Sundays under the lemon tree by Julia Busuttil Nishimura. Illus. by Myo Yim

On Sundays the family works together. Mum is in the kitchen frying onions, Dad in the garden tending the plants and Gran is podding the broad beans. They are getting ready to bake Gran’s apple cake. The ricotta cheese must be cooked in salt water and everyone gets to go to the beach to collect seawater. But our narrator is not yet ready to go by herself. Her sister tells her she is too small and her brothers tell her the stairs are too steep, the walk is too long and the buckets too heavy. But this Sunday as everyone else is busy getting things ready, her father asks her to come with him to the beach.

To get there, they walk through the park, then up a hill and down again, across a busy street, finally getting to the wild, windy beach. The crashing waves sound like thunder. They climb down the stairs, each of Dad’s steps matching four of hers. She finds the waves bigger than she expected, but keeps on trying. When they return to the house, her father tells her about cooking this cake when he was a child, and recalls his father and grandfather telling the same story. The tradition has been part of the fmaily for generations and today the whole family has a role to play.

The work in the kitchen goes on with the children having a part in adding ingredients and stirring the mixture. Eager eyes watch the cake rising in the oven, while outside the families gather under the lemon tree, and share stories. Grandma says she will teach her how to make orange spice biscuits next Sunday.

Wonderful bright, luminous illustrations reflect the sunny warmth of the family, working together to make the Sunday cake. Each page is filled with images of a close multigenerational family, full of humour and togetherness. I love the detail on each page, the kitchens implements, the people on the beach, the table under the lemon tree. The beach scene is a great contrast to the warmth and calmness in the kitchen, where mum is gathering the things she needs to cook.

At the end of the story Julia gives her recipe and instructions for making the apple, lemon and ricotta cake.

Themes: Family, Generations, Cakes, Lemons, Humour, Tradition.

Fran Knight