Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds [Hardcover]

Cynthia Rylant (Author), Barry Moser (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Cynthia Rylant and Barry Moser present a gentle yet poignant picture, in words and images, of the people of Appalachia-their homes, food, dogs, surroundings, and views of the world. It is a personal and authentic perspective--one that shares the Appalachian spirit of family and connection to nature.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Like a cherished photograph album, this portrait of Appalachia by two natives of the region is suffused with memories made golden by time. Beginning with the dogs that are "named Prince or King" and live in towns "with names like Coal City and Sally's Backbone," Rylant moves to the people, their houses and their activities. Neither story nor factual treatise, the text offers pure nostalgia--a skillfully structured essay that appears, deceptively, to meander like a dusty country lane and underscores the warmth, generosity of spirit and steadfastness of the inhabitants of the "shimmering painted mountains." Rylant is frequently effusive: "The men and women and children who live in Appalachia have no sourness about them," she says; and "The children love all the seasons." But when she focuses on particular details, lyricism suffuses her prose: the "mountains wear heavy shawls of fog, and giant moths flap at the porch lights while cars cut through the dark hollows like burrowing moles." Moser's masterfully executed paintings--from the stretching coon dog to the biscuits that wait on the iron stove--find beauty in plainness, capturing the culture and people of the hollows with affection and sensitivity. Ages 5-up.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

The book is a treasure-simply a beautiful combination of text and art.-The Horn Book

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1 edition (April 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152016058
• ISBN-13: 978-0152016050
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,863,410 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cynthia Rylant is the author of numerous distinguished novels and picture books for young readers. In addition to her beginning-reader series: Henry and Mudge, Poppleton, and Mr. Putter and Tabby, as well as her Cobble Street Cousins early-chapter series, she is also the author of the Newbery Medal-winning Missing May, the Newbery Honor Book A Fine White Dust, and two Caldecott Honor-winning picture books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Different World!, November 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds (Paperback)

This book is wonderful! I read it to my class to help them understand what life was like in the Appalachian Mountains compared to their life in Chicago. My students were spell-bound, held by the wonderful descriptions and beautiful illustrations. They really understood that there are many different cultures within our nation!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A calm and lovely view of Appalachia, April 3, 2002

By 

Catherine S. Vodrey (East Liverpool, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds (Hardcover)

Author Cynthia Rylant and illustrator Barry Moser were both reared in Appalachia, and they are completely in sync on this book. The calm, clear-eyed text and the evocative watercolor paintings balance and enhance each other beautifully.

Rylant doesn't shy away from the harder truths of Appalachian living. About coal mining, she writes, "Many [Appalachians] are coal miners because the mountains in Appalachia are full of coal which people want and if you are brave enough to travel two miles down into solid dark earth to get it, somebody will pay you money for your trouble." On the facing page from this plainspoken truth is a haunting Barry Moser watercolor of a green-clad coal miner, his eyes weary and his skin gritty with coal dust, his lunchpail resting beside him.

The beauties come through, too. Rylant writes, "Morning in these houses in Appalachia is quiet and full of light and the mountains out the window look new, like God just made them that day." Throughout the book is a sense of quiet and purpose and appreciation for a way of life most of us will never know. It's a moving and transfixing read.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds, October 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds (Hardcover)

Cynthia Rylant has once again captured the true spirit of the Appalachian culture. Her descriptions are right on target. Many of us, who live in this wild and wonderful country, know folks just like those she introduces to us in all of her stories. The significance of this book, for me, is to keep alive the warm, wonderful spirit of this amazing culture she so colorfully shares with readers. I'm giving this book to children and adults as well.