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What Members Thought
Nov 10, 2012
Barbara
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
community,
read-aloud,
nbgs2012,
novels-in-verse,
cultural-identity,
families,
gifted,
folk-tales
Not only is the story of Dinga, a Mende blacksmith in West Africa, and his lost son Musafa not to be forgotten, but the lush, incredibly detailed acrylic and watercolor illustrations of this book are just as memorable. Told as a novel in verse that has the rythmn of a folktale, passed down from generation to generation, the story focuses on the love Dinga has for his son. When Musafa's mother dies in childbirth, Dinga entreats Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water to help him raise his son. All goes well
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Gorgeous book with an important story, told in a unique way. I think if I were to use this with students, I would read the author's note at the end to them first, and afterwards discuss the characteristics of folktales. The acrylic/water color artwork does a wonderful job of telling the story, as well as the fine-crafted poetry. I think this would be well worth finding a good recording of the book to do it justice, or assign students different pages to perform.
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As usual I'm no judge of poetry, but I enjoyed this folktale-style story as soon as I'd gotten a few pages in and understood there was a narrative here. The ending seemed oddly happy/optimistic. Absolutely gorgeous illustrations, certainly the most interesting I've seen this year; I certainly expect to see this on the Caldecott podium, and as for the Newbery--well, as I said, I'm no judge of poetry, so who knows?
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Stunningly beautifully written and illustrated. Lyrical, emotional. Perfect marriage of text with illustrations. An obvious choice for African American studies and history month, but to be enjoyed by all.
A picture book composed of a series of poems created together to tell the story of the Taken and those that mourned. Beautiful illustrations and wonderful text.
Beautiful story, beautifully illustrated.
Why isn't this book getting more buzz? It's beautiful, it's lyrical, it's unusual. Am I missing something here?
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Amazing pictures, but the story is even more so. Heartbreaking and powerful.
Coretta Scott King Award 2012?
Stunning....
Jul 10, 2011
Barbara A.
marked it as to-read
Aug 28, 2011
Shawn
marked it as to-read
Nov 26, 2011
Teresa Garrett
marked it as to-read
Jan 08, 2012
Jennifer
marked it as to-read
Feb 13, 2012
Danielle
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
z2011-picture-books-early-readers,
z2011-new
Aug 10, 2016
Kathy
marked it as to-read
Feb 12, 2017
Mary Ann
added it
