The team behind The Ever-Living Tree (1994) takes readers on a simulated five-hour pack-mule trip from rim to floor of the Grand Canyon—through millions of years of geological deposits- -and acquaints them with the ecology of the chasm carved by the Colorado River. Dawn breaks through the clouds of an early thunderstorm, summoning rim-dwelling coyotes out to hunt and eagles to soar above ``the peaks, valleys and trenches where ancient mountains once stood,'' a dizzying vista aptly caught in all its pastel splendor in panoramic spreads. The trail winds in pictorial close-ups past archaic rock paintings, bighorn sheep, Anasazi granaries now homes to squirrels, and other flora and fauna to the bottom, where trekkers can rest in a bunkhouse and mules can be corraled by the river. The return trip will take seven hours; Vieira makes plain that the canyon continues to change, day by day and over millions of years. Endpapers supply names and dates of rock layers; a timeline provides an additional frame of reference. A good general introduction to the subject. (chart, chronology, index) (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-8027-8625-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1997
Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-88240-575-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your dreads! Isadora once again plies her hand using colorful, textured collages to depict her fourth fairy tale relocated to Africa. The narrative follows the basic story line: Taken by an evil sorceress at birth, Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower; Rapunzel and the prince “get married” in the tower and she gets pregnant. The sorceress cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and tricks the prince, who throws himself from the tower and is blinded by thorns. The terse ending states: “The prince led Rapunzel and their twins to his kingdom, where they were received with great joy and lived happily every after.” Facial features, clothing, dreadlocks, vultures and the prince riding a zebra convey a generic African setting, but at times, the mixture of patterns and textures obfuscates the scenes. The textile and grain characteristic of the hewn art lacks the elegant romance of Zelinksy’s Caldecott version. Not a first purchase, but useful in comparing renditions to incorporate a multicultural aspect. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-399-24772-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2008
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