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Nick Jr. Family Magazine officially named Tangerines
& Tea, My Grandparents & Me the Best Alphabet Book of 2005. Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine named
it one of only six Best Books for 2005, and included it in their list of Teacher's Picks.
"Enjoy wrapping your mouth around "a boy in a bath with a bubbly laugh." Cheerful paintings and rhyming ABC couplets
boost reading readiness as they tell of a visit to grandparents' farm. (Ages 4+)."-Nick Jr. Family Magazine, December
2005.
"Nostalgic and serene, this alphabet book follows two siblings on their adventure-filled visits to their grandparents'
farm. There are "apples to share in the crisp autumn air," "an oak tree to climb one limb at a time, " and of course, "tangerines
and tea at the table with me." -Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine, December 2005.
"A book for sharing and teaching."-Booklist, May 2005.
"Buy this for its charming
testament to time together and its enchanting artwork."-School
Library Journal, September 2005.
"Arch, brash, cunning."-Kirkus,
August 2005.
"Effectively captures a sense
of childlike wonder and joy in everyday experiences...an impressive feat of composition as well as a pleasing read aloud..."-The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 2005.
This series
of visceral, poignant poems has the force of a
sudden storm and the intensity of that storm’s relief. In Left
Standing Ona Gritz taps into a passionate current of feeling that
pulses from child to parent and back again. Brilliant
in craft,
naked and direct in expression, each poem moves us forward
with yet another truth until we are left standing
in the cleared
air of candor, ready – as the poet is -- to begin life renewed.
--Molly Peacock
The death
of one's parents often gives rise to the birth of one's
self. This is certainly true in the case of Ona Gritz's poetic
voice
that emerges out of and is limned by these twin primal deaths.
In lines characterized by their emotional restraint,
linguistic
terseness, and humility, Left Standing left me moved by the
power of the unsaid that hovers ghostlike around
the said, as
Gritz's memories of her parents haunt these evocative poems
of self-discovery.
—Sharon Dolin
Ona
Gritz’s response to the death of parents is deft and
generally understated, and as a result her little book of
narrative
poems has the impact of a much larger work. With
gentleness, humor and forgiveness, she explores her parents’
rocky
marriage and her place in it. In the end she can lay her
angry parents side by side in a heaven where Dad reads a
blank
newspaper, Mom writes home on an Elvis postcard and
God gives a great back rub. Strong, accessible poems–certainly
a good first book! --Lois Marie Harrod
Review of Left Standing in the online journal, Wordgathering
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