The Big Once-a-Year Broussard-Bouchard Family Reunion

Zydeco—pure and beautiful and stomping good—takes the stage in a joyous celebration of extended family, community, and Louisiana culture.

Every year on the last Saturday in July, Broussard-Bouchard folks come from near and far to the Big Once-a-Year Broussard-Bouchard Family Reunion. Alaine’s Auntie Yvette comes with the blanket she’s always crocheting. Uncle Malik brings photos from his last trip to Africa. Daddy and the uncles play dominoes under the live oak tree while Bill Jr. carries a watermelon up from the creek where’s it’s been cooling. Cousin Neecy has organized the biggest Double Dutch game ever, but Alaine—who let Big Boy, the fluffy orange indoor cat, slip outside to certain doom—sits alone and worries. Until the first note sounds: zydeco, drawing her in with outstretched arms. Allons danser. When the music and dancing finally stop—until next year—who’s waiting all curled up on the front porch, furry and orange and as safe as Alaine’s secret? Brimming with Louisiana music, culture, and color, this vibrant and gorgeously illustrated portrait of family tradition will have you two-stepping in a heartbeat.The exuberant artwork in this book mirrors the high-energy family and the raucous music. Readers who’ve never heard of this effervescent, regional music will be inspired to hear and learn more about it. This would be an excellent book to use in discussions of different kinds of family traditions or to introduce zydeco to young readers.
—School Library JournalKaren English is a Coretta Scott King Honor recipient and the author of It All Comes Down to This, which was a Kirkus Prize finalist. She is also the author of the Nikka and Deja and the Carver Chronicles series. Karen English lives in Los Angeles.

Annalise Barber-Opp is the illustrator of the picture books Jollof Day by Bernard Mensah and Where Did Benjamin Go? by Chris Clarkson. In addition to publishing for children, Annalise Barber-Opp teaches art to elementary school students. Both in the classroom and in her artwork, her aim is to inspire and empower children through a diversity of story and medium. Annalise Barber-Opp lives in Columbus, Ohio.