Saturday

Author and illustrator Oge Mora won many awards for her first picture book, Thank You, Omu!. In this second one, she is again receiving wide acclaim. She tells the story of a young girl, Ava, and her mother, who always spend Saturdays doing something special, since her mother works every other day

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of the week: “Saturday was the day they cherished.”

The two always have lots of plans: storytime at the library, mom-and-daughter hair appointments at the salon, puppet shows, or visits to the park. On this particular Saturday, all of them get ruined for one reason or other. But each time, Ava’s mother assures her:

“Don’t worry, Ava.
Today will be special.
Today will be splendid.
Today is SATURDAY!”

After the last disappointment, however, it is Ava who must reassure her mother, who laments that “I’ve messed up everything . . . I ruined Saturday.”

Ava hugs her mom and says:

“Don’t worry, Mommy.
Today was special.
Today was splendid.
Saturdays are wonderful…
…because I spend them with you.”

So they went home hand in hand, and began to work on an art project together.

Mora illustrates her story with brightly-colored collages made with paint, markers, patterned paper, and old-book clippings.

Evaluation: The intended audience of ages 4-9 will enjoy the plot devices used by Mora, from anticipation to surprise to humor, all made kid-friendly by the simple but fun and creative illustrations and the use of repetition. Adults will appreciate the timely message of - in essence - making lemons out of lemonade when you are stuck at home, and the more subtle lesson about what is really important in life.

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