Baya, Baya, Lulla-by-a [Hardcover]

Megan McDonald (Author), Vera Rosenberry (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2003

The baya bird of India weaves its nest of grasses and flowers. In this dramatic yet lulling lullaby of a book, such a bird also saves a baby girl's life.

Melodious words and artful pictures intertwine to cast a spell, as luminous as the nest the baya bird builds and encrusts with fireflies, as powerful as the love one Indian mother feels for the choti ladki she rocks in the cradle of her vermilion scarf.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1-As a sun-yellow baya bird sings from an old thorn tree, a Hindu mother croons a lullaby to her choti ladki (little girl). While the bird collects green grasses to weave her nest, Mata makes her baby's first quilt, "the color of one hundred mornings." The juxtaposition of bird and human maternal caregiving works well, and concludes with Mata taking the now-abandoned baya nest down from the tree and turning it into a lucky night lamp. The intricate watercolor illustrations are delicate in line and intense in color, perfectly complementing the exotic, yet universal plot of the story. A glossary of Hindi words and information about the baya bird of India are included in this jewel of a book. A gentle and fascinating bedtime story.
Anna DeWind Walls, Milwaukee Public Library
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. A mother (Mata) in rural India weaves and embroiders a safekeeping blanket for her baby girl "thread / by thread / by whispering thread," while in a nearby tree a mother baya bird weaves grasses and petals "up down around / its vining, twining nest." As Mata knots her chadr scarf in the tree and her baby swings in the tiny hammock, Baya Bird calls a warning "mother to mother" of a slithering cobra close by, and the baby is saved. Weaving in Hindi words, the poetry is rhythmic and beautiful, and the richly detailed watercolors are filled with the movement, warmth, and patterns of cloth and quilt. It's not clear who the audience is here; the story is certainly too complex to be a lullaby. But older children, especially those interested in Hindi culture, will enjoy the music of the words, the connections with nature, and, above all, the physical evocation in words and art of how a baby feels wrapped in a mother's loving embrace. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068984932X
• ISBN-13: 978-0689849329
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,591,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

10 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME

10. The first book I ever wrote was about a hermit crab, inspired by a pet I once owned.

9. My favorite color is purple.

8. I love to read mysteries. When I was Judy's age, I read all 56 classic Nancy Drew books . . . in order! Jeepers!

7. I used to collect scabs so I could examine them under the microscope that I got for my 8th birthday.

6. My four sisters and I often made up our own language, which included the words "Hoidi Boidi", "oogey", "retzel crummypuss" and "poony-poony".

5. My favorite TV show is JEOPARDY!

4. To research my Sisters Club book, THE RULE OF THREE, I toured San Francisco in search of the ultimate cupcake. The winner: Sleepless in San Francisco. Think chocolate + coffee.

3. When I was a kid, I fell down a hill from chasing the ice-cream truck and had to get stitches.

2. When I was a librarian, I used to tell stories in sign language. That's how I got the expression "same-same" for Judy.

1. I share a birthday (February 28) with a famous princess, race car driver and gangster, a Rolling Stone, a French tightrope walker, and a winning racehorse named Smarty Jones.