WRITTEN IN SAND

by John Ewers ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 16, 1947

Primitive folk tales of Australia's ""Dead Heart"" region, tales which explain rain, thunder, some of the odd animals of the land down under, the Yerumga, or the Mopoke, or the Gecko. A sort of ""how and why"" book. Folk tale enthusiasts will welcome a contribution to this curious, little known primitive culture, but there is an oddly recognizable derivative sense of Victorian humorous verse, which probably dates the discovery of the material and its translation, but which gives one a hint of its being not wholly authentic, just possibly one of those primitive hoax collections not unknown in the annals of English literature. There are some nice stories. Try- in story hour- the story of Dingi-Ding the grasshopper, for instance. There are weird words (and a helpful glossary) but lots of children like strange words and strange places. The pictures by Avery Johnson are very effective (though not particularly juvenile) with their scratch-board technique in bold black and white. A good looking book- but without color it will seem expensive.

Pub Date: July 16, 1947

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1947

Categories: CHILDREN'S