82 // The Relatives Came / Cynthia Rylant, Ill. Steven Gammell

The Relatives Came / Cynthia Rylant, Ill. Steven Gammell

• Simon and Schuster

• 1985

• In a rainbow-colored station wagon that smelled like a real car, the relatives came. When they arrived, they hugged and hugged from the kitchen to the front room. All summer they tended the garden and ate up all the strawberries and melons. They plucked banjos and strummed guitars.

• When they finally had to leave, they were sad, but not for long. They all knew they would be together next summer. - From Amazon

• Summers - Family reunions

• Rylant really captures the chaos AND coziness of gathering with extended family in her texts. Gammell's colored pencil art is so summery and bright!