Zora Hurston (Reading Rainbow Books) [Hardcover]

William Miller (Author), Cornelius Van Wright (Illustrator), Ying-Hwa Hu (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1994 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: Reading Rainbow Books

A beautifully rendered and colorfully illustrated account of the childhood of the great black writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston shows a young child triumphing over adversity and learning to pursue her dreams. IP.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At times effectively mottled, at other times hauntingly distinct, Van Wright and Hu's (Make a Joyful Sound) commanding watercolor paintings are the high point of this book, which recounts an episode in the childhood of the African American author of the acclaimed Their Eyes Were Watching God. Conveying the changing expressions on the face of the young Hurston as easily as they show the grandeur of the sky at nightfall, the versatile artists neatly capture the emotions in this lucidly told story. A stern father tells Zora that she should wear a dress (she wears overalls), read the Bible daily and obey him, but Zora listens only to her mother, who teaches her "that everything had a voice: the trees and rushing wind, the stars in the midnight sky." So the girl accompanies the boys when they gather around the campfires at night and listen to their fathers' tales of Africa. On her deathbed, Zora's mother instructs her young daughter to remember the stories, which "kept their people alive. As long as they were told, Africa would live in their hearts." First-time author Miller's affecting account ends where it began: with Zora climbing a chinaberry tree as her mother had shown her how to do; from the top of the tree, "Zora saw again the world her mother had given her," and she "promised her mother she would never stop climbing." Ages 4-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Hurston's difficult childhood is a challenging subject for a picture book, and Miller is not entirely successful in his treatment. The story is framed by scenes of the child in a chinaberry tree, imagining what lies beyond the horizon. The blurry edges of the watercolor images work well to suggest the worldview of a young girl prone to dreaming. The problem lies with what is left unsaid in the brief narrative. With only three sentences to characterize her father, children may be confused to learn that "Zora only listened to her mother." However, it is the treatment of her mother's death that is most problematic. As the child spies on the men and boys telling stories around the campfire, she hears about "...Death, the great square-toed one...who sat on a platform made of palm leaves and ruled with a sword in his hands." Two pages later, her mother dies. No explanation of the reference to death or of the family's funereal customs is given in the text or in the author's note. More importantly, the impact of the girl's beloved relative's death is not satisfactorily resolved by showing Zora climbing her chinaberry tree. More narrative is needed to help readers understand the unique setting and dynamics surrounding this character and to cushion the effect of this traumatic event. Stick with Patricia and Fredrick McKissack's Zora Neale Hurston (Enslow, 1992) and A.P. Porter's Jump at de Sun (Carolrhoda, 1992) for a more developed sense of the subject and her milieu.
Wendy Lukehart, Dauphin County Library, Harrisburg, PA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: Lee & Low Books (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880000148
• ISBN-13: 978-1880000144
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,317,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #19 in Books > Children's Books > History > United States > Black History

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful story of Zora's independence, May 17, 2006

By 

Maureen A. Blake (Purcellville, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree (Reading Rainbow Book) (Paperback)

I am surprised to read the harsh editiorial reviews as MY LITTLE GIRLS AND I JUST LOVE THIS BOOK. As avid readers of children's literature to my six children this book ranks up there with our favorites! Not only does it validate that it is OK to have unique goals and interests which we may develop as adults which differ from those which parents have set for us as children, it does so without coming across as DISRESPECTFUL of the well intended parents. While it SAYS "ZORA Only listened to her mother" I think the irony of that statement is REALLY obvious to even little readers who don't miss the fact that ZORA became a writer and that it was indeed HER FATHER who insisted that she hone her academic skills and study her BIBLE daily which most certainly was as influential and formative in developing skills required for her later writing success as her mother's teaching. While Zora'a father is portrayed as teaching her in a structured and disciplined way SKILLS and LESSONS, Zora's mother is shown to have taught her to not be limited by expectations and rules imposed by others in her life but to actively seek out to learn new things.

I thought that while the statement "Zora only listened to her mother" did indeed benefit from SOME EDITORIALIZING for small children which can be sticky, that issue merits this story becoming a 4 star rather than 5 star one. However at the same time, I FOUND IT REFRESHING that the fact parents AT TIMES are contradictory to children WAS SO HONESTLY PRESENTED IN A CHILDREN'S BOOK. How many kids have received opposing messages from each of their well intended parents? HOw many parents have themselves struggled with EACH OTHER over how to present their ideas which at times contradict?

HOW WONDERFUL for kids to have a book where they CAN IDENTIFY WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER who has to make her own way in the world BY ASSIMILATING WHAT HER PARENTS TAUGHT AND MAKING CHOICES REGARDING THE POINTS WHICH HER PARENTS DISAGREED AND PRESENTED OPPOSING IDEAS. AND HOW WONDERFUL for us parents to read of the brilliant success of ZORA and realize that our kids ALSO will likely be successful and capable DESPITE our errors and flaws of not always being COHESIVE and IN AGREEMENT in our parenting of our children! In this day and age where 50% of marriages end up in divorce, I think those seeming "flaws" of writing may at second glance be apprechiated as honest reflections of OURSELVES and valuable in assisting our CHILDREN in feeling comfortable knowing they are not the only ones who ever felt like that! ,

IT is POWERFUL to read of the overcoming SOCIETY'S OBSTACLES AND EXPECTATIONS BASED ON RACE

AND GENDER, as well as overcoming the unintended confusion we parents sometimes present to our children.

I felt the inclusion of the myth of DEATH was not at all confusing to young readers and indicated Zora's interest in folk lore at a young age which informed her later antropological work. I think for very young readers this myth gives them some explaination of how death took her mother as the personification of death makes it not seem like a mystery but offers explaination which is satisfying to them. (And not harmful regardless of ones beliefs and teaching regarding death, as young readers have such short attention spans they forget this detail as quickly as it takes for them to be entralled by the beautiful illustrations.) Older readers are not likely to be at all confused by this inclusion of storytelling that is represented as being a myth.

Overall I found this to book to be a beautiful one which my girls JUST LOVE as they identify with the dreamy climbing of trees and reaching out for the world in wonder.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving Story about Zora Hurston as a Girl, February 28, 2008

By 

Lynn Ellingwood "The ESOL Teacher" (Webster, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree (Reading Rainbow Book) (Paperback)

This story is biographical in nature and relates a time in Zora Hurston's life when her mother died of cancer. Zora was raised by her mother to be more independent that most girls were at the time and had to oppose her father who feared she would be a tomboy. She listened mainly to her mother and participated in many activities barred to girls. Her mother dies when she is young and in order to continue some level of independence, she tries to carry her mother's teachings in her memory and heart. Recommended.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Follow Your Dreams, December 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Zora Hurston (Reading Rainbow Books) (Hardcover)

This is a story about a little girl how overcame obstacles by following her dreams and the advice of her mother.