With large blocks of explication on every spread, it is entirely unappealing for the board-book set, and the format may make it equally unattractive to an older, more appropriate audience. Also unclear is the book’s intended audience. Indeed, observances of Lunar New Year are as diverse as the people who celebrate it, which neither the text nor the images-all of the people appear to be Asian-fully acknowledges. Yet it’s never clear who the narrator is-while the narrative indicates the existence of some consistent, monolithic group who participates in specific rituals of celebration (“Before the new year celebrations begin, we clean our homes-and ourselves!”), the illustrations depict different people in every image. The text attempts to provide a broad look at the subject, including other names for the celebration, related cosmology, and historical background, as well as a more-personal discussion of traditions and practices. Chau’s distinctive, finely textured watercolor paintings add depth, transitioning smoothly from a grand cityscape to the dining room table, from fantasies of the past to dumplings of the present. This board book blends expository text and first-person-plural narrative, introducing readers to the holiday. The Celebrate the World series spotlights Lunar New Year. A stirring, heartwarming tale that made headlines when it happened-and is now, thankfully, preserved on the page for children. Gonzalez’s saturated paintings, glowing with oranges, reds and browns, radiate a warmth that is matched only by the Maasai’s generosity. Fourteen cows in all, from one tiny Kenyan village, prove that hope and friendship can cross all boundaries. In an incredible show of compassion and strength, other villagers join him. In Maasai tradition, cows are sacred, and Naiyomah asks the elders to bless his cow so he can offer it to grieving Americans. In gentle yet piercing present-tense prose, storyteller Deedy introduces readers to a young Maasai scholar who wants nothing more than to help a nation heal. He has only one one that has “burned a hole in his heart.” Naiyomah was in New York City on September 11. Amid a joyous homecoming, the children in the village ask if he has brought any stories.
He has been studying to become a doctor in the United States. Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah is about to return home, to a small village in Kenya.
0 kommentar(er)
