Quail Song: A Pueblo Indian Tale - Hardcover

Valerie Scho Carey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399219366 ISBN 13: 9780399219368

Publisher: Whitebird Book, 1990

Synopsis

Retells the traditional Pueblo Indian tale in which a quail outwits a persistent coyote

About this title

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-- In this tale illustrated with large, eye-catching, earth-tone collages, Quail matches wits with the trickster Coyote. Quail's cries of "ki-ruu" when she cuts herself on the blades of grass prompt Coyote to demand Quail to teach him her lovely song. Quail repeats her cry several times, only to have the distracted Coyote come back time and again to hear the cry once more. In disgust, Quail paints a rock to look like her, and similar to the story of Brer Rabbit and the tar baby, Coyote is fooled into thinking Quail won't answer him, so he swallows the "quail" rock. Coyote's anguished cries when he breaks his teeth are mistaken for a song by Lizard, but this time poor Coyote has lost both Quail's song and his teeth. Readers familiar with George Shannon's Lizard's Song (Greenwillow, 1981) will appreciate this more elaborate, richer retelling of the traditional native American legend. It is well suited for storytelling with its repetition, humorous story line, sounds that the teller and audience can make, and large, colorful folk-art illustrations made with simple shapes and a childlike perspective. --Yvonne Frey, Peoria Public Schools, IL
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

The satisfying tales and burnished colors of the Southwest are blended in this Pueblo Indian story of the trickster coyote who, in this variant, is himself tricked by a clever quail. When Quail is injured and cries out "Ki-ruu, ki-ruu," Coyote threatens to devour her unless she teaches him her "song." Coyote stumbles in a prairie-dog hole, treads on a rattlesnake's tail, and each time has to return to Quail to relearn what his mishaps cause him to forget. Finally Quail paints a "rock-that-looks-like-Quail," and Coyote, like Brer Fox confronting the Tar Baby, is rendered helpless by his own foolishness in pursuing "the-song-that-was-no-song." Carey's lively retelling is filled with repetitions and sounds that make for a good read-aloud, and Barnett's striking collages mimic traditional Pueblo art in fine style. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Whitebird Book
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0399219366
• ISBN 13: 9780399219368
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 27
• Illustrator: Ivan Barnett