Housekeeper of the Wind - Hardcover

Widman, Christine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060264675 ISBN 13: 9780060264673

Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books, 1990

Synopsis

The wind and his housekeeper become angry with each other one hot summer day, but apologize with appropriate gifts

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 2-4-- Yula keeps house for the Wind. She wears an apron and sweeps, washes windows, and gathers the kites, leaves, and fragrances blown in by the breeze. One hot day Yula sits down on the job. Wind, annoyed, begins to bang and slam about. Yula responds by shutting Wind out and cleaning house with a passion. Calm again, she makes peace with the Wind when she tries to send a kite skyward. The dust jacket describes this as a story of "two friends," but the book is patently gender-based, with Yula, the good wife, placating and amusing her free-roaming, dominating partner. The pictures show a thin, doll-like woman, a stylized house, and toy-like trees. Wind, visible as vapor, sweeps past and overwhelms the tall figure of Yula. The rich, deep colors that are becoming Desimini's hallmark effectively draw readers in and form a vivid backdrop to the ever-present, all-too-symbolic white apron. Traditionalists may enjoy this whimsical domestic tale; feminists will refuse to buy it .
-Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

This timeless tale about Yula, who keeps house for the wind, states, "In summer she gathered the fragrance of meadows the Wind left in the cottage and put it in bottles to sell at the market." One day when the Wind brings "the smell of dry grass," Yula says, "No one would buy this. . . . You're no help at all." The two have a falling-out and the angry Wind blows up a storm. To make amends, Yula gives the Wind a present, a kite with long tail ribbons. In return the Wind blows "the scent of rain on wild roses" into the cottage. This is an engaging, simple story about conflict and making up. Though Desimini's rendering of the wind is appropriately energetic and her paintings' luminous tones aptly evoke the warmth of this unusual book, much of the action depicted, like the flying kite with streamers, seems static. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0060264675
• ISBN 13: 9780060264673
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Desimini Lisa