As I read Aggie's Purple Hands, memories of my childhood summers in the south came to mind. I remember mama and my aunts and uncles canning peaches, watermelon preserves and blackberries for jellies, jams, and preserves. My grandpa had beehives and there were always pints and quarts of fresh honey put on shelves for the winter months. Mama would always let us children pick blackberries and our hands would be purple for days. I remember our shirts would also be stained! And the blackberry cobbler! The delicious smells drifting through the open windows was the best part. We learned early what 'fruit jars' were used for, and the variety of sizes in pints, quarts, etc. We always got to sample everything. If it passed our taste test, then the fruit jellies or preserves were ready for the jars. The winter months would come and mama would make biscuits for breakfast. Oh, the joy of hot biscuits oozing with melted butter and homemade watermelon preserves or blackberry jelly or fresh honey was enough to not only make our mouths water but feel our stomachs until the evening meal.

 

Aggie's Purple Hands is a delightful book for young readers. It is about Aggie helping pick the grapes and squeezing the grapes in the cheesecloth - something children today probably have no idea what a cheesecloth is or what squeezing the grapes means. If you were born in the south chances are you learned early in life about the fruit canning process.

 

Children will enjoy Aggie's Purple Hands and the delicious smell of grape jelly, and purple hands! This is a perfect book for classrooms. They'll learn about pints and quarts along with Aggie. If you're a teacher, I recommend this book with warm toast oozing with melted butter, a jar of grape jelly, different size canning jars and measuring cups, different size spoons and a classroom of hungry kids! What a delicious lesson to be taught and learned and loved by children.

 

I rate this book a high 5.

 

Marcella Meeks Author, Blog writer