Dreamplace [Hardcover]

George Lyon (Author), Peter Catalanotto (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

A young girl climbs the ladder up from the kiva. She looks about, unsure whom she'll see in the sudden sunlight--Anasazi Indians of 800 years ago, or her family and others on a present-day tour of Mesa Verde, Colorado. Within her, mysterious past has merged with awakened present in words and paintings of the past. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As in their previous collaboration Who Came Down That Road? , Lyon and Catalanotto here offer an atmospheric, shimmering glance backwards--this time at the Anasazi pueblos at Mesa Verde. Although Lyon's poem is told from the point of view and in the tone of a reflective adult, Catalanotto wisely focuses the story through his luminous paintings on the experiences of a girl who visits the canyon as a tourist. She imagines--as if she were dreaming, seeing through the scrim of historical time--the Pueblo people who 800 years before "plaited sandals, wove baskets / coiled clay into pots." Then, "one day / when even trees were hungry / they turned their backs" on their cliff dwellings "leaving us / far in the future" standing "amazed / at the people / who built this dream / who lit its walls / with fire and stories." In both style and content, the lyrical text may be a bit sophisticated for young readers, but Catalanotto's extraordinary watercolors clarify this journey through time. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

In the manner of Lyon and Catalanotto's other visions of the past as immanent in the present (Who Came Down That Road?, 1992): a glimpse of the Anasazi as vividly imagined by a child visiting the ruins at Colorado's Mesa Verde. Moving quickly from the everyday reality of ``yucca, pinyon, juniper and tourists. It's all plain as beans'' to the awe inspired by the monochromatic ancient ruins tucked precariously into a cliff, Lyon's spare, poetic text is a dreamlike reverie animated with concrete details of Anasazi life. Meanwhile, Catalanotto's luminous watercolors, their edges artfully undefined, capture the desert light in a carefully muted palette with the effect of photos lovingly tinted by hand; the spread where the shadowy Anasazi and the modern visitors appear together is so carefully designed that the meaning is absolutely clear. A poignant conclusion powerfully evokes the hold that this extraordinary, long-deserted site exerts on anyone who has ever seen it: ``...and then one day / when even trees were hungry/[they] turned their backs/and let it go.'' The best yet from a uniquely gifted team. (Picture book. 4- 8) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic; First edition. edition (March 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531054667
• ISBN-13: 978-0531054666
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,338,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Evocative poetry for children and adults, March 11, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dreamplace (Hardcover)

This is a beautiful book and will be especially valued by those who have visted Mesa Verde in person. What struck me most about it (in addition to the beautiful illustrations) was that the text, while evoking a child's imagination, is also sophisticated poetry that appeals to an adult sensibility.