by Amanda Hall & illustrated by Amanda Hall ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001
Weaving together important themes in Native Alaskan culture, Hall (The Hard to Swallow Tale of Jonah and the Whale, not reviewed, etc.) creates a hauntingly original story. Seeing the earth for the first time, Raven who lives “in a land above the sky” creates humans and other creatures to inhabit this beautiful place and bestows upon them “a special song . . . to remind them to love and respect the life around them.” But as the people grow greedy and violent, Raven casts the world in darkness and ice by taking away the sun. As he flies away, Raven plucks a “farewell feather from his breast.” Eventually, that feather falls to earth and into an icy stream. It is swallowed by a woman who goes on to give birth to a child named “Little Darkness.” When he is older, the child travels to the place where Raven lives and, seeing sunlight for the first time, picks through an icy mountain to uncover its glow. Just as he is about to unveil the sun, a piece of ice breaks away and sends Little Darkness tumbling towards his death. At that moment, Raven swoops down to save him. With Little Darkness on his back, Raven seizes the sun and replaces it in the sky, revealing Little Darkness to his worried mother and casting light upon the long-darkened world. Luxurious in detail and rendered in a rich, naturalistic palette, Hall’s intricate illustration have a folkloric feel. This, coupled with her unique perspective on a common theme, make the dramatic read-aloud an easy addition to multicultural collections. (Picture book/folktale. 5-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8028-5225-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2002
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by Jennifer Berne ; illustrated by Amanda Hall
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by Michelle Markel ; illustrated by Amanda Hall
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by Pete Seeger & Paul Dubois Jacobs & illustrated by Michael Hays ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2001
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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adapted by Pete Seeger & illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal ; illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2015
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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