The Relatives Came

Author: Cynthia Rylant

Illustrator: Stephen Gammell

Publisher/Date: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books. 1985

Age range/class level:Grades 1-2

Awards: Caldecott Medal 1986

Illustrations & Design: Scratchy, messy crowds hatching

illustrations

Genre: Fiction, Children’s Literature

Theme(s): Boisterous, loving, and unity

Characters: The Family

Summary: The Relatives Came and showed up in a rainbow-
colored station wagon. When they arrived, they
hugged and hugged. The family members tended
the garden and ate up all the strawberries and
melons. They played instruments and spent a lot
of time together. All summer the family from
Virginia spent a lot of time with their family and
friends that they did not want to go home.

Textual Components:

• Water Color

• Pen and Ink Illustrations

Classroom Connections:

• Writing

• Art

• Family