The Way Home [Paperback]

Richardson (Author)

Book Description

Unique, handmade, three-dimensional cloth pictures illustrate this beguiling story about a baby elephant's day at the beach and magical trek home. "A delightful romp through the jungle".--School Library Journal, starred review. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Savi is a baby elephant with a mind of her own. At the beach, she stays in the water even though her mother "stamped her feet and trumpeted" that it is time to go home. And when mother finally leaves without her, Savi doesn't mind in the least: not until she is cold and hungry does she head homeward. The delinquent pachyderm spots a banana in the sand, and then another--a trail of bananas that leads Savi right to her mother. When Savi covets one last banana, Mother explains, "That banana is the moon. It will help us to see our way home." Young readers will readily identify with this engaging protagonist: her independence is admirable, and her reunion with her mother comforting. What makes the book truly memorable, however, are its painstakingly detailed fabric relief illustrations. In her debut picture book, Mavor has created a series of captivating cloth masterpieces. The colors are bold, the use of patterns is ingenious and the different textures lend a compelling three-dimensional effect. This deceptively simple story is loaded with child appeal. Ages 3-6.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2-- For a delightful romp through the jungle, join Savi, a perky, mischievous "elephant's child." This baby pachyderm is so entranced by her day at the beach that she refuses to let it end, even after her weary mother strongly encourages her to return to their jungle home. With the shadows lengthening, Savi finally leaves the refreshing water, only to find that she has been left alone. Cold and hungry, she is relieved to follow a well-marked banana trail, and is soon reunited with her patient mother. Trunk to tail, the twosome wind their way through the jungle palms, their path lit by a bright, banana-shaped crescent moon. Mavor's creative, unique collage illustrations make this picture book distinctive. A combination of soft sculpture and embroidery, with added decorations of found objects, the scenes are reminiscent of Rousseau's primitive and haunting jungle settings. The variety of textures is a feast for the eye, and the repetition of the glowing yellow shapes of the bananas lends continuity to the story, as well as to the sequence of pictures. Young readers will be attracted to the varied, colorful shapes and materials, uncovering ingenius details through repeated readings, both in the borders and in the scenes of beach and jungle. The book could be paired with Baker's Where the Forest Meets the Sea (Greenwillow, 1988), a stylistically similar artistic endeavor. --Martha Rosen, Edgewood School, Scarsdale, NY
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 30 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin (January 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689717903
• ISBN-13: 978-0689717901
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,713,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Way Home, November 1, 2003

By 

...Loggie... "Loggie-log-log-log" (I live on the earth, in the western hemisphere, in North America, in the country of the United States of America, in Illinois in the town of Champaign) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The WAY HOME (Hardcover)

This book stars off with a beautiful picture of a mother elephant and her child playing at the beach. The two of them (Savi and her mother) spend the whole day at the beach, splashing in the water, eating bananas from the near-by banana tree, resting on the sand, and playing with Savi's sailboat. When the sun starts to set, Savi's mother says to Savi, "Now it's time to go home." Savi, like all little kids, doesn't listen and continues to play while her mother gets more and more annoyed. Finally Mother walks away into the shadows of the banana trees. At first Savi doesn't care, but then she begins to feel cold and hungry. That's when she sees the first banana. When she picks that one up, she sees another, then another. Savi follows this trail until she finds her mother waiting for her, and then runs to meet her mother. When Savi looks up she one last banana that she can't reach. When she asks her mother to pick it for her, her mother replies, "That banana is the moon. It will help us to see our way home."

The thing that makes this book so special is the pictures. Each picture looks like a picture of a quilt or embroidery block. The stitching is beautiful. Most of it seems to be flat, but there is the occasional thing that isn't just to emphasize it. The bananas looked like they are made of plastic for example, and many of the leaves on the banana trees look as if they stand out. The pictures are very well done. The reason I don't give this book five stars is that I'm not overly fond of the story line.

Loggie-log-log-log