The Great Change [Hardcover]

White Deer of Autumn (Author), White (Author), Carol Grigg (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up

In a native American tale, a wise grandmother explains their people's understanding of death to her granddaughter as they work together on the land, for which they show an exemplary respect and love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This wistful text, based on a Native American tale, ponders the meaning of life and death--reaching the sensible if daunting conclusion that one is impossible without the other. Nine-year-old Wanba helps her elderly grandma to catch and clean fish, "returning what they did not need" to the sea. The dying fish trouble the girl, reminding her of her grandfather's recent death, and she wonders, "Why does everything have to die?" Drawing on the surounding vista of ever-changing nature, Wanba's wise relative speaks of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, of fish as the food of life for pelicans, of death as nothing more than a change within the great Circle of Life. While the good sense of this message is well taken, the story seems ultimately ponderous for lack of a plot on which to hang its philosophy. Furthermore, empathy with Wanba or her grandmother is diffused as the text wavers between their two viewpoints. Delicate pastel watercolors capture the story's essence on gossamer wings with a pleasing combination of sophistication and childish impressibility. Ages 4-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-- A gentle and sensitive story about mortality and the interconnectedness of generations and of life-forms that provides a nondoctrinal, reassuring response to a child's questions about the necessity of death. While nine-year-old Wanba and her grandmother work, the girl asks about her recently deceased grandfather. Grandmother's answer involves the fish they're cleaning, the pelicans diving nearby, and the corn grown for humans to eat, fertilized by fish scraps. When a caterpillar happens by, its change into a butterfly becomes part of the explanation. When they dip a cup into a pond, the replenished water and the widening rings become further links to the Great Circle of Life. Grandfather's death returns his body to the Earth and his goodness to the Great Mystery: part, in fact, of Wanba herself, as she ``changes'' like the butterfly. Grigg's watercolors are spare, with washes of brilliant color (cheering a potentially somber subject) against pure white pages. The characters are not romanticized, but the overall effect is delicate and impressionistic. Despite its Native American orientation, this book belongs more to the literature about death than to the ``Indian lore'' genre. --Patricia Dooley, University of Washington, Seattle Grades 3-6
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: Beyond Words Publishing; First Edition edition (October 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941831795
• ISBN-13: 978-0941831796
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,438,435 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 Absolutely extraordinary!, August 3, 2002

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"76702765" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Great Change (Hardcover)

This is - regardless of your religious persuasion - one of the best books for helping children deal with and understand death and dying that has ever been written. It's about the death of a child's grandfather - his going through "the great change," and frames death in a way that is absolutely beautiful and meaningful. Highly recommended for everybody, particularly those with children who are trying to make sense of the death of their elders.