The CIP data calls this bilingual tale fiction, but Corpi's afterword places the story ``where imagination and memory blend.'' She recalls a night during her childhood, in the small Mexican town of J†ltipan, when she and her older brother, Victor, explored a ruined house, once home of the revolutionary fighter Juan Sebasti†n. Learning his story from her grandmother, Corpi was introduced to the idea of personal destiny and was inspired to seek her own. That destiny led her away from J†ltipan to California, but the final page tells of her singing and telling stories to her own son, just as she was sung to as a child. It's a wonderful evocation of the early experiences and family love that give a child both roots and wings, but the Spanish version of the text is often more vivid than the English. On the first page, ``las luciÇrnagas danzaban al ritmo del viento nocturno'' (literally, ``the fireflies danced to the rhythm of the night wind''), is rendered prosaically as ``fireflies danced in the night air.'' In the intensely tropical-colored paintings, cats are purple, memories are turquoise, and a many-hued bus announces that its destination is ``El Mundo'' (``The World''). Fireflies and a number of photographs (presumably of Corpi's family) figure into the illustrations, each of which has a uniquely appropriate border. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-89239-145-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Children's Book Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
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