Coretta Scott King Award winner A young girl’s beloved uncle is a talented barber without a shop who never gives up on his dream in this richly illustrated, stirring picture book. Everyone has a favorite relative. For Sarah Jean, it’s her Uncle Jed. Living in the segregated South of the 1920s, where most people are sharecroppers, Uncle Jed is the only black barber in the county and has to travel all over the county to cut his customers’ hair. He lives for the day when he could open his very own barbershop. But there are a lot of setbacks along the way. Will Uncle Jed ever be able to open a shiny new shop? PreSchool-Grade 3-Uncle Jed, a black, itinerant barber in the pre-Depression South, dreams of opening his own shop. He saves for years, but first his niece, who narrates the story, needs an operation, and then the bank in which his money is kept fails. The man's spirit never flags, however, and he finally starts his own business at age 79. Sarah Jean, whose life was saved by her uncle's generosity, is by this time a middle-aged adult, and shares in his pleasure. Mitchell's text is eloquent in its simplicity. Straightforward, declarative sentences explain such concepts as segregation and sharecropping without emotional overtones, while her subdued prose makes readers keenly aware of the injustice of segregation. Through Sarah Jean's eyes, readers see both the poverty and discrimination endured and the sense of community and caring shared by her family and friends. Ransome's richly textured oil paintings, uncluttered and direct, beautifully complement the text. These are strong characters captured with forceful brush strokes, yet the illustrations also include such details as a crocheted saddle blanket. Both touching and inspirational, this book is ideal for story hours featuring favorite relatives, and it could start children saving for their own dreams. Louise L. Sherman, Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. Great-uncle Jed, Sarah Jean's ``favorite relative,'' travels from house to house as ``the only black barber in the county.'' When he comes to cut her daddy's hair, he explains that he's saving for a shop. But folks are poor and Jed is generous; his money saves Sarah Jean's life (in a segregated hospital where ``the doctors wouldn't do the operation until they had the money''); later, he loses everything in a Depression bank failure. But on his 79th birthday, when Sarah Jean is grown up, he opens his own shop to such a crowd of well-wishers that ``he cut hair all night...That man was so glad to have that shop, he didn't need any sleep.'' Soon after, he dies happy, having shown Sarah Jean how to dream, too. Ransome's realistic, powerfully constructed paintings depict the characters as self-reliant and unbowed, their warm good feeling flowing from one to another. A fine, unusually engaging debut for Mitchell, celebrating the courage and humanity of men who could survive hard times and injustice without rancor. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Margaree King Mitchell is the author of the Coretta Scott King Honor Book Uncle Jed’s Barbershop , illustrated by James E. Ransome, and Granddaddy’s Gift . She is the creator of the Everybody Has a Dream program, which empowers students in urban and rural areas to shoot for the stars with aspirations for their lives. Margaree lives in Kansas City, where she is a member of the Midwest Children’s Authors Guild. James E. Ransome’s highly acclaimed illustrations for Before She Was Harriet received the 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. His other award-winning titles include the Coretta Scott King winner The Creation ; Coretta Scott King Honor Book Uncle Jed’s Barbershop ; Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt ; and Let My People Go , winner of the NAACP Image Award. James is also a recipient of the ALA Children’s Literature Legacy Award. He frequently collaborates with his wife, author Lesa Cline-Ransome, and their books include Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams and Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis . James is a professor and coordinator of the MFA Illustration Graduate Program at Syracuse University. He lives in New York’s Hudson River Valley region with his family. Visit James at JamesRansome.com.