First Painter [Hardcover]

Dawn Sirett (Author), Kathryn Lasky (Author), Rocco Baviera (Author)

Book Description

A powerful, eerily beautiful book about self-expression -- and who the "first" painter might have been.

The moon of the singing grass has come and gone three times, and still there is no rain. Mishoo's prehistoric clan is starving, her little sister's arms like twigs. Can a Dream Catcher bring them rain? Mishoo's mother had been the clan's Dream Catcher. She spoke with spirits, trying to catch a dream of rain. Now she is a spirit herself. She tells a sleeping Mishoo: "You are Dream Catcher. You must go to the cave of the she-tiger." Mishoo dares to go-and there discovers rock that looks like dripping animal fat, rock like giant fangs from the saver-toothed tiger. Something stirs inside her. And as she picks up a charred stick from the fire and begins to draw the animal she sees buried in the stone, she wonders, "Am I catching spirits or being caught myself?" This powerful and strikingly original picture book provides a fascinating glimpse into the prehistoric world as it imagines who the first painter might have been.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lasky (Sophie and Rose) lyrically and plausibly imagines what might have prompted the creativity of a young cave painter. When her mother, a Dream Catcher, dies while attempting to relieve their people of drought and famine, Mishoo, as the eldest daughter, inherits the position. In a narrative that evokes the rhythms of an ancient chant ("I have lived for ten moons of the Singing Grass, and now I am beginning to forget the rainDits sound, its shape, and how the water clouds gather like herds of wooly mammoths in the east"), Lasky paints the desperation of Mishoo's plight. A recurring dream with a nightly callDuttered by generations of Dream Catchers before herDurges the heroine to "go to the cave of the she-tiger." Baviera (A Boy Called Slow) deftly navigates a palette of earth tones to visually connect Mishoo's dream visions of her mother and female forebears with the paintings she draws in the she-tiger's cave. The design of the book and photographs of the art work together to make her animal subjects seem alive. Readers will come away from this tale believing in the unmistakable connection between creativity and survival, a message echoed in the artwork: as Mishoo emerges from the cave, the sky turns from dusty gray to ocean blue. Ages 7-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-5-After her mother's death, young Mishoo becomes her prehistoric tribe's Dream Catcher. The clan is suffering terribly from the lack of rain; the crops have failed, and the people are starving. The child dreams that she must go to the cave of the she-tiger. Although terrified, Mishoo is motivated by the sight of her young sister, who will perish if some relief is not found soon. She takes the spirit bundle she inherited from her mother and finds the cave, where she traces the fossils of animals with a charred stick from the fire. Accidentally, she spreads ocher on the drawing of a horse and it seems to come alive. She paints bison and rhinoceroses and even the she-tiger. When she leaves after three days, it is raining. The text is so beautifully written and Baviera's drawings so evocative that readers will be holding their breath by the end. Lasky provides details of the archaeological findings that provide the basis for this story. In addition, she has developed a rather extensive bibliography for those who would like to learn more about the history of cave painting. This is a very special book that could be read aloud with dramatic flourish or enjoyed by older children for its mysterious, almost spooky feel.
Barbara Buckley, Rockville Centre Public Library, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN; 1st edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789425785
• ISBN-13: 978-0789425782
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #315,260 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #24 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Prehistory
  • #82 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Ancient Civilizations

More About the Author

Hi Readers! Thanks for coming by my author page. I've written all sorts of books - from fantasy about animals to books about science. One of my favorite animal fantasy series, Guardians of Ga'Hoole, is a major motion picture. I liked writing about Ga'Hoole so much that I decided to revisit that world in a new series, Wolves of the Beyond. Visit my website, www.kathrynlasky.com to see a slide show about the real wolves I researched for the series and for the latest update on the Guardians of Ga'Hoole movie. All my best, Kathryn

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Word--WOW!, October 3, 2000

By 

Lynn Plourde (central Maine) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: First Painter (Hardcover)

FIRST PAINTER literally took my breath away. It is a truly powerful and beautiful picture book--the words, the illustrations, and the design. I've read it three times in a row and I love it more with each rereading. FIRST PAINTER is Lasky's fictional story about what she imagines could have been the first cave painter. The story is told from the perspective of Mishoo, a young girl who is the shaman for her prehistoric tribe. There is a severe drought and their tribe is dying ("My younger sister, Erloo, is so thin her wrists are like twigs."). Mishoo must visit the cave of the she-tiger in one last attempt to bring water to her people. There, in the cave, the walls seem to come alive to Mishoo with their shadows and indents. She uses a fire stick and the colors from her spirit bundle to draw horses and bison and the she-tiger. She gathers energy from her paintings and finally emerges days later to clouds--"immense and woolly against the horizon." Rain has arrived, and so too has Mishoo's passion to paint again and again!

I've enjoyed Lasky's books for many years, but she has outdone herself this time. This book is brilliant--the words are simple, yet poetic and powerful. The first-person telling pulls me into the story (as close as I can come to being there in prehistoric times). The whole idea for the book is thought-provoking and should encourage many children's discussions and imaginings about not only who painted the first picture, but who started the first language (with words or gestures?), who made the first fire (by accident or on purpose?). Is the "need" for artistic expression solely a human need? On and on.

This is my first experience with Rocco Baviera's illustrations, but they won't be my last--what a master! He used bear grease, animal fur, raw earth pigments, and more to create his primitive and powerful images. They are achingly, hauntingly beautiful; and they perfectly capture the spirit of the first paintings and the first painter.

I expect to see this book on many award lists. Thank you, Kathryn Lasky, Rocco Baviera, Melanie Kroupa, & Chris Hammill Paul (DK Ink)--what a gift you have given the world!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful---historical fiction about cave painting, June 25, 2003

By 

christinemm - The Thinking Mother (Houston Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: First Painter (Hardcover)

Our family enjoyed this book, which is an imaginative story about the first cave painting. A tribe is starving and suffering with a lack of food and enduring a drought. The tribe's shaman has died and she passed the job onto her adolescent daughter named Mishoo. Fearing this responsibility, she has chosen not to "catch dreams" which is apparently the cause of both the drought and the lack of hunting success. Finally Mishoo follows the commands given by her mother and grandmother in her dreams...she goes to a sacred cave. Once in the cave she builds a fire and sees how the rock walls seem to come alive with shapes of animals. She uses her gathered clays to paint the walls.

The writing is poetic and eerie. The illustrations are gorgeous and set the mood perfectly.

When Mishoo returns to her tribe after three days of painting, it has just begun to rain. The rain will stimulate growth of the grasses, which will lure the animals back to the land. It ends by saying their hunting was successful and the tribe is thriving again.

Both the writing and the artwork drew us in and made us feel a part of the story. This is the first fiction historical book for children that I have found. It is the perfect addition to our homeschool curriculum for learning about early man and cave paintings.

Both my 3 and 5 year old boys enjoyed this story, although I needed to explain some of the passages such as what "moon of the singing grass" and "dream catcher" meant. I loved the way the author captured an artist's imagination and ability to imagine and "see" the finished piece before even starting work on it, how the rock walls seemed to speak to her and how she then created what she already saw in her mind's eye. This type of explanation is seldom seen in children's literature; I appreciated that.

A list of suggested related readings and background information about cave paintings are included at the end of the book.

We read this after borrowing it from the public library and we loved it so much, we must own a copy for our home library!