Song of the North - Hardcover

Asch, Frank

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0152012583 ISBN 13: 9780152012588

Publisher: Gulliver Green, 1999

Synopsis

Bear, Puffin, Moose, and all the other inhabitants of the North know its songs. It sings of clean icy waters for fishing, craggy cliffs for nesting, and smooth ponds for teaching babies to swim. The North embraces a community of creatures living together and sharing its resources. Frank Asch€™s spare, lyrical poem and Ted Levin€™s poignant photographs celebrate the land and creatures of the North, and encourage us to wonder at their songs.

About this title

About the Author

FRANK ASCH has written and illustrated more than sixty books for children, including the popular Good Night, Baby Bear. He lives in Vermont.

From Booklist

Gr. 3^-6, younger for reading aloud. From the team that brought us Cactus Poems (1998) and Sawgrass Poems (1996) comes a wonderfully constructed picture book, with text, images, and meaning making a coherent whole. Each verse is structured the same way: "Salmon knows how to spawn in northern lakes. / Salmon knows how to swim to the sea. / Salmon knows many things. . . . / But who knows Salmon / and the song she sings?" The first three lines are on a double-page spread with three photographs of salmon; the next spread carries another image of salmon and, facing it, a photo of a humpback whale. The poem progresses through walrus, puffin, dall sheep, caribou, moose, and bear, each kind of animal's song being heard by another: caribou by owl; bear by red fox, and so on. At the end, who hears the song sung by the Land of the North but a child, with her hand on the ground and her face alert for the music. Each animal is identified in a list at the back. The photographs are engaging without being cutesy; some are dramatic (two caribou look like they are dancing). A rhythmic introduction to some of the creatures of the North, especially pleasing because all of the animals are identified as "she," a welcome change from the ubiquitous "he" or "it." GraceAnne A. DeCandido

About this edition

• Publisher: Gulliver Green
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0152012583
• ISBN 13: 9780152012588
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32