Aunt Ceecee, Aunt Belle, and Mama's Surprise

by Mary Quattlebaum

Book Overview

Mama's birthday is coming, and she says she doesn't want a big fuss. No presents, no party, no cake. But her daughter know better. She knows her mama loves a birthday and the fuss that comes just once... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385322755
• ISBN13: 9780385322751
• Release Date: May 1999
• Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 11.2" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 5 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

A favorite read aloud

Excellent book to read aloud to children. My sisters and I are tea drinkers, and we each have at least one daughter, so this book of tea drinking "Aunts" with a smart daughter who manages a wonderful surprise for her mother with the help of her Aunts is much loved around our house.

Bedlam at its Best!

The only thing possibly more fun for a child than her own birthday party, may be participating in throwing a surprise party for someone else -- someone like Mama. This book is a wacky retelling of a family story of just such a surprise party. Told through the eyes of a little girl who sees herself as the only organized one in an extended family of true characters, the story is a fun ride through the chaos of planning the party and keeping the secret.I loved the two principal characters, two aunts who are as opposite as fire and water. One nitpicks every detail of the party plans while the other puts off her responsibilities until the very last minute. And I had to smile at Dad, a quiet, good natured male lost in a maelstrom of female activity. He is left trying to remember the secret party password. Add to that cats, who like to play "Tarzan with the streamers and hippo with the punch," and you've got the recipe for some real commotion.Told with a rare combination of running narrative and speech bubbles, this story is fun for adults and children. My kids loved reading the speech bubbles themselves while I read the narrative. And the wonderful, bright illustrations add visual energy to convey the absolute bedlam that ensues when the family tries to pull off the big surprise.This book is really a celebration of family, and a clever look into the elements that make family special. Full of great language and imagery, it's a winner at our house.

I love this book!

This is a children's book that truly will delight adult readers. (Proof: I'm 37 and I've read it several times, sometimes when my two-year-old daughter, Isabel, was napping.) This sunny story is entertaining and speaks to the good (but too often bungled) intentions of families everywhere. Please read it!

You gotta love a take-charge kind of girl

This is a delightful story about a young girl who is conspiring, along with her two aunts, to have a surprise party for her mother (who of course says she doesn't want any fuss for her birthday). Her aunts have some differences in opinions over the party plans, chaos breaks out, and the girl is there to pull it all together just in time for her mom's arrival at the party. This is written from the girl's perspective, which I really like because it gives you insight into her spunky personality. The illustrations are cute, too. I probably wouldn't recommend it for children under 4, but older kids will definitely like it.