"It happens the third week of August, in some places the second, when people get together Down Home." Extended families from most heritages hold regular family gatherings, but reunions have particular significance for many African-American families. Readers are reminded of or introduced to this special experience through one family's visit Down Home, "a place to run free" according to the young narrator. Grandma Bessie's place and the Little Bethel A.M.E. Church serve as the geographic locales for Down Home family events rich in emotion and memory. Johnson's characters have distinctive faces and great body language. Her etchings and aquatints with watercolor and colored pencil illustrations are wonderfully effective in this warm story celebrating and elevating small, happy moments in a conscious echo of the mid-20th century. (Ages 3-8)

August is the time when family from all over travel down Highway 65, across the wooden bridge and up the dusty road to Grandma and Grandpa's house. It's the time to return Down Home for the Big Meeting at Bethel A.M.E. Church, when different folks now spread far and wide reunite with their people and rejoice. It's also a special time for a child to savor the sights and sounds, to learn about her roots, and to nurture a sense of belonging. Full color.