Gift of the Sun: A Tale from South Africa - Hardcover

Stewart, Dianne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374324255 ISBN 13: 9780374324254

Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1996

Synopsis

Thulani wants to spend more time in the sun and less time doing chores around the farm, so he makes a series of lopsided exchanges in an attempt to simplify his life, until all he has left is pocketful of sunflower seeds that, once sown, prove surprisingly useful.

About this title

About the Author

Dianne Stewart lives in Natal, South Africa. She studied Psychology and African languages in order to be able to communicate with the people around her in their own languages. Her titles for Frances Lincoln include The Gift of the Sun, which was chosen as one of Child Education's Best Books of 1996.Niki Daly has won many awards for his work. His groundbreaking Not So fast Songololo, winner of a U.S Parent's Choice Award, paved the way for post-apartheid South African children's books. Since then, he has been widely published and has spoken in several countries. Among his many books, Once Upon a Time was an Honor Winner in the U.S. Children's Africana Book Awards, and Jamela's Dress was chosen by the ALA as a Notable Children's Book and by Booklist as one of the Top Ten African American Picture Books of 2000. Both live in Cape Town, South Africa.

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3?Thulani loves to spend his days sitting in the sun and hates to have his leisure interrupted by chores. Tired of milking the cow, he trades her in for a goat. When the goat gets into the corn seed, he exchanges it for a sheep. When shearing it is too much trouble, he buys some geese. With each trade, his hard-working wife becomes more and more exasperated. Thinking to please her, the man exchanges the geese for a bag of seeds. But when they sprout, Dora is more upset than ever. It seems that he won't ever make her happy. However, when Thulani feeds the sunflower seeds to the chickens, the hens begin to lay more eggs, and, in the end, the story has come full circle. Dora is delighted, and Thulani is now busy trading animals. His favorite time of day is milking time?when he can finally sit down and have a quiet think. Daly's paintings add to the charm of this story. Bright gold end papers scattered with seeds introduce the good-humored mood. The color scheme of soft greens and golds emphasizes the warm pastoral setting. This is a fresh, funny variation on the "Lazy Jack" theme, with illustrations done in a folkart style and filled with little details of South African rural life.?Barbara Kiefer, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0374324255
• ISBN 13: 9780374324254
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Daly Jude