From School Library Journal
reS-Gr 3-Fifteen years after the publication of Pete Seeger's Abiyoyo (S & S, 1986), the giant returns. This time, the townspeople are cutting down all the trees to build houses, and flooding results when the rains come. When they try to build a dam and run into a boulder nobody can move, the granddaughter of the magician responsible for Abiyoyo's previous disappearance convinces him to magic the big guy back. When the giant reappears in all his slobbery, stinking wonder, roaring for food, the townspeople rush to feed him. The little girl, in a ploy to get him to move the boulder, asks him if he is strong enough to do it, and he hurls it several hundred feet away. The villagers rejoice and everyone sings the now-famous song, faster and faster until, exhausted, the giant falls asleep. But they soon discover that Abiyoyo's feat has crushed the magic wand that would zap him away again, and the local folks must find a way to coexist peacefully with him. Seeger teaches several lessons in this clever if somewhat forced tale: the value of the environment, of sharing, and of the need to live with whatever "giants" are in one's life. Hays's colorful illustrations are just as wonderful as in the original tale, with the jagged-edged, overpowering monster oozing attitude from every pore. For those who felt it unfair of the town to zap away what they feared in the original book, this second installment will be a just and happy ending.
Jane Marino, Scarsdale Public Library, NY
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Ages 6-8. In 1986 storyteller and songwriter Seeger retold the South African folktale of the troublesome giant Abiyoyo who gobbled up villagers, and the outcast father and son who found a way to make him disappear. In this book, coauthored by writer and poet Jacobs, the fearsome monster is revived, for a new generation. When a cycle of spring flooding and summer drought threatens the safety of the village, the townspeople decide to tame the waters by building a dam. A huge boulder brings the hopeful plan to a halt, until a young girl petitions her father and grandfather to call Abiyoyo back. If we feed Abiyoyo's hunger with good food, she reasons, he won't need to eat villagers and he can help us move the enormous rock. The child's faith and determination guide the community, and the once-banished monster becomes a new citizen. A tribute to tolerance.
Kelly HallsCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
