Shiva: An Adventure of the Ice Age - Softcover

Brennan, J. H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0064403920 ISBN 13: 9780064403924

Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books, 1992

Synopsis

A Cro-Magnon tribe is forced to confront its collective fear of the Neanderthal people they call ogres, when a young girl of the tribe, Shiva, befriends an ogre boy, and when Hiram, a young hunter from the tribe, is captured by ogres.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4-6-- Brennan has created a fully credible world with insight into the survival skills and ritualistic magic that primitive man used to make his place in a dangerous world. When Shiva, the orphan girl of a prehistoric tribe, is attacked by a wolf, she is rescued by a naked, hairy boy who leaps on the wolf's back and kills it with his bare teeth. He follows her back to her people, where he is recognized as an "ogre" and is taken captive. The story then shifts to Thag, chief of the forest people, whose son Doban has disappeared. As tribal leaders make plans that will force a confrontation, Shiva and Doban flee. Then Shiva makes a discovery that prevents renewed warfare. Brennan combines both know-ledge and theory in this tale. There are vivid descriptions of Cro-Magnon warrior rituals and ceremonies and many details of hunting and tracking techniques. The descriptions of Neander-thals seem a bit dated, however. When Shiva meets Doban, he is naked and she must show him how to skin the wolf he has killed. Current evidence suggests that although Cro-Magnon man had a greater variety of skills, both groups made tools, dressed in cured animal skins, and had primitive dwellings. Although it makes a good story, there is also no physical evidence to support the theory that Cro-Magnon man hunted the Neanderthal to extinction. Current studies support the theory of gradual intermarriage, an idea found at the end of the book as Shiva and Doban stand hand in hand as friends. --Eleanor K. MacDonald, Beverly Hills Pub . Lib .
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

Set in prehistoric times, this novel tells of an orphaned Cro-Magnon girl drawn to a Neanderthal boy from a rival tribe. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0064403920
• ISBN 13: 9780064403924
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208