I adored this book as a kid. I wanted so much to be as creative as Bidemmi. I still get swept up in it as an adult. ( )

This a wonderful book to add you your multicultural collection. Bidemmi loves to draw and tell stories. She has quite an imagination! Each story ends with the characters eating cherries and spitting out the pits. The book concludes with Bidemmi saving the pits and planting them in their "junky old yard" in hope of growing a forest of cherry trees. She wants to grow enough cherries to share with everyone in her whole neighborhood. ( )

This is a story about friendship, imagination, creativity, differences, dreams, and more. Most importantly, this story tells children that they are amazingly capable and creative and helps them to understand who they are and all that they can be. As the two friends in this story create their own stories through pictures that one of them draws, they make plans and see potential in themselves that inspire children and adults to dream big.

Ages: 4-8
Source: Personal Collection

a young black child shares herself, her art, and cherries with the world
1 book

I think this is a brilliant and diverse children’s book that is incredibly unique. The main character is an African American girl named Bidemmi who has an imagination that runs wild. Her thoughts and artistic skills take her to different places and she is able to come up with several stories relating to cherries and spitting out the pits. Her character is inspiring for minority children who want to express themselves through art and storytelling. This book is educational while also being a great source of entertainment. For example, this book teaches sequencing of events by describing step by step how to plant a cherry tree. This book also teaches children not to give up on their dreams, which is the most valuable lesson of all. When the cherry tree would not grow cherries, Bidemmi was patient, and eventually her patience paid off. The plot of this story was interesting because it consisted of many small stories instead of one that is followed throughout the book. Each of the small stories had miniature conflicts and points of suspense, but were all centered around the same theme; cherries and their pits. The illustrations look like they were painted by an elementary school student, which can be inspirational for young artists. They will see that a child’s artistic style is good enough to be published in a book, which will encourage them to draw more and let their own imaginations run wild. While this book is engaging, some of the pages have too many words to keep the average first or second grader’s attention. This is the only aspect of this book that I think could have been improved, because overall it is a great read and I would suggest it for any elementary school classroom. ( )