Saturday

Written by Oge Mora

Narrated by Tracey Leigh

In this warm and tender story by the Caldecott Honor-winning creator of Thank You, Omu!, join a mother and daughter on an up-and-down journey that reminds them of what's best about Saturdays: precious time together.

Today would be special. Today would be splendid. It was Saturday! But sometimes, the best plans don't work out exactly the way you expect....

In this heartfelt and universal story, a mother and daughter look forward to their special Saturday routine together every single week. But this Saturday, one thing after another goes wrong--ruining storytime, salon time, picnic time, and the puppet show they'd been looking forward to going to all week. Mom is nearing a meltdown...until her loving daughter reminds her that being together is the most important thing of all.

Author-artist Oge Mora's highly anticipated follow up to Caldecott Honor Thank You, Omu! features the same magnificently radiant artwork and celebration of sharing so beloved in her debut picture book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Oct 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781549156212

Oge Mora

Oge Mora graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in illustration. Her debut picture book, Thank You, Omu!, was a Caldecott Honor Book, a New York Times Notable Book and Editors’ Choice, and a Junior Library Guild selection. She is also the author-illustrator of Saturday as well as the illustrator of The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read. Oge lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and invites you to visit her website at ogemora.com.

Reviews for Saturday

[nbmars · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Author and illustrator Oge Mora won many awards for her first picture book, Thank You, Omu!. In this second one, she is again receiving wide acclaim. She tells the story of a young girl, Ava, and her mother, who always spend Saturdays doing something special, since her mother works every other day of the week: “Saturday was the day they cherished.”

The two always have lots of plans: storytime at the library, mom-and-daughter hair appointments at the salon, puppet shows, or visits to the park. On this particular Saturday, all of them get ruined for one reason or other. But each time, Ava’s mother assures her:

“Don’t worry, Ava.
Today will be special.
Today will be splendid.
Today is SATURDAY!”

After the last disappointment, however, it is Ava who must reassure her mother, who laments that “I’ve messed up everything . . . I ruined Saturday.”

Ava hugs her mom and says:

“Don’t worry, Mommy.
Today was special.
Today was splendid.
Saturdays are wonderful…
…because I spend them with you.”

So they went home hand in hand, and began to work on an art project together.

Mora illustrates her story with brightly-colored collages made with paint, markers, patterned paper, and old-book clippings.

Evaluation: The intended audience of ages 4-9 will enjoy the plot devices used by Mora, from anticipation to surprise to humor, all made kid-friendly by the simple but fun and creative illustrations and the use of repetition. Adults will appreciate the timely message of - in essence - making lemons out of lemonade when you are stuck at home, and the more subtle lesson about what is really important in life.