Ma Dear’s Old Green House
by Denise Lewis Patrick

All of us have special places in our childhood memories. They are happy places, fun places. They are places where unique people live. They are places that elicit warm, comforting and safe feelings. They are places we want to visit again and again. MaDear’s old green house is such as place. There, Sunday morning breakfast is an event. Hide and go seek is more than just a game. The tall pecan tree isn’t just a familiar landmark. It’s a place to rest and dream. At MaDear’s old green house nurturing relatives come and go. You’re surrounded by a nourishing and caring community. And there is freedom to jump, to skip, to run and to grow. Denise Lewis Patrick’s own childhood memories of visits with her grandmother are the inspiration for this poignant story. Through heartwarming and lyrical prose, Patrick shares memories of summers at her special place: MaDear’s old green house. It is a place all children should have a chance to visit at least once. Patrick’s moving story is beautifully illustrated by Sonia Lynn Sadler’s bold and vibrant scratchboard images. Much may change around us. We grow older. We move. A special place, however, lives forever—-just like MaDear’s old green house.