Anna's Table [Hardcover]

Eve Bunting (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

In this heartwarming story, little Anna gathers items from nature for a special table given to her by her beloved aunt. Esteemed children's author Eve Bunting shows youngsters the poetry of beach rocks and sea shells, mouse bones and a piece of tree bark shaped like a hand. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-A free-verse account of a child who keeps all of her treasures from nature on a table in her room. "I have a drift of butterflies,/their colors orange bright./We found them in the grass/one night/after a cold strong wind/and sudden freeze/swept them from the trees." She also has a blue jay's feather, the backbone of a garter snake, a seagull's skull, and many other distinctive items. Anna's quiet pleasure in these things and her close family ties are admirable, and the colorful paintings are skillfully executed, with lots of joy and warmth. However, while the story has flashes of Bunting's characteristic charm and a worthwhile message, it lacks dramatic tension. Add it if you have a large collection and/or a ready audience for thoughtful nature books. Otherwise, buy extra copies of Bunting's Butterfly House (Scholastic, 1998) and/or Secret Place (Clarion, 1996), also beautifully illustrated stories revolving around environmental themes.
Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library,
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

K-Gr. 2. Young Anna tells of the treasures on the nature table in her bedroom and how she acquired certain ones, such as the mouse bones she retrieved from owl pellets and the dead butterflies she and her mother found in the grass after a sudden freeze. Morley's appealing pictures of Anna and her world are full of light, movement, and radiant color. Often the double-page spreads include a split image, with a large scene of Anna at the seashore or in the meadow and a smaller picture in the foreground showing a bone, stone, or other related object on her nature table. The playful way the verse sometimes slips into rhyme makes the story satisfying to read aloud, though a little less convincing as a child's speech. However, Anna's celebration of life and her matter-of-fact acceptance of death in the animal kingdom seem very real, and it's good to see Anna's parents fostering her unsentimental respect for nature. In this picture book, Bunting offers a wholesome antidote to more saccharine treatments of children and the natural world. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Cooper Square Publishing Llc (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559718412
• ISBN-13: 978-1559718417
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 10.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #223,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eve Bunting has written more than 200 books for children, many of which can be found in libraries around the world. Her other Clarion titles for very young readers include My Big Boy Bed, which was also illustrated by Maggie Smith, and Little Bear's Little Boat, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. She lives in Pasadena, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, March 18, 2009

By 

cy123 "Crystal" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anna's Table (Hardcover)

I read this book to my preschool students and then put it and the items from the book in my science center. They loved looking at the book and finding the actual items. It's a great book to bring nature into the classroom.