cheerful pictures work together to capture the warmth and comfort of togetherness as well as the gloom of loss, which, the story assures readers, needn’t last forever.

A beautiful story of remembering the departed by passing on traditions. (Picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Reviews