Grandfather's Dream [Hardcover]

Holly Keller (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

The Vietnam war is over, and Grandfather and young Nam dream that the new dikes will restore the wetlands, bringing home the beautiful cranes that once filled the winter sky. But other villagers think that growing rice is a more practical use for the land. "This is a beautiful book with many layers of meaning and an important message. The simple illustrations...are lovely and appealing."--School Library Journal.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

To create this delicate yet penetrating book, Keller ( Horace ; Island Baby ) drew from her experience working on a project called Saving Cranes in Vietnam. Her prologue explains that the Sarus crane, a Vietnamese symbol of long life and happy families, disappeared during the Vietnam War, when canals dug across the bird's wetland habitat drove it and other creatures away. Here, Grandfather repeats this story to Nam, expressing his belief that, when the rains come, the land will flood and "the cranes will come home." But if they don't, Nam's Papa adds, the younger generation of farmers "will take back the land your grandfather and the others have reserved for the birds, and use it to plant more rice." After the monsoons arrive, the old man rises early each day to search for the cranes, but to no avail. Finally, it is Nam who stumbles upon the first sign of their return, which brings joy to Grandfather and the entire village. Featuring earth tones accented with vivid hues, Keller's effectively understated watercolor and black-pen art captures, with a haunting simplicity, both the warning and the hope implicit in her tale. Ages 4-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Nam lives with his parents, his grandfather, two lively puppies, and assorted other animals in a small village in the Mekong delta. Before the Vietnam War, this area was home to the Sarus crane, considered to be a symbol of long life and happy families, but during the fighting, canals were dug to drain the wetlands and the cranes disappeared. These facts, necessary to understanding the story, are given in a prologue. In Keller's carefully crafted story, Nam's grandfather hopes that the building of new dikes will restore the wetlands and prompt the return of the birds that he remembers so fondly from his youth. The boy's parents think that the land would be better used for planting rice. The relationship between Nam and his grandfather is an affectionate one-they share a love for animals and stories. After the monsoons come, the wetlands are restored, and eventually the cranes return and their magnificence wins over even the most practical villagers. This is a beautiful book with many layers of meaning and an important message. The simple illustrations, done in flat washes of watercolor in earthy tones and outlined in black pen, are lovely and appealing. They add just the right amount of drama and charm for a story told in very simple prose.
Sue Norris, Rye Free Reading Room, NY
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books; 1st edition (April 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688123392
• ISBN-13: 978-0688123390
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #631,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grandfather's Dream, October 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Grandfather's Dream (Hardcover)

I am surprised no one else has written a review of this book. It is an excellent book, used in many school districts as multicultural, narrative literature. THis book can be teamed with Sadako and/or the Magic Crane to show examples of the belief that cranes bring good luck. It can even be tied in with an origami lesson on folding paper cranes.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grandfather's Dream is a dream read!, June 9, 2005

By 

Teacher/Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grandfather's Dream (Hardcover)

This is an invaluable book in the classroom! I am using it with a study of Vietnam for 1/2 grade gifted students. It would be an excellent vehicle to convey the message to any classroom that if we have a healthy environment, we have a healthy planet. It is gently written but tells so much about the culture and people of Vietnam.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book, great message, August 6, 2011

By 

Calimom "Calimom" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grandfather's Dream (Hardcover)

This is a beautiful story that my 3 year old loves for me to read to her. It has all the elements:

Culture: see how Nam and his family sleep, eat and live in a small village in Vietnam
Family relations: the tender relationship between Nam and is grandfather is really sweet
Suspense: will the cranes come back after fleeing the violence of the war?
Humor: grandfather tells a funny story about training river otters to get fish from unsuspecting folk
Tension: some villagers want to plant rice to eat in the crane nesting ground, other want to wait for the cranes to return
Environmental responsibility: the future of species, ecosystems and our planet is in our children's hands.

We love this book for its simplicity and for its complexity; I highly reccommend it.