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About The Book

Gertrude
is Gertrude
is Gertrude
is Gertrude.


And Alice is Alice.

And Gertrude and Alice are Gertrude and Alice.

And you are welcome to join them for tea. But beware, for there you will find a bear in a chair, just barely scary. And here is a beard with a man attached to it. And then, of course, some words might appear, uninvited, but delighted in spite of their light bulbs. But, but, but, but—that doesn't make any sense! Yes!

In a story inspired by the oh-so-modern groundbreaking writing of Gertrude herself, not a lot makes sense. Even so, the oh-so-popular author Jonah Winter, and the ever-so-popular illustrator Calef Brown, and the most popular poodle of all time, Basket, invite you to enter the whimsical world of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas.

About The Author

Photo courtesy of the author

Jonah Winter is the award-winning author of more than forty nonfiction picture books that promote environmental awareness and social and racial justice. Among them are The Snow Man; The Little Owl & the Big Tree: A Christmas Story; Oil; The Secret Project; Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. vs. Inequality; My Name is James Madison Hemings; Barack; The Founding Fathers!; and Lillian’s Right to Vote, a Jane Addams Children’s Book Award recipient and Kirkus Prize finalist.

About The Illustrator

Photo (c) Michael Olliver

Calef Brown is the #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of Flamingos on the Roof, Tippintown, Dutch Sneakers and Fleakeepers, and Polkabats and Octopus Slacks. He lives in Maine.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (April 1, 2009)
  • Length: 40 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781416940883
  • Ages: 4 - 8

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Raves and Reviews

"Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude puts the fun front and center, both in the lives of the artists it describes, and in its emulation of its titular writer's style." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"'Thank you for this cow' the story ends but it is really just beginning because readers will want to go back to the words and the colors and the tea and Alice and Gertrude and having bright, sparkling fun with words and colors and tea." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Taking his title from Gertrude Stein's famous saying about a rose, Winter (Frida) crafts a Steinesque 'word portrait' of the modernist author." -- Publisher's Weekly

Awards and Honors

  • Bulletin Blue Ribbon
  • CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children's Book Council)
  • Capital Choices Noteworthy Books for Children's and Teens (DC)
  • ALA Rainbow List Selection

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images

More books from this author: Jonah Winter

More books from this illustrator: Calef Brown