The tangerine tree / by Regina Hanson ; illustrated by Harvey Stevenson.

Jamaican-born Regina Hanson drew on her own childhood experiences for this simple, realistic story, brought to glowing life in Harvey Stevenson's tender, light-filled paintings. When Ida finds out that Papa must leave Jamaica to work in America, she's heartbroken. But there is some consolation in knowing that Papa needs her to care of the tangerine tree while he's away, and his parting gift of a book comes with a promise: he'll be home again by the time she's able to read it.

Author Notes

Regina Hanson is the author of The Tangerine Tree and The Face at the Window, winner of the Americas Award for Children's Literature. Born and raised in Jamaica, West Indies, she now lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Reviews (5)

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 2Ida will sorely miss her father while he's in New York working to provide for the family. But, like her older brothers, she's been given a jobhers is to care for the tangerine tree. "`I must ask Mistress Sun to sprinkle down little pieces of her fire. De tree will catch de tiny bits of sun and put dem inside de tangerines...'" Some of this sun Ida squeezes into a bottle to help keep Papa warm until he returns to Jamaica. In concrete, well-written prose, Hanson captures the emotional poignancy of a family in flux. The text is reminiscent of Mavis Jukes's Like Jake and Me (Knopf, 1987), although here the story is further seeped in cultural richness. The premise of the father's departure, the dialogue, and the tree all work together to create an authentic cultural portrait. Stevenson's rich acrylic illustrations have a raw power that complements the text perfectly. The pictures are awash in bright, dense color and make readers feel as if they're walking in the radiating sun. The characters' concern for one another, sadness, and eventual acceptance are brought to life. A stellar example of how children can share universal life experiences.Martha Topol, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

As her father packs, preparing to leave Jamaica for a job in New York, Ida is distraught. "He never comin' back!" she wails, despite her parents' assurances. Refusing to say good-bye, Ida hides in a tangerine tree. Papa tracks her down, gives her a copy of Stories of the Ancient Greeks and makes her a promise: "Dis is our secret: by de time you are big enough to read it by yourself, I will be home." In an affecting scene, Papa takes leave of his family and Ida gives him a gift-juice she has poured in a bottle: "I squeeze out sun from de tangerines into it. If New York is cold and snowy when you get dere, dis bottle will warm you up." Debut author Hanson, who was born and raised in Jamaica, conveys this gentle, rhythmic tale with a tone that is at once sad and hopeful. In his richly textured acrylic paintings, Stevenson's deft, impressionistic use of color and light recreates the ambience of the island, capturing as well the deep love connecting the members of this family. Ages 5-8. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Horn Book Review

Papa gives Ida a gift to help her through the months when he will be away working in America, and she packs a bottle of fresh tangerine juice to cheer him when he is cold and lonely. Stevenson's well-composed acrylic illustrations emphasize the glowing colors and lush setting of the Caribbean and the emotions of this close Jamaican family. From HORN BOOK 1995, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

Hanson's entire book--her first--consists of a masterful departure scene, shorter than a short story but lyrical in the extreme and resonating with broader overtones. Ida is crushed because her father is leaving Jamaica to find work in New York City; he asks her to tend to the tangerine tree in his absence by praying to ""Mistress Sun"" and gives her a book of Greek myths--""by de [sic] time you are big enough to read it by yourself, I will be home."" These and all of the story's details have been carefully weighed and flow effortlessly into metaphor; from the emotions of a little girl, Hanson cuts a small jewel of a book. Borrowing from the palette of Gaugin, Stevenson has created fuzzy, colorful acrylic paintings. He depicts characters in awkward, evocative postures (squatting, hugging), whose expressiveness springs not so much from their faces (which are blurred) as from the positions of their arms and legs. Tropical colors contrast perfectly with the somber tone of the tale and its undercurrent of hopefulness. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Ages 4-8. Like Rachel Isadora's apartheid story At the Crossroads (1991), this picture book about a small child in Jamaica dramatizes the anguish of families separated by migrant labor. Ida's papa must leave to go and work in New York City. Will he be back next week? For her birthday? For Christmas? Her older brothers try to distract her; her parents try to comfort her ("We want you children to have a better life dan us, and good education, too" ). We feel their own heartbreak as the time for Papa's leaving gets closer and the bus finally takes him away from them. Before he goes, he gives Ida a gift, a book of Greek myths, and he tells her that by the time she can read it by herself, he'll be back. The expressive acrylic paintings in bright tropical colors express the family's love and loneliness. A few of the figures seem awkwardly drawn, but children will feel the emotion as Ida and her family embrace or stand separated, heads bowed. In the end, Ida finds the courage to comfort her mother and herself, and together they begin to read her father's book. (Reviewed July 1995)0395689635Hazel Rochman

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