The Mummer's Song - Softcover

Davidge, Bud

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0888999607 ISBN 13: 9780888999603

Publisher: Groundwood Books, 2009

Synopsis

On a cold, clear winter night in Newfoundland, Granny frets that Christmas just isn't the same without the mummers. Questioned by her two young charges, she begins to explain that mummering is an old Newfoundland custom that blends Christmas and Halloween, when suddenly . . . in through the door march several outlandishly costumed mummers! Granny's house erupts in joking and tomfoolery, raucous singing and exuberant dancing. In an instant, Granny and the two children are caught up in the merriment. Bud Davidge's rhyming text and Ian Wallace's richly detailed illustrations capture the festivities, making this centuries-old tradition come alive for a new generation of merrymakers. This well-priced gift edition also includes a CD of Davidge's "The Mummer’s Song."

About this title

About the Author:

Bud Davidge is a popular singer-songwriter from Newfoundland who has recorded many albums for children and young adults. He lives in English Harbour West, Newfoundland.

Ian Wallace is one of Canada’s best-known children’s book creators. He has published many classics, including Boy of the Deeps and Chin Chiang and the Dragon’s Dance. His illustrations for Canadian Railroad Trilogy and Just So Stories have each received three starred reviews. His most recent book is The Curiosity Cabinet.

Ian has won the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award, the Mr. Christie’s Book Award and the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award, among others. He has been nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the Governor General’s Award and the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award.

Ian lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, with his wife, Deb.

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 4-A rhyming story that refers back to the author's childhood in Newfoundland, when the Mummers, a rag-tag, amateur band of masked and costumed merrymakers, would go from door to door, entering houses and dancing and carousing with the people. For many American children, the tradition might seem peculiar; unlike carolers, who stay outside until welcomed in for a light, gentile refreshment, Mummers are dressed as if for Halloween and take over the house. However, their masks make them more ominous than trick-or-treaters. While the custom is quaint and might be appreciated in another context, the illustrations here are reminiscent of the more hellish, nightmarish moments in Sendak's books, with their distorted features and perspectives. The sketchy quality of the colored-pencil drawings, and the dense grayness of the artist's technique, which lets the nubby texture of the paper come through, fill the pictures with shadows; there is not much that is charming here. The hooded, masked faces are scary, and most of these merrymakers look like mischief-makers, even when they occasionally reveal themselves. The humor and joy of the moment are difficult to reclaim from this offering.
Ruth K. MacDonald, Bay Path College, Longmeadow, MA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Groundwood Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0888999607
• ISBN 13: 9780888999603
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Wallace Ian