From School Library Journal
Grade 4 Up-Birds of many a feather, real and imagined, appear in this handsome anthology culled from a storyteller's repertoire. Lupton's introduction reminds readers that the birds we know today were also familiar to our earliest ancestors, and some of the stories recount early bird/human encounters. A Palestinian tale explains how a swallow intervened to curtail the Devil and the snake in the Garden of Eden. Brazilians tell of how birds lost their ability to speak in human language after helping a young man kill a hunter. The 19 selections come from the oral traditions of Native American and African peoples; Inuit, Finnish, and Australian folklore; and more. The reteller attributes his sources in endnotes and provides descriptions of various cultural beliefs centering on each of the featured birds. Palin's realistic watercolor views place the birds in their natural settings. Each of the poems is set on a double-page painting, while the white story pages are much more visually complex in their design elements. A decorative frame that surrounds the text and artwork incorporates small vignettes of the birds and other animals featured in the legends or common to the geographic region. The mystical quality of some of the poems and occasional irony in the tales suggest a mature audience. Older children will enjoy many of the stories, and storytellers will welcome the nuggets of cultural material and Lupton's smooth shaping of the tales.
Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Anthologist and storyteller Lupton draws from an impressive range of sources in this beautifully illustrated collection of stories and poems from disparate cultures. Most of the tales are creation myths focusing on birds' roles in forming the earth, its creatures, and the forces that sustain them. The author's endnotes, geared wholly toward adults, offer some cultural background for the selections, but they don't make it clear where many lesser-known cultures (Bambara and Baila, for example) are geographically located, making the book less friendly for classroom use. The stories are brief enough to be read aloud, some challenging vocabulary notwithstanding, and they will be a rich resource for teachers and young readers drawn to folklore. Children interested in birds will enjoy looking at Steve Palin's detailed watercolors, reminiscent of Barry Moser's work, which are set in well-designed spreads and insets. Suggest this to individuals in search of pourquoi tales. Gillian Engberg
