The Story of the Three Kingdoms - Softcover

Myers, Walter Dean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0064434753 ISBN 13: 9780064434751

Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books, 1996

Synopsis

Long ago, when the earth had not settled in its turning and the stars had not found their places in the night sky, there were three kingdoms.

The first was the kingdom of the forest, ruled by the mighty Elephant. The second was the kingdom of the sea, ruled by the ferocious Shark. And the third was the kingdom of the air, ruled by the powerful Hawk.

And then there were the People, who needed the forest and sea and air for survival. But they were small and weak--no match for the beast who dominated the kingdoms. Yet the People had a gift--the gift of storytelling.

With powerful prose and bold illustrations, Walter Dean Myers and Ashley Bryan tell how the People used their gift to outwit the rulers of the three kingdoms, making this triumphant story one worth reading again and again.

About this title

About the Author:

Walter Dean Myers is the New York Times bestselling author of Monster, the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award, the current National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, and inaugural NYC Literary Honoree. Myers has received every single major award in the field of children's literature. He is the author of two Newbery Honor Books and five Coretta Scott King Awardees. He is the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults and is a three-time National Book Award Finalist as well as the first-ever recipient of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was the 2010 United States nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and is considered one of the preeminent writers for young people. Walter lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, with his family.

From Publishers Weekly:

Myers (Brown Angels) and Bryan (Sing to the Sun) make a dynamite team. Here, the hot colors, sweeping lines and stylized figures that characterize Bryan's art form a bold backdrop for the author's equally dramatic original fable. Long ago, Myers writes, the world was divided into three kingdoms: earth, ruled by Elephant; sea, ruled by Shark; and air, ruled by Hawk. The three quarrel mightily as to who is greatest, and they laugh at the People, who, they say, exist only to do their bidding. With time, the People outwit the haughty trio by learning from the stories they tell around the fire at night. The tale of a child catching a butterfly at rest, for instance, sparks a plan to capture Hawk in the baobab tree. In the end, the People realize they have the greatest power of all: "the gift of story and the wisdom it brings." Using repetition and a stately cadence, Myers invests his prose with a timeless air; together, he and Bryan provide for a memorable read-aloud experience. Ages 6-9.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0064434753
• ISBN 13: 9780064434751
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Bryan Ashley