Musician from the Darkness [Hardcover]

Claude Clement (Author), John Howe (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up

An outsider in a primitive hunting society learns about the power of music as both an agent of destruction and consolation.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-- Sumptuous paintings of a prehistoric world inhabited by wild birds and primitive cave dwellers suggest that this picture book for older children would be useful in studying the paleolithic era. However, the story of the tribesman who invents a flute and discovers musical sounds inspires more questions than it answers about the origins of human speech. Who is the "man with the sky-blue eyes" and why is he, alone, sensitive to the death of the birds who respond to his musical notes? Why have these early men weapons, rituals, and cave paintings, but no speech? And was the sole purpose of the first "music" not for communication, or pleasure, but simply to overcome their fear of the dark? This book is an example of appealing illustrations, matched with a weak text. Perhaps it is the translation that is at fault, but the story lacks a strong, convincing theme. --Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River,
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 26 pages
• Publisher: Little Brown & Co; 1st ed. US edition (March 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316147400
• ISBN-13: 978-0316147408
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,532,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Good pix., September 2, 2002

By 

G. Kochanski (Oxford, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Musician from the Darkness (Hardcover)

Beautiful pictures, but the story
is a bit weak and perhaps too
politically correct. Not a bad book,
though.