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4.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful nature story, September 22, 2008
This review is from: Youngen Finds Her Song (Paperback)
A young thrush named Youngen is having trouble finding her song. As she spends time with her friends who have beautiful feathers and nicer nests than her own, she starts to doubt herself and her parents. Rufus, a wise old owl, notices her discomfort and decides to take her on a journey to learn about the world.
As she travels with Rufus, she learns many things about the animals in the forest and about Humans - those strange animals that make war with each other, but also build magnificent cities. And she learns that Humans can also be loving and compassionate, when she finds her own life in danger. As Youngen learns about herself and the world around her, she spontaneously bursts into song - her own unique and very beautiful song.
Author Maria J. Andrade has written a sweet novel of a young bird coming of age. She shares tidbits of wisdom about animal life and their habits along the way, to educate while telling her story. Respect for the earth and all animal and plant life is demonstrated through Youngen's words and actions. An uplifting book with a positive message, Youngen Finds Her Song is a delight to read.
Reviewer: Alice Berger, Bergers Book Reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Combining entertainment and Education, March 16, 2009
This review is from: Youngen Finds Her Song (Paperback)
"Youngen Finds Her Song" is a heartwarming tale of life and war, the heavens and the earth, featuring a little bird Youngen and the mentor owl, Rufus, who teaches Youngen about humankind. The book combines education (with its information on astronomy, animals and human nature), with an entertaining tale of why one shouldn't be jealous of others (and other moral lessons). An interesting read you can enjoy with your family.
Youngen Finds Her Song
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5.0 out of 5 stars
The Song of the Heart, January 28, 2009
This review is from: Youngen Finds Her Song (Paperback)
The Song of the Heart
by Helene Vachet
Youngen Finds Her Song: An Inspiring Adventure from the Heart of Nature
Maria J. Andrade, M.F.T. (Clara Publishing; 99 pp.)
This charming story about a bird named Youngen and her journey to find her song is actually a spiritual and psychological metaphor for our own journey towards wholeness. What better way to address the problem of envy and being ashamed of one's parents than to paint a picture of a bird envying the more showy nests of other more colorful birds and finding out that the large nests actually do not weather well in a storm. Andrade, likewise, shows the horrors of war through Youngen's eyes, and we feel her sorrow over the crying humans who have been captured and imprisoned and over the burnt forests and houses in flames. At the same time, Youngen, when she is feeling superior to humans for lacking in war-like qualities, is told that her ancestors, the dinosaurs, were warriors who caused much devastation to the planet. Youngen learns through her journey over the marshes that even insects have a role to play in the scheme of things as they produce honey, wax, silk, medi<;:ines ana pigments.
Youngen is guided on her journey by a wise old owl named Rufus and her own inner wise bird .. The lessons she learns are both scientific, such as the astronomy of the planets and the Milky Way, and those values that all seekers learn in the course of a life well spent: love, wonder, gratitude and joy. A particularly touching segment is the telling of how Geese may drop out of formation to help a Goose who is ill and can't fly and how these companions follow the ailing one down to help and protect it.
Hopefully, your children will have a head start in gaining these insights from reading this book or listening to the CD. This reviewer suggests that you purchase both the book and the CD and play the CD first. Afterwards, let you child read the book. This is one of the most effective ways to learn to read.
The author is a licensed Marriage, Family, Child Therapist for 20 years, author and poet. Born in Ecuador and raised in New York and California. She brings mythology and perspectives from both worlds to her stories. According to Andrade, she writes for all children - ages three to ninety-three.
"New Perspectives", Winter-2009
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