Cajun Through and Through

I really enjoyed Tynia Thomassie's "Cajun Through and Through," a children's book with illustrations by Andrew Glass. The book opens with "A Cajun Glossary and Pronunciation Guide" for those readers who may be encountering terms like "fais do-do" and "gris-gris" for the first time.The book tells the story of Ti-Boy and Baptiste, two rural Cajun brothers who are being visited by Remington, their cousin from the "big city." At first, Remington has trouble fitting in with his country cousins. But ultimately, they find common ground and realize that Remington is, like the title indicates, as Cajun through and through as his cousins.Thomassie evokes the vernacular speech of Cajun country throughout the book. Sample dialogue from the boys' mother: "Yo' cousin Remington's comin' from d'big city to visit fo' a spell." The book is very funny; especially hilarious is Remington's reaction to a crawfish meal. The artwork is fun and colorful; Glass does a particularly effective job of rendering the boys' facial expressions throughout the twists and turns of the story. Highly recommended.

As a displaced Cajun in Ohio, it's important for me to pass the heritage along to my children. I have three boys and they loved Tynia Thomassie's previous tales of Feliciana Fedrya LaRoux - and not once did they complain they were "girl" books."Cajun Through and Through" features three male characters that illustrate the constant struggle within this culture of who is a "real" Cajun - and for the most part, Cajuns live in the city, in the country and some don't even live in Louisiana! Mais oui!The market for Cajun-oriented children's books has just begun, but whether you want to enhance your own Cajun or Acadian heritage or you want to expose your children to a real American culture that suffered ethnic cleansing (no, that's not in this book - but you can learn if you want to go further), a proud and practical people - this is an awesome book.Andrew Glass' illustrations are colorful and whimsical and enhance the story beautifully. Tres bon!