English & Tagalog
4-8 years
Family
Memories
Social-Emotional Learning
Sense Memories
Michelle Sterling & Aaron Asis
summary
What does summer smell like to you? To me, it smells like campfires and old cabins. My favorite memories are from Camp Ledgewood, a Girl Scout camp that I attended as a child and then worked as a counselor for a few years as an adult. I remember turning my back on the giant bonfire at Lake Loomis and seeing so many fireflies that it looked like flashbulbs in a stadium. Summer feels like hot canoes, freezing cold pre-breakfast Polar Swims, and the sharp slap of my hand on concrete when trying to catch a biting horsefly.
For our narrator, summer smells like all of the beautiful memories that she has of her Lola’s visits. When Lola Visits is a book filled with evocative language, and made me reflect back on previous summers. The young girl in our story enjoys all of the cooking, fireworks, and time spent with her beloved Lola. This is not only a beautiful story about sensory memories of summer, but also of the emotional toll that it can take to have family members that live far away.
The artwork is phenomenal and conveys the beautiful motion of trees and the young girl in particular, a familiar sight for anyone with young children. I can’t recommend this beautiful story enough, and I hope it inspires you to create some new memories this summer!
This book was kindly sent by Harper Kids but all opinions are my own!
Michelle Sterling
Michelle Sterling is a writer, photographer and speech-language pathologist. Her debut picture book When Lola Visits will be illustrated by Aaron Asis and publishes on May 18, 2021, from HarperCollins. You can find her sharing the latest children’s books at Avery & Augustine and Books for Diversity.
Aaron Asis
Aaron Asis is a Filipino illustrator best known for his use of vivid colors and expressive brushstrokes. Having illustrated a couple of children’s books, he also aspires to create his own book one day. The image of Aaron was found here!