This beautiful new edition of a familiar legend will be welcomed both for its pictures and its telling.
An acclaimed Métis storyteller recounts a Lenape pourquoi tale explaining the crow's shiny black color and croaking voice as the result of bringing the gift of fire.
Bouchard (Aboriginal Carol, 2008, etc.) begins by seating his audience in a circle on the earth, or at least the floor, and preparing them for quiet listening. In the leisurely style of his Lenape grandmother, the author describes how cold and uncomfortable the world was “[b]efore two-leggeds walked on Mother Earth.” Meeting in a Great Council, various animals offer to seek help from the Creator. Little Crow is chosen for her flying ability, her colorful plumage and her beautiful song. Returning from the Sky World with the gift of fire, she flies too close to the sun, charring her feathers and losing her voice. For her sacrifice, the Creator makes her now-black feathers shine with rainbow colors. The English text and Jones’ Ojibwe translation are set around lifelike animal portraits painted on traditional drums, echoing the circle theme established at the beginning. On the included CD, Bouchard and Jones read the text in English, Ojibwe and French. Their unhurried voices are accompanied by music by Manantial, a Native South American musical group.
This beautiful new edition of a familiar legend will be welcomed both for its pictures and its telling. (Folk tale. 7-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-88995-458-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Red Deer Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An innocuous Halloween and Day of the Dead book for readers who prefer to skip scarier fare.
In this bilingual book, a young girl finds a surprise upon returning from a trip to Guanajuato, Mexico.
Going back to school after a two-week vacation, fourth-grader Flor discovers a mummy named Rafael, who snuck into her backpack at a museum. Rafael, who tells Flor and her best friend Lupita to call him Rafa, had always “wanted to see los Estados Unidos.” The mummy’s delight with his new surroundings is dampened when he realizes that he will miss the Day of the Dead, the one day when his family comes to visit him at the museum. With help from the school custodian, Mr. García, Flor and Lupita concoct a plan to return Rafa to his museum home before the special day arrives. Of course, many obstacles stand in the way of their goal, but everything falls into place eventually. Luna moves the story along at a nice clip, with a text heavy on dialogue and short on description. One disappointing aspect is Flor and Lupita’s continuous ill treatment of the pesky Sandra, whose slightly annoying actions seem much less offensive than their mean-spirited reactions. The Spanish translation follows the original English version. (Illustrations were not seen.)
An innocuous Halloween and Day of the Dead book for readers who prefer to skip scarier fare. (Adventure. 8-11)Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-55885-756-8
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
For young would-be tourists as well as students of nature's more fanciful imaginary reaches, the next best thing to an...
Free-floating imagination meets artistic expertise in this visual record of the exotic flora, fauna and (more or less) human residents encountered on an unexpected visit to an elusive island.
Messenger extends his available space with one or two side flaps on nearly every spread and proceeds to fill it all. He provides formally posed, elaborately detailed images of such rare creatures as the tentacled Octofrog and the two-headed Double Cream Cow, along with plants like the Chocolate Tree (in a cutaway view to reveal its peppermint fondant center), a Pasta Tree and the grasping, sinister Tree of Horrible Hands. He also portrays such not-quite-natural features as the aptly named Spooky Dark Mountains and vocal Book Mountain. The brightly striped houses of the friendly, pig-footed local settlers cluster around the foot of the latter. The author points out odd behaviors and special features in chatty explanatory captions throughout, and he also notes that the island is hard to find because it will, without warning, extend legs and wander off. As indeed, it did to him in a moment of inattention.
For young would-be tourists as well as students of nature's more fanciful imaginary reaches, the next best thing to an actual visit. (Picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6021-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 7, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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