Angelina's Island by Jeanette Winter

32 p., Frances Foster Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.

Moving to a new country can feel abrupt and discontinuous. This is Angelina's experience when her family moves from Jamaica to New York City. New York seems gray, cold, and lonely to her, and in her dreams, she returns to the warm sun and vibrant colors of Jamaica – vividly represented in the colorful illustrations – and to her old friends and her grandmother. One of Angelina's happy memories is of dancing at Carnival with her friends. When she has the opportunity to participate in a Carnival parade in New York, she prepares for it, all the while feeling that it won't make up for missing Jamaica. But when the parade music begins, Angelina experiences this as a part of home. Through her participation in the parade, she can feel that she's at home in New York. With Angelina, children will see that it's possible to make connections between an old home and a new one - to bring the old home to the new - and in doing this, to feel at home in a new place.

Ages: 3-7
Cultural Context: Afro-Caribbean