Yaya and the Sea - by Karen Good Marable (Hardcover)

About the Book

"On the first day of spring, a young New Yorker, with her mother and aunts, takes the train to the ocean to make an offering of flowers and fruit to Mama Ocean, thanking her for her magnificence, and welcoming the new year"--

Book Synopsis

A 2024 New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children's Book

A family goes on a trip from the city to the sea in search of renewal in this "lively and lovely...beautiful" (Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming) picture book that's an ode to sisterhood, nature, and being present.

On the first day of spring, when the city is quiet and still, little Yaya takes the A train down to New York City's southern shores with her mama and aunties to greet Mama Ocean and celebrate the arrival of a new season through a ritual of letting go of the past and embracing the new.

Review Quotes

* "A beautiful, uniquely told story of gratitude and togetherness."--Kirkus Reviews, STARRED "02/01/2024"

"A commanding portrait of a child paying witness to modeled tradition."--Publishers Weekly "3/11/2024"

"A lively and lovely tribute to spring, to ritual, and to letting the sea know how much she is loved. I've not seen this story told before and am so happy it's out in the world! Beautiful."--Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author

About the Author

Karen Good Marable is a writer raised in Prairie View, Texas. Her essays, music journalism, and stories have appeared in several books and publications including The New Yorker, Oxford American, The Bitter Southerner, Seventeen, and Essence. After a lifetime of living in Brooklyn, she and her family now reside in Atlanta.

Tonya Engel is a self-taught painter and children's book illustrator whose work can be found in many picture books, among them Our Lady of Guadalupe, Because Claudette, Impossible Moon, and the jacket art for Hurricane Child. Her work is inspired by Southern folk artists. Early in her career, she explored abstract painting but soon began to concentrate on figurative form mixed with emotion and expressionistic narrative. Engel lives in Houston, Texas.