First of all great illustrations. I love how animated the illustrator was able to make Cliff's face. This book takes place in Mississippi and follows Cliff along while he is trying to complete a task for his grandmother. While everyone in the neighborhood tries to help him along his way. I think that Cliff found out a lot more about the world having taken the advise of all the people in the neighborhood. ( )

I liked this book for a few reasons. The story is very personal and traditional. It is about a family who uses a magic skillet to cook candied sweet potatoes. This specific tradition makes the story unique and interesting. This is a tradition that other readers could relate to. I liked the specific and detailed sentences like, “While he savored the aroma of mingled vanilla and nutmeg, Little Cliff watched as Mama Pearl took her large knife and cut off big chunks of the special butter.” The author uses adjectives and verbs that make sentences more clear and detailed. I also liked the style of illustrations. The illustrations are colorful and portrays a calm mood. The big idea is that food can bring people together. ( )

Memoirist and motivational speaker Clifton L. Taulbert harkens back to the world of his childhood in this, the first of three autobiographical picture-books (the subsequent titles are Little Cliff's First Day of School and Little Cliff and the Cold Place), painting a loving portrait of an African-American community in the Mississippi Delta of the 1950s. Little Cliff, who lives with his great-grandmother and great-grandfather - Mama Pearl and Poppa Joe - is dispatched on an important errand, sent to fetch some of Miz Callie's special butter for his grandmother's candied sweet potatoes. But how can he hurry, as instructed to do, when Poppa Joe has always impressed upon him the importance of respecting and obeying his elders, who all seem to want to speak to him...?

I finished Little Cliff and the Porch People with a deep sense of satisfaction, coming away with the sensation that I had been visiting with Little Cliff, his family, and his close-knit community. I loved the gentle feeling of the tale, the beautiful manner in which E.B. Lewis evoked the light-filled world of the Mississippi Delta in his watercolor illustrations, and the way that enchantment - the special butter, the magical skillet - found its way into the everyday. A lovely tribute, both to a specific childhood, and to a particular time and place, this was a very special book - one I thank my goodreads friend Wilhelimna for recommending! ( )

This book tells a story about a little boy named Cliff that goes to pick up something for his grandmother on his very first adventure alone.

Go to www.cliftontaulbert.com to find information about the author as well as training and growth opportunities.

Little Cliff’s great grandmother sends him on a mission to get some of Miz Callie’s special butter for her candied sweet potatoes. On the way to Miz Callie’s house Little Cliff is stopped by every neighbor. The neighbors all give Little Cliff some suggestion or ingredient for the candied sweet potatoes. Th isstory is set in the old style deep south. The pictures are very colorful and they make this story have a calm or warm feeling. There is a great amount of synergy between the pictures and text. Without the pictures the story would not be the same. Good for grades 2-3. ( )